PJDiesel

Hopefully this is a relatively minor issue. The boat is a 1988 Chaparral Villain IV with 330HP 454's/ bravo 1's.

Seems that when we run for a while then stop to drop anchor I notice a small slick out back. At first I thought it was coming from my drives (trim cylinders) but I have tried several times to find a leak on land and can't see even a hint of a problem back there. Tabs seem to be leak free too.

Now then, what could be causing this? Running too rich when she idles down?

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! We have about two more weekends here and I would like to figure it out if possible.

PJDiesel

Little bump. Anyone have any ideas for a bother?

Scarab3DMC

Probibly not fuel you would smell it.. you may be rite on with the trim, Check on land with someone powering up and down, check hose and fittings, Sometime the wipers on the rams go bad check with a dry paper towel.. good luck ! also look at the drive drain and fill plugs..Pull the prope and check the shaft seals..a little fishing line will make the seal leak !

jeff1000man

Could be burning a little oil through th exhaust. When you are running it looks like normal steam. When you stop the oil residue is coming out of the exhaust. How old are the motors? when was the last time you had a valve job?

Good luck finding the problem.

PJDiesel

Motors are quite old but relatively low hours (270+/-).

Mechanical history is unknown except for recent risers and other general maintenance type stuff. (so,.... afaik, maybe never had a valve job/adjustment). Oil level stays up right where it should be though, wouldn't I be "using" oil if this were the case?

Thanks for the reply.

jeff1000man

Yeah you should be using some, but how many drops does it take to make the rainbow in the water.

Sounds like you may have to monitor the situation next season when you have time to test a lot of different things. There are a lot of places to leak a few drops of petroleum roduct out of one of these boats.

Good luck.

jeff1000man

Oh, also, old motors with few housrs could mean an old or brittle valve seal. This is something that can be checked without pulling the heads. Take the valve covers off and fill the cylinders with air pressure. Youcan take the keepers and springs off and change your valve seals.

Takes 3-4 hours and about $20 in parts if you do it yourself. Costs a lot of money to send to the mechanic because of all the time they have to bill.