496 mag oil leak
 

I have a slight oil leak on my starboard engine on the port side. It looks like it is in the rear of the motor. I've seen posts where the oil relocation adapter and fittings could be leaking, or the oil cooler line fitings, oil pressure sensor, or even the oil pan bolts loosen up. I have a baja 30 outlaw - the motors are 2004 mags. Can I even get to these areas with the motors in the boat? Have others checked these by removing the risers to help get to the areas? Or do you have to pull the motor to find the leak and fix it?

Dye test it. I ran my boat as I normally would with the dye in the oil as some leaks won’t present themselves necessarily just idling on a hose in the driveway. I had the same engine that leaked on the same side and it was an adapter that the oil pressure sending unit screwed into if memory serves but there are many possible sources on that side of engine with the remote filter oil lines, oil cooler, etc.

I guess I was wondering how accessible those areas are when the motors are still in the boat. If I take off the riser and diverters, will I be able to reach the hoses, fittings and adapter?

Sure its not the overflow for the outdrive?

Yea. I'm pretty sure. It looks like pretty clean oil. I think it's dripping without the motor running.

With the riser off it should be easy.

take an white oil diaper and rub it in areas to see where the leak starts and stops. then focus on that area. Also there is a SB from Merc about the oil lines and issues. also possible oil pan and or the oil drain hose.

also I use tracer leak detection but alot of times underside on a marine engine is still hard to find the oil leaks. Sometime the motor has to be pulled and let it drip to find the leak if its on the bottom back side and or underside of the engine.

I've worked on 496s in a 30' Baja Outlaw, and it's a VERY difficult setup to work on.

Are you sure it's motor oil, and not drive fluid?

And, best I can offer you on personal experience, is I had a leak on one of my 496HOs where the dipstick enters the oil pan. It was fixed externally, but I don't remember exactly what was done. But that is wrong side of the motor compared to your described issue.

This is the quickest and cheapest way to help pin point the bugger.

I was chasing an oil leak for months before I put the dye in and found that it was coming from the Hardin bulkhead mounting bolt where they got a little sloppy on the machine work. This was after replacing expensive fittings and twisting upside down in the bilge.