Lost oil pressure... help!!

[stashtrey]

Took the boat out Saturday after having it dialed in recently. Many threads and headaches and I finally had things in order.
Got out Saturday.... put the boat in the water.... turned it over for a few seconds and as usual the boat fired right up. Sounded good. We pulled away from the dock and after a minute I noticed my oil pressure was just under 10 psi...... the needle was kind of jumping around a little... but I never got above 10-15 psi. I let it warm up and gave it some gas to see if it would respond but it didn't move. Would go down to zero... then jump back up to around 10.
I immediately pulled back into shore and beached teh boat. Opened the engine hatch and I had quite a bit of oil in the bilge. I also heard the engine making a whining/odd noice I've never heard. The power didn't seem to be there as well when I got it on plane to see if the pressure would build.
I removed both valve covers and didn't see anything unusual.... there was oil settled in there and it seemed to be getting oil.
The temperature never moved above 160 degrees the entire time I had it running.
I put the boat back on the trailer and called it a day. My brother was there and we went out on his boat. When I got back I put the trailer in the water and fired the boat up to see if I was just imagining the noise I was hearing earlier. It fired right up and the oil pressure jumped to a little over 40 psi.... then the needle jumped around and dropped back down to around 15-20. I've always had extremely good oil pressure... usually over 60 psi and rarely under that unless I've been running it for a good stretch.... but it always came back up.
Help me out here. Give me some scenarios..... bad and good. Could this be a sign of something catastrophic? The noise I was hearing coupled with the loss of power and the loss of oil pressure really have me worried.
I'm not a mechanic and I don't have access to a picker or an engine stand. What kind of money am I looking at to have someone pull the motor and look around? :cry: :cry: :cry:

[centerhill condor]

busted/loose/leaking oil pressure sending unit? explains oil in bilge and low pressure.
was on the water yesterday on the way back to the truck passed a john boat with a 3hp johnson and told the wife it was the perfect boat. she said why my reply the motor is small enough to throw in the water and row home!
best of luck!

[stashtrey]

I thought about that.... but the amount of oil in the bilge is pretty substantial.
I'm thinking a seal is bad on the pan? Who knows.
I can tell you one thing.... I'm ready to sink this boat and take some insurance money. :mad:

[Flip]

Changed your oil lately?
I once knew this guy who changed his oil with the motor in the boat. He was in a hurry and because he couldn't see the oil filter adapter too well he didn't notice that the rubber ring on the oil filter had stuck to the adapter. So when he put the new filter on he had 2 rubber seals between the filter and the adapter. When he fired it up at the lake it made this weird "sucking" sound and puked oil over the bilge.

[LakesOnly]

If you have unacceptable oil pressure, do NOT try to run your engine and/or get onto plane. Instead, shut the motor down immediately. See if you can perform a preliminary diagnosis in the following manner:
Try to locate the oil leak that is cause for your bilge to be filled with oil. Correct this problem and clean the deposited oil from the bilge.
Remove the dipstick from your motor and check oil level. If it is low, then refill with to proper oil level.
With the engine hatch open, start the engine and watch oil pressure. At the same time watch (or have someone else watch) the engine to see if more oil is leaking (and if so, from where). Note oil pressure readings while the crankcase is full of oil (pressure at idle, off idle, etc) and also note the behavior of the oil pressure gage (steady needle, bouncing needle at idle, etc).
Please post results of your preliminary diagnosis.
LO

[stashtrey]

Interesting. I did change the oil maybe a month ago. I haven't been out with the boat much because I was dealing with ignition/fuel issues.
I did put a new filter on it and new 20/50 oil. Didn't notice any oil coming from the filter from what I could see. Didn't notice any oil around the sending unit and only a little from the dipstick tube.
I did recently replace the breather on one side and due to the idiots at Edelbrock making a marine carb wtih no PCV valve I am running another breather where I used to have the PCV line from the valve cover to the carb. I was told by a reputable marine mechanic (Jory/SOS Marine) that my motor did not require that PCV valve and I could just run another breather in it's place.
These are the only things I can think of. A couple weekends ago I had it out and it ran like a top all day but I did notice a bit of oil in teh bilge. I thought maybe a small leak....... but now with the oil pressure and the odd noise/loss of power I'm thinking I have bigger problems on my hands.

[stashtrey]

Thanks, Lakes.
I'll try to find some time this week (maybe tonight) to get the boat home and clean the bilge out. It's a mess.
I just don't know how to locate the leak as my stringers run right up to my logs. There isn't a whole lot of room around/under the engine for me to inspect.
I'll see what I can do.

[centerhill condor]

I use mirrors to see in tight spots... I had to replace the starter on the condor and couldn't see anything and wasn't about to remove the log so mirrors did the trick maybe for you also.
Additionally, I used a digital camera with a drop light to "see" where I wouldn't normally be able. the camera plugged into the laptop to give "real time" imaging for the job... these guys have some good ideas!
frustration is universal but appears higher for the jet drive!

[stashtrey]

Wow... great ideas, Condor! The camera to the laptop is a great one. Never thought of that. I have an old crappy digital that I wouldn't mind if it got some grease/oil on it.

[centerhill condor]

glad to help... I'm intersted in the solution to your problem because one day I will likely have it myself!