Oil leaking from out drive water intake

[Tin Diesel]

I'm new to power boat ownership having just bought my brother's 2007 2575 RL I/O. It has a Mercruiser 5.0L Alpha.

The engine only has 100 hours on it, but for the last three years was hardly used (my brother passed last year) . My sister-in-law says it hasn't been started since last spring, although it got regular spring/fall maintenance and winterizing.

In November we took it on a 20-minute spin before putting it on the trailer to bring it down to Houston. It ran OK.

We've had it in storage for the last month. When I picked it up yesterday I saw this oil leaking out of the water intake on the sterndrive on both sides. I'd appreciate comments and information as to what this means. See attached picture.

 

[myv10]

I'm new to power boat ownership having just bought my brother's 2007 2575 RL I/O. It has a Mercruiser 5.0L Alpha.

The engine only has 100 hours on it, but for the last three years was hardly used (my brother passed last year) . My sister-in-law says it hasn't been started since last spring, although it got regular spring/fall maintenance and winterizing.

In November we took it on a 20-minute spin before putting it on the trailer to bring it down to Houston. It ran OK.

We've had it in storage for the last month. When I picked it up yesterday I saw this oil leaking out of the water intake on the sterndrive on both sides. I'd appreciate comments and information as to what this means. See attached picture.

View attachment 21194

You most likely have a bad seal in the lower unit. the lower unit is fairly easy to remove, if you are a do it yourselfer, change the water pump while you have it apart. If you don't want to change it yourself you could remove the lower unit and take it to a shop. Go on utube and you will see the removal process .

 

[cwag911]

+! on redoing the lower unit seals and water pump.

 

[Tin Diesel]

I'm curious... why the water pump also?
(thanks for the help, by the way)

 

[cwag911]

I'm curious... why the water pump also?
(thanks for the help, by the way)

Because you will have the lower unit removed and the boat is 10 years old. I do our water pump every 5 years regardless of use. You just do everything while it's off and start fresh. It's not that expensive.

 

[mattb]

Agreed, I did mine when we had our i/o, it had the same leak, pretty common. Not hard at all if your mechanically inclined. Watch your shift shaft and speedo tubing if it's internal. A bench vise comes in handy to hold it while your working on it. Watch videos, get a manual.

 

[Tin Diesel]

Thanks for your help. Found a great little Merc shop near us. They said all the seals in the stern drive were dried out and crumbling. Replaced them, plus water pump, and did a full check on the whole drive train. Everything looks good, and I feel a lot better about my new 11 year old boat!