A few times that I've pulled the drain plug on my boat there has been red
fluid coming out. It happened again the last time I was out. The lake is
green and blue.

I took the engine cover off and inspected my power steering fluid level and
the power steering hoses with flashlight and by hand. No sign of leakage.

I ran the motor to operating temperature and turned the steering wheel a few
times; no sign of leakage.

Why do I occasionally get a red fluid coming out with the lake water when I
pull the drain plug after boating?

The only red fluid on the boat is the power steering fluid and gasoline.
The gas tank hoses are secure and there is no scent of gasoline, except
after dieseling.

Alpha One Mercury Mercruiser 4.3L V6 efi, approximately 45 engine hours
2005 Sea Ray 185 Sport

In article , bryan.459
@pac.bell.net says...
A few times that I've pulled the drain plug on my boat there has been red
fluid coming out. It happened again the last time I was out. The lake is
green and blue.

I took the engine cover off and inspected my power steering fluid level and
the power steering hoses with flashlight and by hand. No sign of leakage.

I ran the motor to operating temperature and turned the steering wheel a few
times; no sign of leakage.

Why do I occasionally get a red fluid coming out with the lake water when I
pull the drain plug after boating?

The only red fluid on the boat is the power steering fluid and gasoline.
The gas tank hoses are secure and there is no scent of gasoline, except
after dieseling.

Alpha One Mercury Mercruiser 4.3L V6 efi, approximately 45 engine hours
2005 Sea Ray 185 Sport


Transmission fluid can also be red.

jps

jps wrote:
In article , bryan.459
@pac.bell.net says...
A few times that I've pulled the drain plug on my boat there has been red
fluid coming out. It happened again the last time I was out. The lake is
green and blue.

I took the engine cover off and inspected my power steering fluid level and
the power steering hoses with flashlight and by hand. No sign of leakage.

I ran the motor to operating temperature and turned the steering wheel a few
times; no sign of leakage.

Why do I occasionally get a red fluid coming out with the lake water when I
pull the drain plug after boating?

The only red fluid on the boat is the power steering fluid and gasoline.
The gas tank hoses are secure and there is no scent of gasoline, except
after dieseling.

Alpha One Mercury Mercruiser 4.3L V6 efi, approximately 45 engine hours
2005 Sea Ray 185 Sport


Transmission fluid can also be red.

jps

But it won't mix with water.

"jps" wrote in message
...
In article , bryan.459
@pac.bell.net says...
A few times that I've pulled the drain plug on my boat there has been red
fluid coming out. It happened again the last time I was out. The lake
is
green and blue.

I took the engine cover off and inspected my power steering fluid level
and
the power steering hoses with flashlight and by hand. No sign of
leakage.

I ran the motor to operating temperature and turned the steering wheel a
few
times; no sign of leakage.

Why do I occasionally get a red fluid coming out with the lake water when
I
pull the drain plug after boating?

The only red fluid on the boat is the power steering fluid and gasoline.
The gas tank hoses are secure and there is no scent of gasoline, except
after dieseling.

Alpha One Mercury Mercruiser 4.3L V6 efi, approximately 45 engine hours
2005 Sea Ray 185 Sport


Transmission fluid can also be red.


I've checked the engine oil, the hydraulic fluid, the drive fluid, and the
power steering fluid. PS and gasoline are my only red fluids.
jps

"Bryan" wrote in message
y.com...

"jps" wrote in message
...
In article , bryan.459
@pac.bell.net says...
A few times that I've pulled the drain plug on my boat there has been
red
fluid coming out. It happened again the last time I was out. The lake
is
green and blue.

I took the engine cover off and inspected my power steering fluid level
and
the power steering hoses with flashlight and by hand. No sign of
leakage.

I ran the motor to operating temperature and turned the steering wheel a
few
times; no sign of leakage.

Why do I occasionally get a red fluid coming out with the lake water
when I
pull the drain plug after boating?

The only red fluid on the boat is the power steering fluid and gasoline.
The gas tank hoses are secure and there is no scent of gasoline, except
after dieseling.

Alpha One Mercury Mercruiser 4.3L V6 efi, approximately 45 engine hours
2005 Sea Ray 185 Sport


Transmission fluid can also be red.


I've checked the engine oil, the hydraulic fluid, the drive fluid, and the
power steering fluid. PS and gasoline are my only red fluids.
jps


Probably not likely on an 18 footer, but if your boat is equipped with
electric/hydraulic trim tabs, the fluid that operates them is red.
Personally, I'd be asking the question of why there is any liquid of any
type in the bilge of your boat. The normal state of a bilge for a stern
drive boat is bone-dry, no water whatsoever. There are only three sources
of water in a stern drive bilge that I can think of, and only two that are
acceptable.

1. Water from the weather (acceptable).

2. Water from a temporary ingress due to taking a wave over the bow or from
dripping swimmers (acceptable).

3. A leak from either the hull or a through-hull fitting, the on-board
water systems, or the mechanical systems (unacceptable).

I think you need to broaden the scope of your investigation.

"RG" wrote in message
. ..

"Bryan" wrote in message
y.com...

"jps" wrote in message
...
In article , bryan.459
@pac.bell.net says...
A few times that I've pulled the drain plug on my boat there has been
red
fluid coming out. It happened again the last time I was out. The lake
is
green and blue.

I took the engine cover off and inspected my power steering fluid level
and
the power steering hoses with flashlight and by hand. No sign of
leakage.

I ran the motor to operating temperature and turned the steering wheel
a few
times; no sign of leakage.

Why do I occasionally get a red fluid coming out with the lake water
when I
pull the drain plug after boating?

The only red fluid on the boat is the power steering fluid and
gasoline.
The gas tank hoses are secure and there is no scent of gasoline, except
after dieseling.

Alpha One Mercury Mercruiser 4.3L V6 efi, approximately 45 engine hours
2005 Sea Ray 185 Sport


Transmission fluid can also be red.


I've checked the engine oil, the hydraulic fluid, the drive fluid, and
the power steering fluid. PS and gasoline are my only red fluids.
jps


Probably not likely on an 18 footer, but if your boat is equipped with
electric/hydraulic trim tabs, the fluid that operates them is red.
Personally, I'd be asking the question of why there is any liquid of any
type in the bilge of your boat. The normal state of a bilge for a stern
drive boat is bone-dry, no water whatsoever. There are only three sources
of water in a stern drive bilge that I can think of, and only two that are
acceptable.

1. Water from the weather (acceptable).

2. Water from a temporary ingress due to taking a wave over the bow or
from dripping swimmers (acceptable).

3. A leak from either the hull or a through-hull fitting, the on-board
water systems, or the mechanical systems (unacceptable).

I think you need to broaden the scope of your investigation.


I seem to drain less than half a gallon of water after a day of boating and
putting it back onto the trailer. It's probably water from my swimmers,
tubers, wakeboarders, and skiers. I opened the engine compartment after a
few hours of watersports today and it was almost as dry as a bone.

On Sat, 08 Jul 2006 01:31:43 +0000, Bryan wrote:


I seem to drain less than half a gallon of water after a day of boating
and putting it back onto the trailer. It's probably water from my
swimmers, tubers, wakeboarders, and skiers. I opened the engine
compartment after a few hours of watersports today and it was almost as
dry as a bone.

How red is red? Could it be considered rust colored? I could think of
quite a few things that would give a rusty hue to water.

RG wrote:
"Bryan" wrote in message
y.com...

"jps" wrote in message
...
In article ,
bryan.459 @pac.bell.net says...
A few times that I've pulled the drain plug on my boat there has
been red
fluid coming out. It happened again the last time I was out. The
lake is
green and blue.

I took the engine cover off and inspected my power steering fluid
level and
the power steering hoses with flashlight and by hand. No sign of
leakage.

I ran the motor to operating temperature and turned the steering
wheel a few
times; no sign of leakage.

Why do I occasionally get a red fluid coming out with the lake
water when I
pull the drain plug after boating?

The only red fluid on the boat is the power steering fluid and
gasoline. The gas tank hoses are secure and there is no scent of
gasoline, except after dieseling.

Alpha One Mercury Mercruiser 4.3L V6 efi, approximately 45 engine
hours 2005 Sea Ray 185 Sport


Transmission fluid can also be red.


I've checked the engine oil, the hydraulic fluid, the drive fluid,
and the power steering fluid. PS and gasoline are my only red
fluids.
jps


Probably not likely on an 18 footer, but if your boat is equipped with
electric/hydraulic trim tabs, the fluid that operates them is red.
Personally, I'd be asking the question of why there is any liquid of
any type in the bilge of your boat. The normal state of a bilge for
a stern drive boat is bone-dry, no water whatsoever. There are only
three sources of water in a stern drive bilge that I can think of,
and only two that are acceptable.

1. Water from the weather (acceptable).

2. Water from a temporary ingress due to taking a wave over the bow
or from dripping swimmers (acceptable).

3. A leak from either the hull or a through-hull fitting, the
on-board water systems, or the mechanical systems (unacceptable).

I think you need to broaden the scope of your investigation.

Rust maybe?
Lushy

"Bryan" wrote in message
y.com...


I've checked the engine oil, the hydraulic fluid, the drive fluid, and the
power steering fluid. PS and gasoline are my only red fluids.
jps



What does the water smell like?

You could be leaking trim and tilt fluid from the reservoir, pump, or one of
the lines.
Jim
"Bryan" wrote in message
. com...
A few times that I've pulled the drain plug on my boat there has been red
fluid coming out. It happened again the last time I was out. The lake is
green and blue.

I took the engine cover off and inspected my power steering fluid level
and the power steering hoses with flashlight and by hand. No sign of
leakage.

I ran the motor to operating temperature and turned the steering wheel a
few times; no sign of leakage.

Why do I occasionally get a red fluid coming out with the lake water when
I pull the drain plug after boating?

The only red fluid on the boat is the power steering fluid and gasoline.
The gas tank hoses are secure and there is no scent of gasoline, except
after dieseling.

Alpha One Mercury Mercruiser 4.3L V6 efi, approximately 45 engine hours
2005 Sea Ray 185 Sport