Volvo Penta D6 lost oil into bilge

[Ribliam]

Looking for a bit of advice on this

I changed my oil and filters including the crankcase filter on a 2006 model VP D6 coupled to a DPR outdrive, I travelled approx 70 miles on the boat last Friday from Crosshaven near Cork to Crookhaven in West Cork.
I tied my boat up at a mooring on Friday night and was not back on board until Sunday, before starting I was doing my pre start checks when I noticed what I thought at first was black water in the bilge but when I dipped the engine and discovered no oil showing on the dipstick I realised that this was in fact the engine oil. I have looked around the engine and cannot find any signs of where oil would have sprayed out,I did not get any low oil level warnings.

My suspicion is that my sump has leaked and that it only leaked shortly before I stopped the boat or when stopped.

Has anyone come across this with this type of engine?

The engine is fitted in an 8 metre Excalibur built rib, I have good access around the engine bay but realise the engine will have to come out to change the sump if it is the sump.

All advice greatly appreciated.. Thanks

[Tris]

Has it only leaked after you done oil change? did you double check when you changed the oil filter that the o ring seal came away with the old filter?
I have seen them stay on the engine then when new filter is put on it sits against 2 o rings and leaks

[Ribliam]

Happy enough that all was ok with filter change no oil leaked from top of engine also no signs of oil anywhere else only under sump in bilge ,going back to boat at w/e .I will be bringing a snake cam with me so hopefully will know more then.

[Anchorhandler]

Would be quite surprised if it was the sump itself leaking (unless you mean the drain plug or maybe due to extreme external corrosion)

I have several VP's here at work (11 in total) some with just over 30000 hours on them and never had an issue with the sump gaskets leaking.

Can you not re-fill the sump, run the engine and keep an eye on where the oil is leaking from?

Simon

[LURCHER]

I had a similar thing happen to my KAD44 after removing the engine last year to clean and paint both the engine and the bilges after 10 years of hard work.
After the initial trial run all seemed OK ,then a high speed run to Cowes .
On arrival I opened the engine cover and was greeted by oil everywhere and a low reading on dip stick . Topped up and limped home checking all the time to see where the oil was coming from . After ages I finally found the source . The crankcase breather pipe sited low down on the block and hidden behind the fuel pump had simply dislodged . Refitted the silly push fit with a jubilee and all OK .
Oil did not escape at low revs so the problem was not picked up on initial trial.
A small amount of oil goes a long way when mixed with bilge water !








,

[just another toy]

how was the oil pressure reading?

[Ribliam]

Oil pressure was normal ,I am going to suck out what oil is in bilge refill with oil, start up and see what happens,I will update when I know more.. Thanks for
all help todate

[Ribliam]

Following on from the checks on filters etc I bit the bullet and decided to remove the engine although I still had no proof of a hole in the sump but was very suspicious due to the amount of rust that was coming away in layers when I cleaned around the side of the sump.

While I was lifting out the engine I had to lift out an angle to clear the transom shield, while the engine was at an angle I could see oil weeping out from the side of the sump about half way up towards the stern. When the engine was removed and after cleaning around the sump bolts I removed the sump to find that the sump still had approx. 10 litres of oil in it which to me was a relief as it meant that I had run with low oil as opposed to no oil.

I have ordered a new sump and hope to be back on the water shortly thank for all help / advice.

Attached are a few pictures showing, the pin holes in the sump,the oil that was remaining in the sump after removing,and the engine bay before and after cleaning.

[Mollers]

Petrol Merc inboards are prone to perforated sumps as they are only an automotive componant. Maybe worth taking the new one back to bare metal and giving it a few coats of Galvafroid maybe? Or, lag some wax oil over it.

[Ribliam]

Thanks,I will give it a good coating with galvo spray and wax before fitting, I wish the guy who fitted 1st day had done something similar.

[Callum Stewart]

I would look at modifying the bilge & pumps as it looks like you have water splashing about the engine causing the corrosion. I had a big problem with bilge water causing the same type of problems on a inboard diesel rib. I modified the floor of the engine bay making two sumps for water to collect in, it made a enormous difference.

[Ribliam]

Thanks Callum good idea

What did you do to create the sumps, my thoughts would be to build a fibreglass wall out approx 300mm from transom and below the lowest point of the sump with drain holes at the upper side of each side which would allow the water be held between the transom and the "wall" so as to be deeper when underway to allow the pump clear out more.?

Liam

[Callum Stewart]

Hi Liam,
I have attached a sketch of the modification I carried out. I used 50mm hard wood shaped to fit the profile of the bilge floor.
The rule automatic pump I wired to a switch so it was only used when the RIB was on the move.
All the best Callum.