Seadoo 4-tec - No Oil on Dipstick?

[rferrel1]

ABOUT TO GO NUTS! : Had a blown supercharger which caused damage inside PTO enclosure (flywheel gear, both oil pumps ground up, etc.) Replaced oil pumps (with good looking Ebay purchased used parts) and new flywheel gear. Reassembled and reinstalled engine. Put 4 quarts of oil in and ran starter with sparkplugs out to circulate some oil before trying to start engine. Installed plugs and engine started immediately. Only ran it about a minute then shut it off. Hooked garden hose to boat to cool exhaust and ran it about 5 minutes in the driveway. It sounded good, didn't smoke so I shut it off and took it to the lake for a ride. Ran it for about two minutes in the lake at an idle, then gave it the throttle and immediately got oil warning. Limped it back to trailer and took it home. Checked dipstick and didn't show oil on stick. Added another quart of oil (manualcalls for 4.5) and started engine for a little less than a minute to distribute oil. Still don't show oil on dipstick. Hooked up garden hose again and got OIL warning as soon as I revved it.

I may put a little more oil in it to see if it will show on dipstick. Also, I may attach a pressure gauge to check oil pressure. Odd thing is even with the old ground up pumps, I wasn't getting an OIL fault and the pumps I installed, while used, looked like new compared to the ones that had chewed metal filings!

FWIW I think I used too much sealer when I put the oil pan on the block and probably squeezed some into the crankcase, but I haven't run the engine 15 minutes yet, so I'd guess it unlikely I could have the oil screens plugged with excess sealer particles.

[Badvgood]

The PTO cover, was that your original unit or one from Ebay? They have a pressure relief valve in the bottom of them. Also, are you sure the engine is dead level when you check for oil on the dipstick?

[Mothman]

Oil in hull? Plugs look clean? Catch can full? Pull head cover and see if it's somewhat dry or bathed in oil.
Sealant may have clogged the screens. Pull the oil filter and check for particles or collapse.
Good luck!

[rferrel1]

Answers - Pressure regulator? Level? Filter check?

[QUOTE=Mothman;2154990]Oil in hull? Plugs look clean? Catch can full? Pull head cover and see if it's somewhat dry or bathed in oil.
Sealant may have clogged the screens. Pull the oil filter and check for particles or collapse.

1. No oil in hull.
2. Took pressure regulator apart and checked springs and it looked OK, clean, etc.
3. Boat seems about as level as I can get it on my trailer.
4. Pulled filter and its wet, but has no debris whatsoever.

Thanks,
Ron

[rferrel1]

And plugs appear clean and the engine runs smooth without blue smoke.

[SplishSplash]

I hope you did not run it for a full minute with no cooling. 10 to 15 sec max with no cooling of the exhaust.

How does your coolant look? When you replaced the oil pump, did you replace the seal to the cooling impeller?

If that seal fails it could pump your oil into the coolant. Maybe?

[Mothman]

Refill engine to top crease on dipstick. Do not start. Let it sit for a few minutes, recheck to make sure it's still at top mark.
Run on hose, let cool, run again. Recheck level after letting sit for a few minutes. I would place clean paper towels under engine to watch for drips, just in case. The oil has to be going somewhere... hmmm. Might pull sc outlet hose to check for oil seal leaking. If so, IC may have quite a bit pooled up inside, along with intake manifold. That doesn't explain the dramatic loss, but may give hints to where some is going. Compression numbers ok?
What type/brand of oil are you using?

[rferrel1]

1. 10W30
2. Compression 130 all three cylinders.
3. No, didn't run it more than 30 seconds without garden hose attached.
4. Didn't replace water pump seal, but did change entire PTO housing from a running engine (supposedly - Ebay). Coolant overflow bottle was warmed up, so I presume pump was pushing coolant thru engine.
5. I don't appear to have oil in my coolant and coolant level didn't rise.
6. Supercharged 185 HP, no IC on this one.

I'll check hose from S/C in morning and add oil til on dipstick, I guess. Then probably hook up pressure gauge to check oil pressure.

[Mothman]

What brand of oil? Is is for wet clutches? Just curious.
Pull head cover after running. Takes 10 min. Wondering if passages are clogged and it's not draining back down. Highly unlikely, but ya never know.

[rferrel1]

Maybe the valve covers. I thought I saw a little oil dripping off the lower front side of the valve cover, but wasn't much. Probably worth the ten minutes to check, I suppose.

[Sea Dood]

I hope you did not run it for a full minute with no cooling. 10 to 15 sec max with no cooling of the exhaust.

How does your coolant look? When you replaced the oil pump, did you replace the seal to the cooling impeller?

If that seal fails it could pump your oil into the coolant. Maybe?

This is a common misconception. There is a weep hole between the oil and coolant seals. You would be pumping lots of oil out the weep hole if the oil-side seal fails.

[Badvgood]

These things take more oil than you think after stripping down.

Check oil pressure at the head, use the take off that's by the top hose. It has a blanking plug in it and is easier to get to that the oil pressure switch and you won't have to remove the intake manifold.

I'm still leaning towards oil pressure valve issues. Although you checked it, it's still an unknown eBay second hand unit. I have seen the cage part distort on re-install and cause this.

[rferrel1]

Badvgood,

You might be right. It might be the pressure valve (bottom of PTO cover?). I did a pressure test at head and had very low pressure. I had inspected the pressure valve (it had two springs, one inside the other and a piston-type thing on top, all held in by a plug threaded into PTO cover) and it looked good. The oil pumps I took out were pretty ground up but I wasn't have a pressure fault from them. The two Ebay pumps I put in looked darn near new, so I figured OK.

Would my name have top be HOUDINI to get the pressure valve out without pulling the engine?

Thanks,
Ron

[beerdart]

The pressure valve requires a specific running torque or you will crush the cage.

[rferrel1]

Are you talking about the one on the bottom side of the Pto cover? The one I'm familiar with which is located there has two springs that push a little piston or popit up to relieve pressure by bypassing oil.