Mystery Fluid

[l008com]

http://i.imgur.com/RQ8eHMn.jpg

So I was walking around my boat today, and saw this little puddle. The way I figure it, there's really only two fluids in this boat at this point, 2 cycle oil and hydraulic fluid for the trim. I'm pretty sure it only started leaking recently. We did have a particularly cold winter, then the temp shot up nice and hot, rather quickly. Plus, I didn't put the boat in the water at all last year. So I'm thinking it may be hydraulic fluid from the trim system. It's just weird that it was blue. The last time I had trouble with the system, the fluid inside was a dark red.
Thoughts?

 

[Fun Times]

http://i.imgur.com/RQ8eHMn.jpg

So I was walking around my boat today, and saw this little puddle. The way I figure it, there's really only two fluids in this boat at this point, 2 cycle oil and hydraulic fluid for the trim. I'm

You forgot about one other oil... The lower unit gear housing which can be blue/green in color. Mercury High Performance gear lube is considered to be a blue to a blue/greenish color.

Hoping for the best, good luck.

 

[l008com]

Well I don't *think* it was gear oil because, gear oil would generally leave a trail you could follow pretty easily, since the motor is in the up position. The puddle was gathering under the bilge, which is is where the trim system would leak to, or the engine weather it went through the splash well or right across the back. But i'll take a closer look today, maybe wipe it with some paper towel and see where I find oil.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I would pull the plug on the lower unit and check the oil content. that looks like gear oil mixed with water.

 

[l008com]

I took a closer look today and it's definitely coming from the trim system. The whole lower unit is bone dry (on the outside I mean). I'm not able to tell by looking, where exactly it is coming from, but it is dripping off the bottom of the primary piston.

 

[l008com]

I took a closer look yesterday and PHEW it does appear to be engine oil dripping down into the splash well, then out of there, on to the trim piston. This is great news as an oil line is a lot easier to fix than a trim system.