Oil problem with Mercury Optimax 250 Xl

diveacademy · 28 March 2008, 16:38

Can anyone help me ??

I have a 2007 Mercury Optimas 250XL, it is 8 months old and it has developed an oil problem.
There is 2 stroke oil leaking out of the joint where the engine meets the leg. As it is a new engine the Mercury dealers are involved, but have been a number of times, but are unable to find any problem. There latest guess is that when the engine is not in use, it has been tilted out of the water and that the 2 stroke oil is leaking out of the engine into the engine housing, then out through the nearest joint in the casing. It sounded possible, but now the engine has been left in the water for the last 2 days and when used today the problem is still there !!

The engine it's self is running perfect and there are no alarms to say that the oil pressure is low etc... It is able to run at normal rev's.

All of the cowlings have been removed to check all the oil pipes, but there is no sign of oil anywhere !!

I have been told not to worry about it by the Mercury dealer, but i have 3 problems.

1. Am i going to cause more damage to the engine ??
2. I am using shit loads of oil and it is going straight into the sea !!
3. The mariner where the boat is kept are now asking why there is always oil around the boat !!

Does anyone else have this problem with there Optimax or can you offer any advise ??

Thank you...

gavin · 28 March 2008, 17:43

Is it definately definately 2 stroke, is there any possibility you are seeing gear oil, if the engine is new, it is possibly using more oil for the run in peroid, you will get oil exhausting , tro the prop , you get exhaust out here anyway, its always black from oil here.

Is there any chance you are seeing hydraulic oil from the fill on the trim/tilt ram.

If you are not finding any oil leak under the engine hood then I think it is not a worry.

Turbodiesel · 28 March 2008, 21:06

Personally i would worry about it!, it should not be leaking oil. Get it back to the dealer its under warranty!!

diveacademy · 29 March 2008, 08:22

No it is for sure 2 stroke oil and there is lots of it !!

I have check all the normal things, but am now scratching my head !!

I do not want to start taking things apart myself, with it being under warranty, but think it may take a life-time for a Spanish mechanic to find the problem !!

bedajim · 29 March 2008, 08:35

I'd take the cover off and look around the loom/pipe inlet and then trace the pipes to see where they go and look for oil
If the engine is cold I'd leave some white cloth around the bottom of the block inside the cowl and replace the cowl leave it overnight and check to see if you have any stains on the cloth

remove cloth before next use?

Poly · 29 March 2008, 09:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by diveacademy

No it is for sure 2 stroke oil and there is lots of it !!

I have check all the normal things, but am now scratching my head !!

I do not want to start taking things apart myself, with it being under warranty, but think it may take a life-time for a Spanish mechanic to find the problem !!

not sure how the law works in grand canaria - but here if the dealer couldn't fix it you would "reject" the engine and either get a full refund or a replacement engine. its prbably illegal for it to be leaking oil continuously into the sea.

Jono Garton · 29 March 2008, 13:37

Check your internal oil resevoir, is the cap on?

Jono

Bigmuz7 · 29 March 2008, 22:26

Most likely a leaky 'o' ring or something coming from the tank as Jono said.. try and follow any external oil paths, dry them all carefully, then watch and wait.. then try starting the engine... and watch and wait again. Start from the lowest point, and work up.. seems a simple comment, but the oil will only leak down ways usually, and its just a case of tracing it up to the leak, 'if' its not from the exhaust

diveacademy · 30 March 2008, 08:16

Thank you for all your help, please keep it coming :-)

I have had the cowl of this god damn thing, more times than you could shake a stick at it !!

Yes i have tried all the obvious parts and know that the oil must be coming from somewhere, but i will be f**ked if i can see where.

I have traced everyone of the oil pipes, checked all o ring etc... but still no change !!

I am sure that if the oil pressure is low it would sound the alarm ??

It does appear to be worse when operating under use. The problem is it would be impossible to operate it with all the engine covers off, to find exactly where it is coming from !!

Is it possible that the engine could be giving to much 2 stroke oil and it is this oil that is coming out of the air cowl ?? e.g. it has reverted back to break in mode ??

Ian Sharlot · 30 March 2008, 11:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by diveacademy

Thank you for all your help, please keep it coming :-)

The problem is it would be impossible to operate it with all the engine covers off, to find exactly where it is coming from !!

Not totally true. You dealer can plug the laptop in and prime the oil pump, Pumping oil through the system with out the engine running.

diveacademy · 30 March 2008, 11:45

Hello again.

Does anyone have an English cop of the user manual and could tell me what the position of the engine should be whilst not in use ??

I have driving ribs with outboards for more than 20 years and have always been taught and no for sure that the engine should be tilted up whilst not in use (as long as it is not in freezing water). But my dealer is telling me that the New Optimas's should be tilt down so it is in the water at all time !!

This seems bizarre to me and all i can think about the the damage to the lower unit with the salt water !!

I have the user manual in Spanish and although my Spanish is very good, i can not find any reference, to it needing to be kept in the tilted down position.

Tell me Mercury would not design and engine which has to be kept in the water at all time ??

Pete7 · 31 March 2008, 08:59

Downloaded a copy for my Opti from the US Mercury Marine website.

Pete