Bravo One power steering leak, somewhere...
 

On Thursday while I was out running around I noticed a high-pitched squeal running along about 3400 rpm, slowed to idle and it went away, didn't come back for some time but eventually did. Once at the dock I started checking the normal things and all was good until I checked the power steering fluid pump reservoir, it was down a couple of inches, to where the fluid didn't register on the dipstick. Looked all around at what I could easily get to, didn't see any evidence of a leak. Took the boat out again a few hours later, no squeal until heading back home, not as bad...more intermittent. Stopped and checked the power steering reservoir again and it was a little lower than what it was (allowing for hot operation versus cold)...so I topped it off, this time with ATF thinking I'd be better able to see the red fluid instead of the clear fluid that was in it. As chance would have it, that night a rainstorm came up and I got a few inches of water in the bilge, but not enough to trip the float switch on the bilge pump. But this water was definitely contaminated with oil, I assume from the power steering since the engine oil system seems fine.
As I've gotten older it is becoming harder and harder to climb around like a monkey and get into tight spaces, but once again just feeling around with a white rag on various hoses, I found nothing. However, I did notice some oil on top of the mounting plate where the steering arm connects to the outdrive...tried to get a picture but just couldn't get any decent photos. A bystander who was observing what I was doing and having a conversation with me about it suggested it could be the power steering cooler, which appears to be just behind and to the left (looking rearwards) of the distributor.

I put the boat back in storage Friday so didn't get much more opportunities to check things out, but I was curious what others think could be the source of the leak, and also if there's a chance I've damaged my p/s pump? It never ran dry, not even close, but I did still have that squeek/squeal a little bit.
This is on a 2000 model year 454 MPI and Bravo One.

It could be purging air from the system causing the fluid drop since you see no fluid in the bilge, the squeak squeal could be a bearing going bad in the pump ?

So about that pump...does anyone have an automotive cross reference to it? Because it lists for over $920.00 on the marine parts sites!
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...6e0cc675fc.jpg

https://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/...e-gm-part.html
or
https://www.rockauto.com/en/parts/a-...ring+pump,7380

Hope this helps with what you looking for.

Ah man...perfect! This is one of the reasons I LOVE this forum!

I AM seeing some sort of fluid in the bilge...sorry if I wasn't clear on this. But I only saw it when I had got a little rainwater in there, to make it visible.

it is just a GM pump but make sure to use the outlet pressure valve and spring from the original. that is what sets the pressure in the system.

Ayuh,..... To find the leak,.... Do you have a digital camera, or phone,..?? If so, it'll fit, where yer head won't,.....

You can use dye to make finding leaks easier.
Read reviews:

Well hell, I actually have a kit like that already! Have had it for years, bought it to find a leak on my RX-7. Thanks for jogging my memory!

What year RX-7??

OP - I just had one go bad and bought from PSC. They were great. You can actually pull the pump out of the housing and just replace the guts. I think mine was only about 200 bucks.

Isn't it so wonderful that Mother Mercury takes a GM part and puts a 10 valve in it and charges their customers 9x the cost? Must be one hell of a labor charge for that. They are right up there with the Motor Company, Harley Davidson.

RX-7 is 1993 year.

I will definitely NOT be buying an OEM Mercruiser or even Sierra pump, lol! Will go the automotive route and do the mod.
I've had a lot of people suggest that the leak is almost certainly from p/s system oil cooler, so I'll be checking that out next time I use the boat.

Ok, thanks for all the good info. I got the pump, and am looking ahead to what it would take to change this out if necessary, reviewing the Service Manual. It appears there is a fairly involved process to remove the pulley from the old pump and install on the new and getting the serpentine belt alignment correct. Of course Mercruiser references a couple of special tools for pulling the pulling and re-installing. For those that have done this, am I over-thinking the process? Obviously the serpentine belt has to be dead-nuts on alignment...

Nice. I have an all original 94 R2 with less than twenty some thousand original miles. Never been in the rain.

Definitely check with PSC if your pump burned up. They were great. Could be leaking in the cooler. PS coolers are small and relatively cheap to replace....

I brought my boat home from Table Rock to work on a few things, including fixing the power steering fluid leak. Gave it a thorough inspection, found NOTHING...no oil on hoses, no "smoking gun"...I had convinced myself it was going to be a low pressure line on the oil cooler. I believe my next step is to put some ultraviolet dye in and run it for a while and then check again.
Frustrating.

You need a PS Pulley puller/install kit. Autozone has them to rent(free), but like was said, you will need an impact to get it off.

I did the ultraviolet dye test and was rewarded with an abundance of fluorescing oil on the starboard side bottom of the power steering cooler. Yay, thinks I, so I take the power steering cooler off (footnote: major PIA!) and pressure test it and...crap, it's perfectly fine. So, the p/s fluid has to be spraying up underneath the cooler, evidently? The starboard rear engine mount is awash in p/s fluid...so the leak is somewhere in that area. Is there a possibility of a seal out in the steering unit itself? Next step is I am making a bypass for the power steering cooler so I can see what is going on there better, and I'll fire it up and have my wife turn the steering wheel and see what I can see.
I had the engine running for about 30 minutes during the test, as I wanted to warm it up so I could change the oil...and probably lost 2 oz. of fluid in that time from the reservoir. 7.4 Bravo One.

Clean everything off with some degreaser. Lay some cardboard all over under the engine. Run engine and look for drips and then trace back to the source of the leak.

I'd be willing to bet the hose clamp on the PS cooler nipple has cut through the hose and is spraying out. Take ends of hoses off, trim an inch, and re-attach. I bet that solves it. Had this happen to me last spring when I was installing new exhaust manifolds.