Reservoir bottle empty - Can they leak from the bottom?

[Homerr]

2001 Bayliner 215, 5.0 Mercruiser I/O, Alpha One Gen 2:

It's been a long time since I've visited this forum.. so I'm back like a bad rash! LOL!

Has anyone ever had their drives' reservoir bottle leak from the gasket that's below the large nut with the wires coming out of it? My bottle was empty. There's no evidence of leaking from the drive itself, but there is evidence of oil below this bottle and onto the power steering pump and into the bilge. Normally I keep the bilge spotless and now it shows a black film-residue exactly like you see when dirt or dust gets onto oil (like you might see on a typical Big Rig or heavy equipment that runs diesel, etc.). Where there's oil - dust will cling to it.

My boat has been sitting since about 2017-ish and I know there was no problems prior to storing it. The bottle WAS full and you can still see oil in the line so that tells me there are no leaks in the drive (plus the oil level at the top vent hole).

My boat is still practically a baby with only 234 hours. I take meticulous care of her. Long story of why I haven't ran the girl, but I'm bringing her back to life. She runs perfectly as always and fires right up.

Anyway, that nut gasket is wet too and there are no cracks or damage to the bottle. Just wondering if these things can leak? I went ahead and ordered a new factory bottle (less than $50) as I'm not too sure how successful I'd be trying to replace that gasket. It looks a little tricky - especially being plastic and it might be hard to get at that inner nut. I've learned that when it comes to plastic bottles like this - it's a crap shoot to repair it. Better off just getting another one. Not to mention I'm in the middle of nowhere so I can't just run to the store and grab one! Out here we sometimes have to get creative with our repairs!

PS: What is that sensor or switch inside the reservoir do anyway? It looks similar to the gas tank sender. Is it suppose to kill the engine or something when the oil level gets too low? If so - it didn't work as the engine fired right up and there' no indication on the dash panel of problems. I wonder if it was stuck or? Maybe it's not connected somewhere or it was an option, I have no idea.

Thanks,

 

[Bt Doctur]

More likely the housing is cracked where the bolt goes thru

 

[Homerr]

I thought about it being cracked somehow but didn't see anything obvious, thus the reason I'm asking if anyone else had this issue.

I'll figure out a way to put a little pressure on it and check it. You'd think a gravity leak would have a pretty obvious hole, but you never know.

Maybe it was the hose? It has a plastic barb fitting and a plastic clamp. Both sorta useless (imo). I may change my new tank to a brass fitting and a clamp that you can put some torque on.

 

[flashback]

The plastic fitting is a known weak spot.

 

[Homerr]

Slight update...

I've had the old reservoir sitting for a few days on the bench and nothing has leaked. So I'm not sure where the oil went. There is clear evidence something was leaking as there is embarrassing wetness on top of the power steering pump cap as well as into the bilge. The reservoir sits right above the power steering pump. Very strange leak.

I also found oil residue on the very bottom of my drive. Nothing major, just obviously oil is there. Of course this concerned me so I decided to pull the drive for a closer look. Not a bad idea considering it's been in storage for so long. Good time to grease the gimball bearing, check alignment, etc.

I found nothing obviously wrong. There's a valve in the bell housing that had (what I think) was more oil around it than necessary (see attached photo, part # 32). I'm not exacty sure how this valve works. If this valve somehow stuck open, you'd think you would find a big puddle of oil inside the drive where it's not supposed to be or a puddle on the ground, but nope. That extra oil around the valve could simply be from pulling the drive apart.

The drive was full of oil, non-milky, etc., so no leaks there. Everything else inside looks up to par. I'm going to replace the impeller and related seals. Might as well since I'm in there. I'm a stickler for fresh seals every time I pull something apart. Cheap insurance.

My only other guess is the hose itself that connects to the reservoir bottle. It's the last thing in the Scooby mystery chain. Maybe with it expanding/contracting over the long winter-summer storage caused it to leak? True mystery! I can't stand leaks... I'm sorta OCD about them. .

Oh and I received my new reservoir bottle. OEM (Quicksilver) and that barb connector is facing 90-degrees the wrong way and straight into the hanger-bracket so there's no way to put a hose on it. I'll have to get creative with some brass fittings if I want to use it. Way to go whoever their bottle supplier is. Oh well as they say. I wanted to replace the plastic connector anyway. Other than that - nice looking bottle just like the original.