Timing cover leak ?

[reags8]

1st ? I am not new to forums and view them a valuable reference from experienced people.
2nd ? I am also no stranger to engines
3rd ? Thanks in advance for reading and hopefully responding

I have a 1995 Searay with a 3.0lx I/O that last season developed a nuisance oil leak that was manageable until I decided to pull the motor over the winter. Early in April I pulled the motor and replaced the following:
- Rear main seal
- Frt seal
- Timing cover gasket
- Oil pan gasket
And the various seals on the outdrive that needed to be replaced when you pull.

Problem
About 3 weeks ago we pulled the boat in the driveway and threw the muffs on it and started it, let it get up to temp and then let it idle for 10mins. Shut her down and checked the motor compartment (pulled the doghouse), nothing, not one drop in the bilge and zero on the motor itself. This past Sat. which is the start of the boating season (in Maine at least) I pull the boat back in the driveway, throw the muffs on it and start it and let it idle for a good 15mins because no one wants a dead boat at the launch, shut it down and check the bilge and motor  nothing. So we head to the launch, get it in the water and start it up, check all the gages and ease her out. I get a good distance and give it some throttle and it sounds and runs great! I turn, give my father in-law the thumbs up at the launch and head for our dock approx. 2 miles up the pond. After slowing down for a couple no wake zones and then gassing it back up I cruise to our dock around 30mph and the temp and oil pressure look great. I dock and shut her down, pull the dog house and find a considerable amount of oil in the bilge and the front of the motor covered along with the dog house covered in a perfect ?spray pattern? consistent with the pulleys and belts? When I pulled the timing cover in April it was pretty corroded and when I replaced the frt seal and paper gasket behind it I was not confident BUT its all we had.
Question:
Has anyone else had a leaky timing cover? And did it leak the same(under load, spray . . . . )? I?ve also read that you can pull this without removing the engine? We removed the engine last time and I can?t see how this would/could be accomplished without?

 

[chiefalen]

Re: Timing cover leak ?

i had that problem when i first bought my boat.when you took off the cover did you hold it up to the sunlight.it might have pin holes in it from rust.ok you can remove the entire front mounts bye first haveing onboard some wood you can put under the corner of the oilpan.have someone with a pipe about 4 feet long lever the engine up on the port side.when you pull the bolts on the mount let them slowly lower only a inch or 2 on the wood you put under the starboard side of the corner of the oil pan.pull the whole mount out.remove timing cover.yours might have a one piece gasket for the oilpan and timming cover.if you have pin holes than youll have to replace timming cover.i got mine at a local auto specialty shop.cost 30 bucks with seal installed.i painted the hell outta it 4 times on the outside only before i installed it.not one drop of rust so far.ps vavle cover on mine had pin holes also.that i bought off ebay.when i installed the cover i used that red stuff sealer almost a whole tube all around it.kodiak customs is the name of the place its in nj near my home.

 

[reags8]

Re: Timing cover leak ?

Thanks chief !
You say "I had that problem when I first bought my boat" <-- exactly the same ? Under load (running on the water) not idling you would get oil leaking from the top of the front of the motor spraying oil on the dog house?

I was really skeptical of that cover and if we weren't pressed for time I would have order a new one and installed it.

Thanks again - Reags