Oil Leaking

[Huntress]

When I open my engine box I notice there is a decent amount of oil in my bildge. It is not a lot and I can not see it leaking anywhere. It is enough to make it black through the bildge. My questions. Where could this be coming from and is it normal to have a little oil down there? My dip stick says I am full and in good shape. I have no other problems (knock on wood). Any thoughts?

[RobS]

When I open my engine box?

Just to be clear: You have an engine box 28? What engine?

....It is enough to make it black through the bildge. My questions. Where could this be coming from and is it normal to have a little oil down there? My dip stick says I am full and in good shape. I have no other problems (knock on wood). Any thoughts?

Black? So if it is black it seems it would be engine oil, not hydraulic steering fluid or thruster gear oil as both are a light yellow, almost colorless. Tranny fluid is red.
It is not normal to have oil in the bilge, not even a small amount.

You should go over the engine with a fine tooth comb. Start with it cold with a mirror and flashlight and start from the bottom up looking at the underside of the oil pan, dipstick tube connection. Then just work your way up to the oil cooler lines, oil filter, oil sender, valve cover gasket, etc. If it's cold you can really get up close and personal with it and check it over thoroughly. If nothing found then you should run it for awhile and check then it again right after shut down. Do you have a remote oil change setup that could be leaking?

With the high oil capacity on these diesels it takes a bit to move the level on the dipstick. I think the 6LP has a 3 plus quart swing between ADD and FULL. And it does not take much oil to make a mess of the bilge.

Good luck

[Huntress]

Sorry, It is a Yanmar 315 Turbo (2001).

[Huntress]

Thanks Rob S. Yes it is indeed black. I will do a run through and see what I find. Thanks again!