Hello and thanks in advance for any and all assistance. My father in law has a 96 cougar with a 502 mag mercruiser efi. This week when he put it in the lake for the first time this year it filled the back up with water and we had to pull it out immediately. Upon further research it appears to be blowing and spraying water out of the seal of the oil pan from my best observation. I am new to boats and definitely new to this beast. I am curious if this is something that happens and just resealing the oil pan would solve the issue or if it's something more like a crack in the block that's allowing the water I to that area and spraying it out. Any insight would be greatly appreciated 👏

Well, water and oil pan don't really go together, not winterized correctly pushed a freeze plug out the back of the block, or damaged bellows allowing water intrusion

yea the water from the oil pan seemed odd to me as well but that's the best I can see that it's coming from. I took pictures but am unable to post them since i am new here. I did not see any freeze plugs that were leaking and its spraying from the side of the engine, down low by the motor mount.

Lots of people here leave the block drain plugs (and others) out over the winter. Are all drain plugs in and accounted for ?

Definitely sounds like a freeze plug or a cracked block

Not sure how many posts you need before you can post pictures. If you want to e-mail me a few of them I will post them [email protected]

you cant see the rear block plugs because of the bellhousing covering them

Thank you thats exactly what it was. There is one that sits right above the spot it looked like it was leaking. After looking at the pictures I took I could see there was an open hole just above it.

SB wins the golden ticket..................for some reason I was focused on the rear of the engine

I appreciate your willingness to assist! Lot of knowledge here for sure!

The good news all around is...easy fix!