Did my dealer mess this up? Oil Leaking

[bpowell451]

See photo below.

I took my 1999 Honda BF50A (50 HP) into the certified Honda Dealer for annual service last week. They changed the lower unit oil, water pump and changed oil filter and changed the oil.

I went to take the boat out today for the first time and noticed a nice oil spot in driveway underneath the motor. I tracked the oil trail back to the Engine Oil Drain plug cover. I undid the cover and there was a fair amount of oil in there. I looked closer and it looks like the "sealing washer" for the drain plug was "mis-seated" Would this cause the leak? I haven't tested it under pressure yet. I was afraid to run the engine?

The back side of sealing washer is seated flat against the motor body while the other side seems that one of the "ridges" didn't get all the way up into hole before they tightened down the drain bolt.

I checked the oil and it still registers to the upper mark. I didn't have this problem before I took her in for service.

My dealership is about 1.5 hours away. Can I fix this myself? I pretty handy. I am thinking that I am going to have lose most of my oil when I reseat the washer. Will I need a need sealing washer?

Thanks

Brad

 

[gss036]

Re: Did my dealer mess this up? Oil Leaking

I think you need to contact the dealer and send him this picture. They should make it right to you, if the plug is cross threaded, you could have a real problem down the riad. I sure would not run the motor until it was fixed. At this point you are out of warranty, so put it back on the dealer to fix.

 

[bpowell451]

Re: Did my dealer mess this up? Oil Leaking

so am I right? is not seated correctly? How will I know if it's cross threaded? How do they fix it?

 

[bpowell451]

Re: Did my dealer mess this up? Oil Leaking

oh, I forgot. Thank You for the quick response.

 

[Fun Times]

Re: Did my dealer mess this up? Oil Leaking

Your going to need to go to the dealer anyways to get the new part that more then likely they messed up, So just call them send them this photo have them order the part if they don't have it in stock, Then tell them you can have the engine to them at this time but because you live so far that you will half to wait at there store till they fix it as soon as you get it there, and see what they say, I would hope they will jump on it right away if they ever want you back for service again. Good luck with it.

 

[bpowell451]

Re: Did my dealer mess this up? Oil Leaking

Well, before I left the house this morning, I had to see for myself what was going on. I put on some ears and ran her for about 20 seconds. As soon as I cranked her up, oil started draining.

I load up and get to the dealership about 9:00 am. The head mechanic came out and tightened the drain plug bolt about a 1/2 turn. We hooked her up and no leaks. I wasn't convinced that the bolt was cross-threaded. so I had them pull the bolt, drain the oil and inspected the bolt and threads. They look perfect so we filled her back up with oil and tested...no leaks.

We worked hard to get the rubber drain plug (which I had incorrectly identified as the sealing washer) to seat flush with the motor body. It didn't want to go in all the way. The head mechanic explained that the only way to get access to this was to pull the powerhead. He advised me that he wouldn't worry to much about whether this was absolutely flush as it didn't effect the oil and any water that might get past the seal here would drain out. It's the rubber thing where the red arrow is pointing. I can't say that I was completely confident in that answer. but, after watching them drain the oil, I couldn't see any reason for them to mess with the rubber thing anyway. It may have been this way when I bought the boat.

Anyone have any insight on the rubber drain plug. Am I OK to operate without a completely flush seating. Is there a trick or tip to get it go all the way in?

Overall, I'm not having a good experience with marine mechanics and contractors in general. Ask me about the almond gutters that were installed on my white house last week

 

[hondon]

Re: Did my dealer mess this up? Oil Leaking

That rubber seal do'es nothing to seal that drain plug and little to seal anything.The drain plug is sealed by an alluminum washer between that and the oilpan and should ,by all reccomendations ,be changed each oil change.Do,es that happen?Hell no.Do mechanics sometimes get distracted and forget to tighten things properly.Certainly so.Draining that oil and changing the filter is a messy job and some residual oil can be expected especially if this is an in and out job with little time to clean up that puddled oil.It happens and it sounds like that dealer made it right.We are all human and sorry about the gutters