150 optimax leaking oil

[Hannibal]

I took my boat out of the garage yesterday to get it ready for summer. I lowered the engine all the way down and a little bit of water Cammot Mixtown with some greenish oil. It leaked out of the exhaust down by the prop. It wasn't much, maybe a quarter of a cup. I left the motor down all night and went back this morning to take a look. Again, there was about a 6 inch diameter circle of green oil on the ground. It sure resembles my injection oil. Does anyone have any ideas what might be going on here? Leaving for Canada in two weeks, don't want any problems up there!

 

[Bt Doctur]

lower unit oil is also green in color

 

[Hannibal]

No, it is not. Mercury lower end oil is clear with a gold tint. I removed some to check and also looked in the container that I filled it with last year.

 

[Docksidemarineservices]

The correct oil in your lower should be blue/green in color.

 

[Hannibal]

This is what is in my lower end. And it's not green. It's what the dealer sold me.

 

[Docksidemarineservices]

Quick silver high Performance gear oil.

 

[leaky]

Assuming you are sure it's engine oil and not gear lube, #1 be sure it's actually coming out of the prop and not leaking down the side of the exhaust housing. It would not be surprising to have a leak someplace under the cowel (follow the oil lines around) so it finding a way to drip down the outside of the engine (considering how clean Opti's are inside it would also be easy to find the source).

Dripping down the inside of the exhaust housing though seems unlikely - I just don't see how any of the oil injection system would be capable of jamming that much oil in..

One possible explanation - any chance the person who winterized it actually put "an ounce of oil per cylinder" in there? If that's the case indeed it would be leaking all over the place including out the prop. Most people, even if they wanted to dump oil in the cylinders, do not winterize Opti's this way because it's nearly impossible to get into the spark plug holes but many books still call for it. I only do this on my snowmobile - on older engines I fog into the holes, on opti's I run an oil mixture in the filter to winterize.

If it is gear lube - leaking that much should be obvious in level - check to be sure it's full by using a zip-tie as a dipstick from the top. 4 ounces leaked out of a lower unit is very obvious in the level (which should be at the bottom of the vent plug when the engine is vertical).

Jon