Can I spray soapy water on my 502 ?
 

I've got 2 oil leaks on my 502 and was thinking about putting some air pressure on the crankcase when the motor is out and spraying soapy water on the suspect areas looking for bubbles. Anyone do this before? will it work? greg

Try this stuff works great. Just add to engine oil and use a blacklight

Greg, yes we do it all the time. The crankcase really won't hold a lot of pressure, as the rings will pass air out the cylinders. We use a pressure regulator and just a couple of PSI. The black light dye is also helpfull as Lee says.

Here's my 02 cents.

I've never ever come to grips with Mercurys' decision to paint their engines black. It's hard enough to find a small leak from the getgo (I know you're removing your powerplant) without complicating the process with a paint 'colour' that's the same as oil. Every engine I do is a lighter colour when I'm finished. This was the latest. 502 with Merlins and all the goodies.

Later, Brian