Repaired: Oil tank cap/plug on M50D

[towtruck1]

Thanks to the many who have made suggestions, especially Tohatsu Guru and Bob_VT, I have a good fix for my loose oil-tank reservoir cap/plug. I'm sharing in case anyone has similar issues.

The picture shows it best. At 1&1/2" length of an old 27"x1&1/8" bike tube was cleaned up & inserted into the mouth of the tank. the top was pulled over and around the mouth/neck, and secured with a small hose clamp to prevent it from being pushed into the tank. This provides a snug fit for the shrunken cap/plug. In the photo, it is not pushed down all the way, so you can see the 'barbs on the plug'.

The fit is very tight, it takes a bit of effort to push it in because the plug compresses a bit and widens, and it doesn't necessarily have to go in all the way if you don't want it to. Putting a little bit of oil around the plug before you push it in will make it easier ( I didn't do that). Pulling it out if required should not be too hard, as the plug will stretch and shrink a bit.

Before:

After:

For background, see these two threads:

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=269755

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=269963

 

[jska247]

Re: Repaired: Oil tank cap/plug on M50D

I have a similar problem, when I store the boat with the engine up, oil leaks from the little cap. ..and eventually gets into the boat. Have you found that your method does not leak when the oil tank is full and the engine is up. I was considering using previous discussed methods such as goop, shoe goo, etc.

thanks

 

[towtruck1]

Re: Repaired: Oil tank cap/plug on M50D

Sorry for the late reply. Just returned from a week at the lake. The oil tank was about 3/4 full while trailering (engine up), but that was previously enough to cause it to spill all over the place, even after some mechanic applied some sort of goop to it a few years ago.

Despite the fact that I went from sea level to 5000' feet, the cap stayed snug, and not a single drop was spilled.

In any case, it is a very inexpensive repair, and can be easily reversed w/o any permanent side effect, so give it a shot. I think you'll be happy with it. The only thing is that you probably have to disconnect the sensor wire at the electrical box, to get the slack you need.

Hope this helps. I'm always happy to answer further questions.

Towtruck