Oil Leak on Volvo Penta V8 225hp

[dhuston99]

I have a 2015 220 with the 225hp Volvo V8. Just got it last summer. Ran great all summer. Put the cover on it for the winter and just got it out last week for a trip to the lake. Noticed an oily drip from the drain plug. Checked the bilge to find oil residue in bilge. Checked the oil and didn't even register. Added some oil and put some puppy pads in the bilge. Next day there was oil on the pads but not a lot. I can for the life of me see where the oil is coming from. Got down in the engine bay as far as my belly would allow and even used mechanics mirror but cant locate it. I think it is coming from somewhere in the every back/bottom of the motor. Any thoughts? Is this a common problem? I will be taking it back to where I bought it to have them look at it. Just wanted to maybe get some I idea what I may be in for!

Also, there is no way it all leaked out over the winter. There was a small bit of oil on the ground where i had it parked for most of the winter but not 6 quarts worth.

[bruceb58]

The only normal place that it could leak that much while the engine is not running is the combo drain/dipstick. As you may or not be aware, the dipstick connects to a fitting at the engines normal drain plug location. Stick a cell camera down there and take some pictures to see if its leaking from there. Pretty easy to fix if you can actually reach it. Not familiar with your model of boat.

Of course there is the more drastic condition of the pan leaking which would be caused by nicks in the pan's paint followed by salt water in the bilge. Not sure if its a salt water boat but that is possible if you ever experienced a high enough lever of salt water in the bilge. Unfortunately, I had a boat that experienced this and I had to lift the engine out and replace the pan. Hopefully, that is not the case with yours.

[Big Block Power]

Sounds like you will have to do a oil consumption test on your boat now. When was the last time you changed the oil? Leak. No not common. Get a bore scope Even. Get some oil dye and a black light and hunt it down?

[cmattj]

Did you add 6 qts to bring it level on the stick ?

Both areas described above need to be checked as you don’t know the oil level when you last took her out.
.

[jhnmdahl]

I've got the exact same engine and year, and haven't experienced this. It's the same engine as the V8-300 of that year, and 99% the same as the V8-320. Fortunately you have a ton of room back there to check things out, although you might have to take one of those plastic "walls" that run alongside each side of the engine out to get the best view.

BBP's suggestion of dye is a good one, but it's probably easier to get under there with a smartphone with a camera and do some exploring first.

John

[dhuston99]

After four weeks of waiting to get boat looked at, I am being told that the oil dipstick tube is corroded and the leak is coming from there. Have to pull the engine to replace. 10 hrs labor to pull and replace engine. I asked them to give me an estimate on replacing the oil pan and motor mounts while they had the engine pulled. That estimate was $2900 on top of the $1500 labor to pull the engine. Does that price seem high to anyone? Was told the the $2900 included 5 hrs labor for the mounts and oil pan. The boat is a 2015 with about 500 hrs on it. Was told it was in great shape when i bought it last year. Obviously there was a lot of corrosion missed.

[Krob1114]

I'm thinking that's a lot of money. I'm wondering if the $2900 includes the the 10 + 5 hours, $1500 for labor, and the rest parts and taxes?
Nothing in your post tells us about previous history of the boat. We all avoid boats that have been in salt water like the plague, unless we boat in salt water. Is there any place you can get a second estimate? I once had and estimate go down 50% when I told them I was getting a second opinion.

[Big Block Power]

Sounds about right to me.
Mine as well do ujoints bellows and gimbal bearing.

[rabiddawg]

As far as hours go, 10 to remove and install the engine is fair. I’m basing this on r&i my engine recently.

As for the labor rate. I do almost all my own work. A boat tech earns every dollar. It’s miserable working on a boat.

Are the mounts and pan bad?

Some of the labor in the mount change will be re-aligning the engine with the drive shaft.

[bruceb58]

Seems hard to believe you need to pull the engine to do this but it all depends n the access from the top and sides. In some cases, all it takes is to remove one exhaust manifold and you can more easily get to it.

$1500 is about right for an engine pull.

[Krob1114]

But $1500 plus $2900?

[jhnmdahl]

Yeah, the additional $2900 part seems steep for an oil pan, dipstick tube, and motor mounts. Could always ask if the price will be different if they have it over the winter, and/or get a second opinion from another shop. Any Volvo-Penta shop should be able to do that no problem.

Please do keep us posted,

John

[bruceb58]

When I said seems hight to replace the dipstick tube, I was referring to just the dipstick tube. Is the oil pan corroded?

[dhuston99]

Still waiting for them to pull the motor. Only have 2 techs at the moment. As far as I know the only thing that knew was corroded was the dipstick tube. Will check everything else out when they pull the motor.