130HP Honda leaking oil

I have a 130HP Honda outboard that is leaking oil in the flywheel compartment the oil is coming out where the starting motor bolts on. Can any one tell me what might have happened and where the oil is coming from,I realize it would be a educated guess and I really won't know until the engine is taken apart but I was trying to get a idea what I am looking at here.

Crankshaft upper seal?

Flywheel is under the engine....so lower crankshaft seal is one place. If water has gotten into the flywheel cavity, it is also possible that one of the core plugs have rusted and now leaking.

There have also been some cases on the forum, where the oil pan gasket or mount case gasket were bad and allowed oil to leak out when it passed through the cavity.

There were also a couple of cases where there was corrosion along the oil passage route and it leaked from there.

It sounds like you realize, that the only way to really find it, is to start taking the motor apart and check it out step by step. Hopefully, you can find something obvious before you have to pull the powerhead.

If you have a bore scope available, it might be worth the time to examine inside the flywheel cavity, as best you can.

Mike

I do not have access to a bore scope and the engine was submerged in salt water around seven years ago, thanks for the insight I am taking the boat out of the water Wednesday will have to dismantle the motor see what I can find. Thanks again.

Norm

If they did not flush out and dry the flywheel cavity after it went under water, then the salt water had quite an opportunity to cause things to corrode and rust in that area. If you find that the crankshaft seal is what is leaking, examine the crank very closely for rust, pitting, etc. A damaged crank could have caused seal issues. However, replacing the seal only, may not solve the problem.

Hope you find something simple.

Mike

I took my boat out of the water and I did a compression test to see if the motor is worth taking apart. I ran the engine until it reached operating temperature shut it off and removed the plugs and did the test cylinder #1- 203psi cylinder #2-188psi cylinder#3 195psi cylinder #4 195psi I know that the compression ratio for the 130 honda is 199-228psi so my question is this motor worth the trouble.

It is hard to say. It has been ridden hard and literally "put away wet" as they say.

The cylinders' compression is within 10% of each other. The differences could just be carbon buildup and decarbination may take care of that.

One thing to be away of....the issues with the cracked head causes water intrusion in cylinders #2 and/or #3. It will show up in compression numbers and also water beads on the spark plugs. Of course, you will feel a miss in the engine caused by the water.

As for your oil problem....I do not think you will have to disassemble the powerhead to see what the problem is (although, I have been wrong before).

You will need to remove the powerhead, which takes a little time and care. You have to remove the lower unit, lower motor mount, mid section, oil pan, and disconnect much of the wiring harness and hoses around the power head.

If you are going to do this yourself, you should purchase the Honda Service Manual, so you have all of the torques and torque sequences in putting it back together. Also, take a lot of pictures, so you can put all the hoses and wiring back in the correct order.

Once you pull the powerhead and examine the oil pan, associated gaskets, power head gasket and more importantly, the bottom of the powerhead, itself...then you can make an intelligent decision.

Of course, if you are going to pay someone to do this, it might end up throwing good money after bad.

I do not this there is an easy answer to your question.

Mike

Thanks Mike I appreciate your input I am going to give this some thought.

Thanks again Norm