oil smell and wet bilge

onecoolair · Sep 20, 2012

Purple Power

Get you some purple power. I found it walmart, Auto /RV department. Works fantastic! I always try to keep some on board. Next open up the extreme forward access at bow, Pour in 1/2 to 1 container full strength to start with and let it find its on way to bilge. Next at the stern do same. Be creative on the different pathes to bildge from different locations of boat. Give it time to find its way to bildge it will break up and desolve the oil. Then pump bilge dry. Keep repeating as needed.
Questions... Is the builtin oil catch pan under engine compromised? Do you have a leaking Generator oil pan? Verifing the source....If this proves not to be the case then some old school mechanic (MORON)

changed the engine or generator oil and just let it drain into the bildge. Back in the day this is what they would do! Today you go to jail! If you can find out who did it, you may be able to bring charges. Or arrange to give them a serious ass whooping!!

jhs-Legend40 said:
i recently purchased a hunter legend 40. i am trying to get rid of an oil smell coming from the bilge. The bilge had a half inch of slimy black goo under a couple of inches of dark oily water. I scrubbed the bilge and the area under the engine until it was spotless and dry. Two days later (no sailing in between) i found a couple of inches of oil smelling water in the bilge. I'm in search of the source.

At the front of the bilge is a 1.5" hole going forward through a box beam. A bit of water with greasy blobs in it sloshes out of that hole as the boat moves around at the dock. i am thinking of aiming my pressure washer into that hole and blasting it with a detergent/water mix until clean water comes out. Any reason not to do this?

thanks

-jhs

seadaddler · Sep 21, 2012

Ditto

As onecoolair said use some kind of detergent in there and must give it time like a month of boating and allowing to move around in there doing its thing cleaning and as often as needed use a shop vac to suck it out.
I think pressure washer is over kill and will do more harm than good,the oily goob has been in there awhile I am guessing it will take a few times of allowing some detergent to get in and slowly clean things up.
I think you will need to do this a few times until it is all clean and hope you find the source of the leak and could put some paper toweling under the engine and gen to help clean things up and help find your leak,you could spray some frabreez to help with the smell.
Nick

Steve Dion · Sep 21, 2012

Have you checked the packing gland for leaks. It should NOT have any dripping if the shaft is not turning.

I would just continue to use some bilge cleaner and flush out the area on each visit until you are satisfied.

You may also have some odor trapped under the liner. You can also treat this area by flushing with detergent and hot water, which eventually finds its way to the bilge.

zeehag · Sep 21, 2012

packing gland should not be dripping oil.
look for remote leaks in your engine.
bilge cleaner works great and removes the raw decomposing crude/diesel smell left by the oil in bilge. also i recommend those engine diapers that only soak up the oil and leave the water -- separate the oil from the water.
scrub entire bilge with good bilge soap and rinse thoroughly .
you will definitely need to know from where the spill is coming or has come from. mine was from remote oil filter hoses--to and from. both were high pressure and holed. stop the leaking and the constant smell will go away with good scrubbing.

if you hve the old style(normal) packing gland, you should have dripping on a slow but regular basis. if you wish to have no drips, change to gore tex packing. is teflon and dripless. works great.

Bon Bon · Sep 21, 2012

I recently cleaned a bilge similar to that and had the same problem. My conclusion was there was oil soaked deep into the fiberglass and after each cleaning small portions of the stuff too deep to clean were rising to the surface of the fiberglass now that the surface was free of oil. After several rounds of scrubbing with degreaser, each time making it look oil-free, waiting a day each time, water introduced to the bilge ceased to be oily.

Hello SBO

my first post. Hope it helps, but your problem could be entirely different.

onecoolair · Sep 21, 2012

Please read original posting.

Please read original posting. Nothing was said about oil dripping from packing gland.

zeehag said:
packing gland should not be dripping oil.
look for remote leaks in your engine.
bilge cleaner works great and removes the raw decomposing crude/diesel smell left by the oil in bilge. also i recommend those engine diapers that only soak up the oil and leave the water -- separate the oil from the water.
scrub entire bilge with good bilge soap and rinse thoroughly .
you will definitely need to know from where the spill is coming or has come from. mine was from remote oil filter hoses--to and from. both were high pressure and holed. stop the leaking and the constant smell will go away with good scrubbing.

if you hve the old style(normal) packing gland, you should have dripping on a slow but regular basis. if you wish to have no drips, change to gore tex packing. is teflon and dripless. works great.

Benny17441 · Sep 21, 2012

Even with no sailing the boat moves at anchor or dock and water trapped in the stringers below the cabin sole will drip into the bilge. A common cause for an oily residue into the bilge is spilled fuel. Check the hoses to the tank and breather fixture and try to avoid overfilling.

JohnS · Sep 21, 2012

Zeehag is right on - after your done with the detergent cleaning, get some "oil-zorb" sheets or something similar and put some under potential oil sources, and also near the bilge pump intake. Don't want to be pumping oil overboard.

tommays · Sep 21, 2012

Just keep cleaning as it can not be much worse that Seafever was i go with the least fluid and most paper towels as the fluid becomes HAZ_MAT

Bill sanders · Sep 21, 2012

Is that before and after pics

tommays · Sep 21, 2012

Bill sanders · Sep 21, 2012

Outstanding!!!!!!

Bill Roosa · Sep 21, 2012

If the engine sump is intact and not leaking I'd suspect that someone spilled oil during an oil change or some such bo-bo. The 40s are bad for having a lot of hidden plumbing that takes forever to drain and CANNOT be cleaned directly. I'd pour some soapy water in the prop shaft drain, pull the sole on both sides of the engine and clean them and give the start battery box a good scrubbing for a start.
then pour soapy water regularly in the prop shaft gland drain and hand pump the bilges till you stop seeing oil.

JohnS · Sep 22, 2012

Tommays, I'm ashamed to say your before pictures look like a new operating room compared to my bilge.

onecoolair · Sep 22, 2012

The sump well drip pan under engine is supposed to be keep totally seperate from bilge. That way if there is any oil drips or leaks you do not mess up the rest of your boat. I keep my drip pan as totally clean and dry as possible. I also keep a layer of clean white paper towels layed out along bottom of drip pan under engine. When I make my engine inspections which is before, after and during each run. The first thing I look for is any new oil drips or are the paper towels getting wet.

jhs-Legend40 said:
The sump under the engine is in tact. it had water in it. is the sump supposed to be connected to the bilge? It doesnt seem to be.

The packing gland and the surrounding area is completely dry.

Bill Roosa · Sep 23, 2012

The engine sump is not connected to the bilges as onecoolair noted. Which is why I would think there was a PO oil change boo-boo where he spilled the oil on one side (probably starboard) and it got under the cabin sole. The starboard side is pretty easy to check as you have the aft head thru hull access port in the sole there. It also allows all the oil easy access to the bilge plumbing in the event of a spill......don't ask how I know.

zeehag · Sep 23, 2012

after placing oil absorbant didees under the engine, do you get any dripping on them?? they will absorb all the free oil and then yu can continue. until all oil is gone, nothing can be done. i had 5 1/2 qts or more in this bilge when i bought boat as engine had 'sploded awesomely and in grande style before i bought her--diapers for oil is only way to suck it up.
in a perfect world, the oil wont go anywhere, but we do not live in a perfect world. so we clean.