1.8L Leaked Major Oil…Help! - Solved

[Nivekot]

I have a 2015 Yamaha 242 Limited S with twin 1.8L motors (~110 hrs), freshwater use only. Used the boat yesterday and it ran great all day! Went to use the boat today and as I was checking oil levels before use (which I do every time), I noticed the starboard motor had no oil on the dipstick. I then noticed oil down in the bilge. Where should I start checking for oil leaks? Any common areas??

I didn’t have enough oil today to fill the motor up and run it to check for any oil leaks. Also, when I changed the oil a few weeks ago, I made sure not to double up on oil filter gaskets.

Thanks for any help!

 

[Babin Farms]

I’ve had a bad filter gasket before on a major brand name filter. Did oil spray everywhere? If not it should be fairly easy to find the leak.

 

[Nivekot]

It did not spray up as the insulation foam was dry above. Just worried about how much was missing. No oil pressure lights or anything came on last time I used it to show low oil level…

 

[Babin Farms]

It did not spray up as the insulation foam was dry above. Just worried about how much was missing. No oil pressure lights or anything came on last time I used it to show low oil level…

I wouldn’t worry about how much is left in there. Find the leak, refill & test. You’ll have oil pressure as long as there’s oil to pump so that tells me it was still being circulated.

 

[itsdgm]

My guess would be the oil filter. Either it came loose, a bad seal or a crack of some kind in the filter itself. Hopefully you put them on hand tight. It’s common for them to crack if using a wrench t tighten them on.

also, some of the oil coolers were known to shear bolts off. Not sure if yours would be in that category. But check to see if you have one sheared off.

Good luck with the fix. Hopefully it is a simple one.

BTW, Great job checking the oil daily. Otherwise the engine would’ve burned up.

 

[14SX190]

Check to see if you have a "arrow" stamped near one of the bolts on the oil cooler under oil filter. It will will pointing to ungraded bigger bolt on newer coolers.
Hopefully your leak isn't as bad as mine.

Add oil and run engine and look at oil cooler, filter, around oil pump(looking down front of engine). All oil accessories use "O'rings" to seal them.
Use a dog training pad to help with clean up and finding drips

https://jetboaters.net/threads/oil-cooler-disater-leak.33558/

 

[Nivekot]

Thanks for the tips! I'm crossing my fingers it's an oil filter issue as this was the first run on the water after the oil change. I will check all these areas later this week and keep everyone posted. Thanks!

I assume the oil pressure light would have illuminated if the engine was operating with low oil??

 

[Babin Farms]

I assume the oil pressure light would have illuminated if the engine was operating with low oil??

The light will not come on unless the pressure drops below the pressure limit threshold. As long as it had enough oil to build pressure it won’t trigger the light. It’s not designed to light up if it’s low on oil, just low on pressure.

 

[Nivekot]

To circle back, it appears the oil leak came from a small split in the oil filter gasket. I replaced the oil filter and added oil and all seems well. I highly recommend checking for oil leaks right after an oil change during the first outing on water (not just running on a hose). Thanks for all the input!

 

[Julian]

To circle back, it appears the oil leak came from a small split in the oil filter gasket. I replaced the oil filter and added oil and all seems well. I highly recommend checking for oil leaks right after an oil change during the first outing on water (not just running on a hose). Thanks for all the input!

With the price of Oil these days, I'd be looking for an 800 number for the filter manufacturer (on the box maybe) and complain that not only do you want refund for the filter, but for the 4 quarts of oil in your bilge!

 

[212s]

To circle back, it appears the oil leak came from a small split in the oil filter gasket. I replaced the oil filter and added oil and all seems well. I highly recommend checking for oil leaks right after an oil change during the first outing on water (not just running on a hose). Thanks for all the input!

Glad you found it was a simple issue to fix. Most likely the filter was over-tightened and split the gasket...usually it's 3/4 turn after the gasket makes contact.