FL135 oil weep at impeller housing

[sneal4600]

Hello All:

I just bought a 1987 DeFever 44OC with FL135s. The engines are very healthy through the survey and a short shakedown cruise. The PO were very attentive to their boat, showing extensive maintenance records.

However, I did notice this slight weep on the threaded elbow entering the impeller housing coming from the oil cooler line. Can anyone comment on if this is somewhat normal? Or if not, would this just be a matter of disassembly and using some type of thread sealant to keep it dry? There is no oil on the pads below so the weeping oil is really minor but I can wipe a finger on it and there is oil showing.

 

[av8r]

That fitting is the raw-water pump outlet supplying cooling water to the engine heat exchangers. The fitting has no oil. Some thread sealers like Permatex are very dark and it’s possible that dark line is sealer.
If it is oil it is coming from above the pump, could be left over from slopping a little when refilling the engine or could be a slight seep from the injection pump.
120s require frequent injector pump oil changes and the drain plug is on the bottom of the injection pump directly above the raw-water pump. 135s do not need the oil change but the plug is still there, see if there’s any oil on that plug. It uses a copper sealing washer.

 

[sneal4600]

That fitting is the raw-water pump outlet supplying cooling water to the engine heat exchangers. The fitting has no oil. Some thread sealers like Permatex are very dark and it’s possible that dark line is sealer.
If it is oil it is coming from above the pump, could be left over from slopping a little when refilling the engine or could be a slight seep from the injection pump.
120s require frequent injector pump oil changes and the drain plug is on the bottom of the injection pump directly above the raw-water pump. 135s do not need the oil change but the plug is still there, see if there’s any oil on that plug. It uses a copper sealing washer.

You know, as I only had a short time examining the issue before leaving the boat it occurred to me that this line most likely contained water, not oil. But my eye over rode my brain. What you said makes a lot of sense. I will have to look closer for the source of this black liquid which could--in fact--be oil residue from filling during the last change. The PO did say they had never noticed any leaks in that area.