Rear main seal leak, Valvoline HighLife 20w50

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Hi,

This is my first post here.
I have a boat cruiser with twin 5.7 Volvo 2008 engine (~550hours)
Volvo suggest Synt/SAE30 oil in their engine.

Previous owner switch to Mercruiser 10w30 (mineral) because engine burn oil. This is probably due to a bad breakin.

This summer (2013) I switch it to 25w40 Mecruiser (mineral) oil. (Oh ! we are located in Quebec/Canada, minimum temp is 50degres and Max 85degres during boat season)

There is an oil leak on my main rear seal. I do not want to have it fix since its just 2-3-4 drops per ride. Thats bug me, my engine room is clean like a showroom.

Now my questions;
What do you think If I add "No Leak" stuff in my engine ?( http://www.goldeagle.com/products/productF295.aspx )
My goal is to run her next summer with Valvoline 20w50 HighLife (with noleak additive) Valvoline offer also SAE30 HighLife (do not forget Volvo suggest SAE30).
or I keep my 25w40 mecruiser oil and include a bottle of NoLeak.
There is also possibility to use 10w40 Valvoline HLife.

at the end ;
Both engine are leaking (2-3drops from main rear seal).
Both engines burn oil (bad breakin).
Both engine run A1

What do you think running them with 20w50 Valvoline High life ?

thanks all
 
Oups ! its MaxLife not HighLife like Miller
wink.gif
my bad !
 
Originally Posted By: Yannick
Oups ! its MaxLife not HighLife like Miller
wink.gif
my bad !


lol.gif


I'd say try the sealer oil first.

Though me, personally, has had good results with Blue Devil Rear Main Sealer (same as oilsealer.) Stuff is great.

However, add-in stop-leaks are generally frowned upon!
 
Don't add it and fix the seal in the off season. Stop leak is going to affect the performance of the oil and you don't want to sacrifice protection for 2-3 drops savings.

The solution is fix the leak, unless you don't mind replacing the engine later.
 
I want to try the NoLeak stuff first because fixing a Main rear seal on a boat is very expensive. Mecanic guy has to remove the engine , im talking here about 1500$ for a seal of 25$.

Question 2. What about running her with NoLeak stuff for a small 10hours and then I made an oil change. Since Valvo MaxLife contains noleak additive does it mean its not a good oil?
 
Boat engines get yanked for rebuilding anyway, I'd wait until then.

Though I wouldn't use a specific sealer, maxlife 20w50 would be okay. Incidentally, what's your typical water temp? Many boats run cooler, like 140'F, and this is "bad" yet accepted.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
Boat engines get yanked for rebuilding anyway, I'd wait until then.

Though I wouldn't use a specific sealer, maxlife 20w50 would be okay. Incidentally, what's your typical water temp? Many boats run cooler, like 140'F, and this is "bad" yet accepted.
He is a long way off for a rebuild, No easy task either yanking these things out.
 
Hemitom : that's why I want at least try to fix leak with "special stuff".


Is SAE30 same viscosity of 20w50. My web reading teach me that SAE30 will be more thicker cold then 20w50. correct? Since im running engine hot does it mean Ill get more leakage with sae30 then 20w50 ?
 
The 30 should be thicker on start up but for a boat run in the summer it really makes no difference in cold starts. The temps are not below freezing, I ran 15w40 and the quicksilver 25w40 in my small inboard both oils were excellent in my opinion. I would try the maxlife 30 or 20w50 in hopes that it would stop the leak, My perference would be the 30 weight, fingers crossed and good luck to you.
 
thanks for the pics... really nice lookin deal! I would avoid any stop leak stuff... towel and detailing spray less intrusive...
My other thought would be picking up a replacement engine... Sounds crazy but I'm gonna guess these engines are available all over the east coast and great lakes... used. rebuild it... I'd also look for non marine guys to work on it...(volvo truck dealer??) your just a big dollar sign to the boatyards... you pull that motor there for a rebuid and they will find everything under the sun wrong...
a bunch of friends, beer and a rental crane you might be able to pull it off... cost may surprise you... cash talks at boatyards... especially with some engine gatherin dust...
be pretty cool to have a 5.7 volvo marine engine in the garage...
birthday party... people over... "so what do you do on the weekends?..." "I golf and fly fish..." "oh... i'm rebuilding a 5.7 liter volvo marine engine... who's that guy at your house when you go golfin?..."
Pics of boat its attached to be nice too...
 
We are talking about the one in center ! If you check closely you can see 2-3drops of oil floating around the boat
wink.gif
, joking....

I don't think removing the entire engine is required at this time. There are a bunch of boat leaking oil around the planet. Valvoline 20w50 is my best bet at this time.




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