Oil leak on saildrive of a MD2030

[JM]

Hello,
There is a small oil leak on the bottom of the saildrive of my Bavaria 36 2003.
The engine is a MD2030.
The leak seems to come from a small hole as shown on this image.
Any help would be appreciated

[geoff]

That is the drain plug hole. The plug is screwdriver slotted but very a wide slot 2 or 3mm. Under the head of the plug is a nitrile O ring , maybe missing ? Geoff

[Yngmar]

Should be a 130 model. Hard to see, but the oil is barely visible. It's not coming from the drain plug (that's where the green tape is), but from one of the water intake holes. That means either the internal water channels have corroded away or the gasket between the leg and the gearbox has failed. Or someone tried to clean the water passages with a drill or some such.

You can try and fit a borescope inspection camera in there if it fits and maybe see which problem it is, but either way the saildrive needs to come out and the leg split from the gearbox. Maybe the service (replacement of the rubber diaphragm and also the gasket in question) is due anyways.

[marioxp]

Have you noticed if sea water has entered the oil, is the oil milky? 

What is the oil level on the dipstick in the saildrive?

[JM]

Should be a 130 model. Hard to see, but the oil is barely visible. It's not coming from the drain plug (that's where the green tape is), but from one of the water intake holes. That means either the internal water channels have corroded away or the gasket between the leg and the gearbox has failed. Or someone tried to clean the water passages with a drill or some such.

You can try and fit a borescope inspection camera in there if it fits and maybe see which problem it is, but either way the saildrive needs to come out and the leg split from the gearbox. Maybe the service (replacement of the rubber diaphragm and also the gasket in question) is due anyways.

Thanks. I will take the saildrive out and check both. Thanks again.

[JM]

Have you noticed if sea water has entered the oil, is the oil milky? 

What is the oil level on the dipstick in the saildrive?

Thanks for your help.
A water infiltration issue was dealt with last year. It seem that the problem is a gasket.
The oil level does not change because the leak is very small and the dipstick is also very small. Very difficult to evaluate.
Thanks again.