72 Mercury 800 - Oil runoff question

[busy1]

So, been running this motor for quite a few years now, and have recently had work done which included new choke assembly, carb rebuild, etc.

Now, I'm noticing something I don't recall seeing before.

There has always been some residual oil runoff once I dock the boat, typical of this type of outboard - but what I'm noticing now is that if I run this thing at high throttle for a period of time, then bring it in - there is very little oil around the motor - less than I had seen previously - no complaints there. But if I take it relatively slow around the lake a couple times - casual, no high throttle (though not trolling either) and then dock it, there seems to be a lot of oil runoff - considerably more than I can previously recall.

Again, this is since the recent work - of course still using the same 50:1, manual mix, etc. as before. Besides this runoff issue, motor is running great - Should I have a concern here?

Thanks

 

[DagsHuggy]

Have you, by chance run this question by the people who did the work on the motor?
If you don't see leaks and from the bottom end (I guess you would have to pull the boat to check) and everything seems to run fine then I don't worry. I would ask the mech but if your mix is fine and no leaks then what else is there.

 

[Chris1956]

Pull the wrap cowl and see if the carbs are leaking at the bowls or throat at the slower speed. At high speed, the fuel usage may be high enough to overcome the leak.

 

[busy1]

Appreciate the responses...

Have you, by chance run this question by the people who did the work on the motor?

Yep, straight off the moment I noticed it - first they asked if I'm smelling excessive gas - which I'm not - and then said that what I described is normal for that vintage outboard. When I inquired further, they simply said it would be best to bring it back in, as they don't do remote diagnosis. LOL Which led me here.

Pull the wrap cowl and see if the carbs are leaking at the bowls or throat at the slower speed. At high speed, the fuel usage may be high enough to overcome the leak.

Thanks, yep I definitely need to do this. Unfortunately I have some physical issues that make this challenging with the boat in the water, so either need to pull it or get some assistance - which is why wanted to get some thoughts first. I will report back.

Thanks