Freshly rebuilt 88 3.0 excesive oil splash from vent tube

[tubenewb]

Been searching and reading on this one for a while..Found quite a few posters asking the same question..Many replies suggested excesive blowby from worn or damaged motors...
I have a hard time believing that is the case here...
I have been reading into oil topics lately..I did break in and am currently running lucas break in additive as suggested by the motor builder.. along with 10-40 valvoline, again sugested by the builder...
My latest theory is that the oil is too thick , temp running around 120 and simply not draining back fast enough...
my 3.0 valve cover has the cast in baffle..I was thinking that maybe the oil is puddling high enough to meet the baffle and crank case pressure is making it spit...
Havnt confirmed this yet..just a thought
I am willing to do a compresion and leakdown test...However I am skeptical, the motor runs well and doesnt smoke..
I had talked to the local merc dealer, he sugested talking to the builder ..I did that. he asked me if it was smoking or oil fouling the plugs...
I havnt pulled a plug since but its not smoking and I am guessing the plugs are not oil fouled if itrs running well???

Anyone out here think the type of oil or the additive alone is creating a quirky situation ?

Of course the merc dealer suggested any oil that is FC-W approved..
thanks in advance

just to add, its a .030" over bore, with a stock replacement pump running apx 40psi oil pressure

 

[Bondo]

Re: Freshly rebuilt 88 3.0 excesive oil splash from vent tube

I havnt pulled a plug since

Ayuh,.... The Best We can do is Guess, as yer not followin' through with the suggestions forwarded....

 

[schiker]

Re: Freshly rebuilt 88 3.0 excesive oil splash from vent tube

Is the boat pointed bow up excessively? The drain back holes for the rocker area are pretty big. But if gasket silicone is gooped up on the valve cover gasket and squished out internal and that might restrict or plug a few holes maybe.

I'll try to post a pic of my '03 valve cover to show my baffle tomorrow and show my drain back holes.

I dunno I don't like oil additives much. Might have caused some foaming???? How long are you going to run it? Ready for first oil change and run just regular oil no additives.

 

[Fordiesel69]

Re: Freshly rebuilt 88 3.0 excesive oil splash from vent tube

Put in SAE 30, SAE 40, or 15W-40 if buying from auto store. If buying from marina, use merc oil.

Do a dry compression test, a wet compression test, and a leakdown test. I beleive you have excess blowby from the rings not sealing. Could be poor machining, poor quality rings, or rings that simply take forever to break in.

Avoid all the miracle in the bottle additives. You do not need break in oil.

 

[schiker]

Re: Freshly rebuilt 88 3.0 excesive oil splash from vent tube

The drain back holes are almost 1/2" diameter. My valve cover baffle is 1/2" above gasket surface so you would have to have a lot of oil puddled on head. Have you driven the boat and loaded it or you just running on a hose?

 

[tubenewb]

Re: Freshly rebuilt 88 3.0 excesive oil splash from vent tube

Ayuh,.... The Best We can do is Guess, as yer not followin' through with the suggestions forwarded....

Pulled the plugs...pretty clean .

Is the boat pointed bow up excessively? The drain back holes for the rocker area are pretty big. But if gasket silicone is gooped up on the valve cover gasket and squished out internal and that might restrict or plug a few holes maybe.

I'll try to post a pic of my '03 valve cover to show my baffle tomorrow and show my drain back holes.

I dunno I don't like oil additives much. Might have caused some foaming???? How long are you going to run it? Ready for first oil change and run just regular oil no additives.

It was pretty level here in the yard, and I wasnt nose up much on the water..
My initial instructions from the builder were a 20 minute break in at 2000rpm, change oil in filter, I have done that. But I also added another bottle of the lucas break in as the label reads that it can be used as an additive as well..The builder was pushing the additive for the flat tappet cam.. I was going to always use it, never been big on additives myself.And just for grabbing at straws I am thinking of draining and going with straight regular stuff , merc or auto..
I carefully only used permatex ultra black only on the cover sides of valve cover amd lifter cover, should be no sealant anywhere blocking anything..

Put in SAE 30, SAE 40, or 15W-40 if buying from auto store. If buying from marina, use merc oil.

Do a dry compression test, a wet compression test, and a leakdown test. I beleive you have excess blowby from the rings not sealing. Could be poor machining, poor quality rings, or rings that simply take forever to break in.

Avoid all the miracle in the bottle additives. You do not need break in oil.

Thanks
I am leaning towards draining and refilling with the regular stuff..I didnt do a wet test but I did a compresion test tonight, cold and warm..
3pumps then stopp on every reading...maxed out 150ish give or take a couple across the board.. IF anyone thinks I should go further I will, but this seemed pretty good to me, maybe I'm wrong...
Also no smoke out the exhaust while running on the hose...

The drain back holes are almost 1/2" diameter. My valve cover baffle is 1/2" above gasket surface so you would have to have a lot of oil puddled on head. Have you driven the boat and loaded it or you just running on a hose?

Ya mine is roughfly the same with the exception that in place of a sheet metal baffle screwed on its actuall part of the casting..
I have had it on the water , first putting very slowly(learning where the rocks are), this past weekend I was doing wide open pulls maxing out around 4400rpm fairly quickly,estimating around 35mph with the gps, it seems to be running as it should..

Thanks to all for the replies, if you think I should go further with a wet test and leakdown I will, but I kinda think we are good there..
someone suggested fresh tight motor , good oil pressure, maybe it just nneds more time to break in ?
Thanks a bunch

 

[Pete104]

Re: Freshly rebuilt 88 3.0 excesive oil splash from vent tube

I used the same "oil cocktail" recomendations with same builder using 10w-30 for initial break-in. The "zinc" makes oil stick to parts as the engine cools down. On a cold start instead of things being dry, there is oil there. The oil didn't show any wear until between 20 & 30 hrs. Then it got some color in it.
I'd break it in with the 10-30 + lucas. If you have an with flattened cam or something Your dead in the water again!
The only person out is you!

 

[tubenewb]

Re: Freshly rebuilt 88 3.0 excesive oil splash from vent tube

I used the same "oil cocktail" recomendations with same builder using 10w-30 for initial break-in. The "zinc" makes oil stick to parts as the engine cools down. On a cold start instead of things being dry, there is oil there. The oil didn't show any wear until between 20 & 30 hrs. Then it got some color in it.
I'd break it in with the 10-30 + lucas. If you have an with flattened cam or something Your dead in the water again!
The only person out is you!

So what do you think of his work?
I Did use the lucas when I did the break in, and I also used it with the oil change, thats whats currently in the motor now.
The cam was checked out..not sure what you meant buy flattened? Do you mean to question if it got wiped breaking it in?
Thanks

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Freshly rebuilt 88 3.0 excesive oil splash from vent tube

Does your valve cover breather baffle have any "baffles" in it, or is it just an open box, like in the pic? The breather baffle in my 72 140 HP valve cover has a bunch of metal slats in it, so the oil has somewhere to hit and run off, instead of getting sucked into the carb.

After rebuilding my 140 a couple years ago I had some excessive oil dripping out of the old vented oil fill cap. I replaced it with a oil fill cap that vents to the spark arrestor (lightly stuffed the cap with a SS scouring pad) and the oil dripping stopped. Any oil that's trying to blow out of the engine is caught by the SS wool and goes back into the engine.

I had some oil stink and dripping when the engine was first breaking in, but it has settled down. I probably have 20-30 hours on the engine now and the oil fumes and drips are gone. I guess it needed to break in.

BTW, I was using 15w40 Rotella for break-in and now running straight 40.

 

[Pete104]

Re: Freshly rebuilt 88 3.0 excesive oil splash from vent tube

Yes, if the cam was flattened during break-in, your SOL.
The work is fine! It depends how you treat it during break-in. The 1st 2hrs were a costant 1500rpm to WOT never staying at any RPM more than say a minute. Let the owner take it from there with him doing the samething. He had 10 hrs in no time. Changed oil again (2nd time) 10W-30 + lucas. Not any issues. He had checked the oil back early July & finally started using. Little over a Qt. 60hrs since last oil change, this time I put 10W-40 + lucas.
Boat went in the water 5/27 on 7/17 had 72.6hrs on fresh engine.

 

[tubenewb]

Re: Freshly rebuilt 88 3.0 excesive oil splash from vent tube

Does your valve cover breather baffle have any "baffles" in it, or is it just an open box, like in the pic? The breather baffle in my 72 140 HP valve cover has a bunch of metal slats in it, so the oil has somewhere to hit and run off, instead of getting sucked into the carb.

After rebuilding my 140 a couple years ago I had some excessive oil dripping out of the old vented oil fill cap. I replaced it with a oil fill cap that vents to the spark arrestor (lightly stuffed the cap with a SS scouring pad) and the oil dripping stopped. Any oil that's trying to blow out of the engine is caught by the SS wool and goes back into the engine.

I had some oil stink and dripping when the engine was first breaking in, but it has settled down. I probably have 20-30 hours on the engine now and the oil fumes and drips are gone. I guess it needed to break in.

BTW, I was using 15w40 Rotella for break-in and now running straight 40.

Hi fishrdan, its an open box very smiliar to the picture. I may have to try that SS wool trick, maybe it will help control the mess, if indeed this thing just needs more break in time with this style vent system..
I hope thats all this is...maybe wouldnt be seen with a different baffle style or a pvc system.
I was thinking of searching out some straight 40 or the recomended 20w -50
Thanks

 

[tubenewb]

Re: Freshly rebuilt 88 3.0 excesive oil splash from vent tube

Yes, if the cam was flattened during break-in, your SOL.
The work is fine! It depends how you treat it during break-in. The 1st 2hrs were a costant 1500rpm to WOT never staying at any RPM more than say a minute. Let the owner take it from there with him doing the samething. He had 10 hrs in no time. Changed oil again (2nd time) 10W-30 + lucas. Not any issues. He had checked the oil back early July & finally started using. Little over a Qt. 60hrs since last oil change, this time I put 10W-40 + lucas.
Boat went in the water 5/27 on 7/17 had 72.6hrs on fresh engine.

I see what your geting at now..my run time after the initial cam break in probably was not the most desirable..
I had to putt around a little until I found and learned the safe spots(rocks)...Hopefully all is well .
No hr meter yet, If i had to guess, there is maybe 6-10 hrs so far on this motor, probably closer to six, and the last two I started pushing it

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Freshly rebuilt 88 3.0 excesive oil splash from vent tube

Here's the SS scouring pad I used, same stuff that was in the OEM Mercruiser oil cap. It was only a couple bucks at Walmart. Be careful with it as you don't want a piece of it breaking off and floating around the engine. It's pretty tough though, just a word of caution. If you are going to put some in the baffle, make sure to wire it in place, so it can't drop out. The rocker arms would have a field day shredding it, if it fell out.......

I picked up the 40W oil at Orielly's/Checker.

Oh yeah, you don't want to put it in the baffle tightly packed like it is in the scouring pad, pull it open so it has a lot of air holes.