Oil change issue.

[camelpak]

I changed my oil & filter last week on a 2003 Sportster 4 tec. I followed the guides on this site & everything went smoothly.

A few days ago, we put the boat in the water to go for an afternoon ride. After initial splash, I warmed up the motor for about 5 minutes, checked the oil level, & checked for leaks - all good.

About an hour later - my oil temp light & buzzer went off. I immediately shut the motor off, popped open the rear compartment & found the bilge full of oil. Checked the oil again & had no oil on the stick. I put 2 quarts of oil in the motor & started it back up to see what was happeneing. Apparently the top o ring on the oil filter cover got pinched & oil was spraying out while the motor was running.

The oil light didn't come on during this since I just put 2 quarts in it, but once the leak was discovered I shut the motor off immediately & got a tow back to the ramp, trailered the boat home, spent a few hours cleaning all the oil up & put the boat away for the night. I realize I need to go thru the motions of changing the oil again. But my main concern is if I caused any motor damage by what happened? What does everyone think?

 

[devonte007]

Since you shut the engine down immediately after the engine light came on, it is unlikely you did any damage to the engine. The dummy lights are supposed to warn you before eminent catastrophe occurs. Sounds like you did the right thing and you should not have any engine problems.

As you now know, you need to be careful when removing the oil cap and replacing it so you do not damage the o-rings. I like to always spread some oil on the cap before reinserting and also have a few extra o-rings on hand if they do break or get damaged during the oil change. For reference, there should be 3 o-rings on the cap itself, and one down in the oil filter canister (if I remember correctly).

If you cleaned everything up, added fresh oil, and fixed the oil filter canister leak you should be good to go. I would start it up on the trailer for a couple minutes (hooked up to the hose) and see how she runs. If it goes ok, then take it for a test drive and stay close to dock in case you have problems. If she runs good and no additional oil leaks the boat is probably alright. You may also want to perform a compression test on each cylinder, to give you a better idea about what the state of the engine is, before you start it up for the first time. I don't recall what the proper compression should be, but you can download a shop manual from this site and that info will be in there. Before you do anything, consider the paragraph below:

I am a bit concerned about the tow, that you mentioned. Did you pinch off the water line that goes from the jet pump to the exhaust manifold? If not you could have flooded the engine with water. Depending on how fast you were going, currents, and duration of the tow, if the line was not pinched there is a chance that the engine could get flooded with water. Similar principle to hooking up the boat to the hose, turning the hose on, but not starting the engine. Water can quickly fill up the exhaust boxes and enter the cylinders through an open exhaust valve. If you did not pinch the hose, you should immediately take the spark plugs out and crank the engine (hold the throttle open to put the computer into 'flood mode') and see if any water comes out of the cylinders. If you do find water, you need to follow the correct procedure to fix a flooded engine. Hopefully this is not that case and everything is fine.

Post back and let us know what you find...

 

[camelpak]

I forgot all about pinching off the hose before being towed. I was only towed about a 1/4 mile at approx 3 mph w/ hardly no current so I'm hoping I'm fine. I'm at work now & won't be home for a few hours, but will pull plugs and check it out & report back. Thanks for the quick reply to my original post.

 

[sgoyal]

Here's what I found in 2011 Shop Manual: I'm sure it's kinda same procedure.

Failure to do this may result in damage to the engine. If your Sea-Doo boats must be towed in water and you do not have a hose pincher, be sure to stay well below the maximum towing speed of 24 km/h (15MPH).

Another suggestion could be: install valve on the water inlet line during tow?

 

[sgoyal]

You might be able to find cheap hose pinch on ebay or harbor frieght..

something like this..
http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=clamp

 

[devonte007]

Based on what you said about the tow, I doubt any water got into the engine. Worth a check though, and pretty easy to do.

sgoyal, I keep something similar in my boat to pinch off the hose in the event of a tow: http://www.harborfreight.com/radiator-hose-pinch-off-pliers-99704.html
Haven't had to use them yet (knock on wood)...

Glad I could help, post back if there is anything else I can help with!

 

[camelpak]

Well here's the good news; 1. No water in the motor 2. Compression is fine 3. My valve train that got real noisey quieted back down to normal volume once there was the proper amount of oil in the motor and it starts up on the hose & runs fine.

The bad news; I can't get the oil filter cover to stop leaking oil - what started out as a small stream of oil leaking out when the motor was up to normal temp is now a gusher when I first start the engine. I tried new o rings, made sure I was torquing the center bolt to the right spec. However, when I start the engine & it starts to build pressure it pushes the top o ring out of the way & gushes oil.

After doing a little research I have found that my engine only calls for 2 orings - a small one on the bolt & a large one on upper lip of the cover. But the newer engines call for 3 orings - looks like there are 2 on the cover (a thin one of the step up & the thicker one on the upper lip). Is this a mis-print in my manual, should I have 3 orings too? Any one have any ideas?

 

[camelpak]

Double post

 

[camelpak]

Oil leak fixed. Talked to local dealer & found out my oil filter cover only calls for the 2 o rings, but the say they add the 3rd one as well. Added the 3rd ring & re-installed - oil leaks are now gone.

But, now I have discovered a new problem - the 3 yellow wires coming out of my stator plug (on the rectifier side of the plug) are burnt brown color. I tested stator & it's fine, charging system is currently working fine too, but the 3 wires are getting warm to the touch when the engine is running. I undid the connector, but can't figure out how to take it apart. I think I have a bad connection inside the plug & would like to take it apart, cut off the burnt wires ends & cut back to non damaged wire & re-install in plugs. Does anyone know how this plug comes apart?

 

[devonte007]

You are right about the oil filter cap, Seadoo changed it around 2005 and added a third o-ring. I also believe that the old ones may have even been plastic or something other than aluminum.

Over time (maybe due to warranty or recall) the older motors had the oil cap replaced with the newer model; I know mine did. You may want to try a new oil filter cap (new design with 3 o-rings) with new o-rings and see if this solves your problem.

Another thought is maybe the engine has high oil pressure. Never really heard of this before, but it is fairly easy to check with a gauge. I think you just unscrew the oil pressure sensor somewhere on the side of the engine and install a gauge (the manual describes this procedure in detail). If the pressure is high, then it could blow the seals on the oil filter cap. Not sure of a solution other than replacing the oil pressure regulator which unfortunately is on the bottom of the engine and you need to pull the engine to get at it.

If you have a dealer close that you can trust, you may just want to bring it into them for a diagnostic at this point unless you have the know how (and tools) to dig in a bit deeper.

Good luck, fingers crossed it is some thing simple.....

 

[camelpak]

devonte007 - thanks for your reply. My oil filter cover is plastic. I added the 3rd oring & it fixed my problem.

For anyone else reading this; I found how to remove the electrical connector, removed the pins & tested conductivity which was found to be poor. I removed the pins, cut back the wire, & replaced the pins on all 3 wires. Conductivity is now proper & the wires no longer heat up when the engine is running.

Thanks for everyone's help on this issue!!!!

 

[James.Moon]

I carry a carpenter's little C clamp in my tool kit in case I ever need a tow at speed. Also I have marked the appropriate hose so there is no mistake when the time comes.

 

[camelpak]

I carry a carpenter's little C clamp in my tool kit in case I ever need a tow at speed. Also I have marked the appropriate hose so there is no mistake when the time comes.

I have also marked the hose & picked up a pair if radiator hose pliers like devonte007 posted & added them to my "custom" engine compartment tool box.