Engine: Yanmar 3GM30F
Engine Number: E26758
The dipstick hole on this engine is set in a housing that's bolted onto the engine. It's leaking. Don't know for how long, or what could have started the leak. Between trips (about a month) all the oil ran out of the pan, or at least quite a bit did, because the dipstick read 'dry.' I put a liter in, sparked the engine up, and could see the oil leak out from around the seal on the housing shown above.
My current plan, pending Sailnet Approval, is to pull the thing off, clean it up, replace the gasket, and bolt it back on. Simply tightening it didn't seem to work.
The plan is complicated by the fact that I'm in Atlanta, the boat is in Panama City, and the housing shown in the photo is behind my muffler and my sink, so access is very limited. The above photo was taken by holding a cell phone with a flash into a dark corner into which I normally can hardly stick a wrench.
Question 1) Who can I contact to mail order the proper gasket? Should I replace the whole housing as well? I did not have time to pull it off last weekend due to aforementioned complications.
Question 2) I could watch oil leaking out of this housing as I ran the engine, but saw none when the engine was off. That seemed odd to me, considering the oil pan is not supposed to be pressurized. I'm of the mind to write off the difference in leak rate to engine vibration, but would welcome other opinions or potential additional problems that might indicate.
Question 3) (related) I did not check the oil on our way back in last time, but I didn't notice any engine overheating, oil pressure, or other idiot light issues. If the leak is exacerbated by vibration, wouldn't I have run myself out of oil on the previous trip? How could the leak have been 'sprung' in my absence?
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