Gt-40 oil leak

[Airnautique1999]

Hi, I have a 99 Air with gt-40 engine. When at barefoot speed there is a oil burning smell and oil on the passenger side of the engine. Any ideas where this is coming? When on the trailer the oil is well above the full line on the dipstick. Could the dealer have overfilled and this is the cause? It says 7 litres (7.4 quarts) was used on the invoice.

[Super Dave]

Filled my GT40 with 5 quarts.


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[Peter6000]

Hi, I have a 99 Air with gt-40 engine. When at barefoot speed there is a oil burning smell and oil on the passenger side of the engine. Any ideas where this is coming? When on the trailer the oil is well above the full line on the dipstick. Could the dealer have overfilled and this is the cause? It says 7 litres (7.4 quarts) was used on the invoice.

I would remove some oil overfilling can cause problems. If you smell burned oil its most likely your valve cover gasket.
Oil is leaking down to the exhaust manifold and burns off.
Easy to replace and change your mechanic.

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[NautiqueJeff]

Your engine is WAY overfilled! Drain some out before you really damage it.

[bturner]

Your dealer.... you mean an actual Nautique dealer with certified mechanics and certified to work on Nautique boats put 7.4 quarts in a 351 Ford GT40 engine then didn't check the fill level before sending it out the door? Your dealer's mechanic is incompetent. Drain the excess oil out and start doing your own oil changes. Between this type of stuff and stripped drain plugs from the Quicky Lube type shops convinced me long ago that changing my own oil was worth the effort. This type of thing is why I still do all my own maintenance on my cars and boats. I would have serious concerns about a dealer that can't even do an oil change correctly.

[gary s]

Your dealer.... you mean an actual Nautique dealer with certified mechanics and certified to work on Nautique boats .

You mean these guy's- "Pay varies depending on experience (Range is $15-25 per hour)" Your not going to put your top mechanics at 25 an hour doing oil changes when he can be be doing Nautique warranty work. You have the kid washing boats do that. And it's tough getting them - burger flippers are making 15
Like Ronald Reagan once said- trust but verify

[bturner]

Like I said.... if you can't trust your dealer to do an oil change it's time to start doing them yourself and probably time to find a new dealer while you're at it. That or live with the results. I'm also willing to bet the OP paid shop rate for that oil change and that rate is the same for the $15/hr as the $25/hr guy at most marinas.

I get that everyone has to start somewhere and mistakes will be made along the way, that's part of learning and lord knows I've made more than my fair shared of stupid mistakes along the way. I've also taught friends, family and local neighborhood kids how to do basic things like change tires, change oil and even how to do the occasional bike repair along the way but I always checked their work before sending them out the door. This obviously wasn't done close to correct, wasn't checked and should never have gotten out the door.

I will say that it seems I find myself doing odd repairs for others more often these days (not just on boats) and have between 4 and 5 boats I winterize every season, probably for this very reason. Guess I'll need to up my rates from burgers and long necks this season based on the level of work being done here.....

My god, I find myself sounding more like my dad every year.

[Airnautique1999]

Yes, It was a Nautique dealer. From now on I will change the oil myself.
Thank you for your quick response.

[gary s]

Yes eventually we all turn into our parents and you do need to raise your rates . I will add this and then shut up- like Alec Baldwin no matter who does the work double check. In this case the OP is lucky it was just an overfill. Imagine if it was forgot all together. Sure it would have been their fault but you'd be the one to have to put up with the hassle.
To the OP- if you end up doing yourself make sure you do the research as to what oil to use in a flat tappet camshaft engine.

[bturner]

Oh great now we're switching to what's the best oil.....

[SilentSeven]

Recommend new board rule: Read every relevant article (oil forums included) at www.bobistheoilguy.com before posting any oil related questions.

[Airnautique1999]

While setting up the pump to take some oil out I noticed a open round hole in the sump. There is no thread on the hole and it goes straight into where the oil is. No doubt this is where the oil is coming from. Does anyone know what this is? I will take a photo tomorrow if this doesn’t make sense. A friend said to plug it with a rubber grommet?

[bturner]

I would suggest getting that picture posted. Other than the dipstick tube I'm not aware of another tube going into the oil pan, if that's what we're talking about here. I would not recommend using a grommet to seal off anything. Try to get a couple pictures so we can get a clear view and perspective of where this item is located.

[shag]

As others have suggested, that's way too much oil... I can't believe they would put 7.4 quarts in. Even the Python didn't take that much, and it used oil as normal operation lol

[h2oski]

Not to belabor here..... I had a similar experience with my then new '99 AN GT-40 (no tower). It was in for the new FCT 2 install so I thought I'd kill two birds as they say. Picked up the boat from the dealer and headed to the lake. Just warming it up on the ramp I started to smell burning oil. I lifted the engine cover and wow, I could send smoke signals! Stopped the engine and once the smoke cleared, I could see the oil dripping out of the breather hose to the flame arrestor. At home, I drained 7 quarts of oil out and what a mess to clean up. I guess I thought a boat dealership would be more conscientious than the automobile dealership, Kwik Kar, Jiffy Lube, etc, wrong.

-Scott