4.3 Mercruiser w/remote oil filter - leak?
 

I have a 2000 270 Sundancer with twin 4.3's w/remote oil filter kits. Been noticing small amounts of oil in the bilge coming from the port side of the port engine for a while. I jumped down in the bilge while the engine was running and noticed a slight oil drip that appeared to be coming from above the engine mount - what I was able to see was an occasional drip from under the hoses (I think the inside one to be specific). Really difficult to see.

So the question is and before I have to learn to stand on my head to remove and replace the 2 hoses, could it be something else I need to look at?

Engine oil level reads full which makes me a little suspicious of the drive reservor above - which I noticed a 1/4 reduction several times. I tied rags around the bottoms of both the drive reservoir and the remote oil filter - both dry as a bone...

Also, oil is dark in the bilge, looks nothing like the green merc drive oil...

Thoughts please ....

Try and tighten up the fittings on the hoses...they may have loosened up over time with the heat cycles...could be an easy fix....changing the long hoses is really not that hard to do....the hard one is the short one going to the cooler..if you have one which i think you should..other then that i personally have not seen or heard of the stock hoses going bad for anyone (not that it cant happen)

You can get a dye to put in the oil at any auto parts store, and with a cheap black light see exactly where it's coming from. I was chasing a leak forever and that sorted out exactly where the problem was.

Thanks gents!
in assume you mean the hose fittings directly under the remote oil filter. First things I checked. Dry and like the idea of the due. I'm going to check one last thing before replacing the hoses. Maybe there is a leak in the hose from the drive reservoir but don't it because the oil in the bilge appears to be engin oil.

Infuess the the only other thing it could be is one of the hoses unless there is something else on the port side of the engine above the hoses. Trid to see if the valve cover might be leaking but doesn't appear to be. The dye could be a good identifier.

Thanks again.

Mean time get a bilge diaper and lay it out under that side of the engine. Pack of 6 is 10 bucks or se at west marine.

Good idea thanks

It is likely the hoses that run from the filter mount to the engine pad mount. I had mine start to weep after a number of years. Same issue you have.

Thanks- appreciate the response.