Hydrolock/Stalled Out

[saxman9801]

The boat did something weird on me today, I had been running it this afternoon and it was running great, went out and was testing a 4 blade prop, stopped for a while and put my 3 blade back on, then did some skiing and then floated for a bit again. Decided to run back to the dock so crusied down to the park, slowed down for the no wake zone, I was pulling up to the dock at idle and had to reverse a little bit, was some fairly decent sized wakes coming from directly behind me, the boat stalled as I backed up, I tried to fire it up and it caught for a split second at the higher rpm's and then died and no matter what I did woudl not fire back up. I paddeled the last few feet to the dock, let it sit and checked for fuel and spark. I have plenty of fuel at the carb and no issues there, did not have a spark checker with me but pulled a wire off and could hear some ticks as I was cranking. Let it sit for a bit and no luck would crank but would not start. I got a lift back downriver and hauled it back onto the trailer. When I got it home I threw the ears on and tried to start it, it stared up. It seemd a little rough at first and then smoothed out, I had a little bit of smoke/steam coming from the portside manifold. I killed it and checked for leaks and everything looked good. I fired it back up and no more smoke/steam in the enging compartment. it seemed to smooth out after running for a few, it seems like it could still have just a slight miss though at the lower rpms. Could this have been hydrolock, and if so what do I need to check and change to get me running again? The Boat is a 1995 5.7, alpha one carbed 4bbl with the Thunderbolt V. Motor is new this season carb and fuel system is new as well. Boat has been runnign great all season.

Thanks

Dan

 

[rs2k]

Re: Hydrolock/Stalled Out

It sounds like you sucked water up through the exhaust. It was probably hydro lock. There is always the possibility that you bent a con rod, but I doubt it. If you have any new vibrations from your engine then you probably did bend a con rod. If that's the case then make sure you get it fixed ASAP. A bent con rod has a tendency to bend more, and a very bent con rod has a tendency to go through the block when you least expect it. In a boat it may also go through the bottom of the hull.

 

[saxman9801]

Re: Hydrolock/Stalled Out

Thanks for the reply
No weird vibrations it seems like it is missing a little between idle and 2k rpms, then up around 3200 it does not quite sound right, seems like it is missing. I have not pulled the plugs yet so I could have some water in one of the cylinders still. I am suprised that the wave hit me that bad but I guess it hit me just right. In the event it happens again at some point what needs to be done on the water to get her to fire back up?

thanks!

 

[rs2k]

Re: Hydrolock/Stalled Out

The only way to fix hydro lock is to pull the plugs, spin the motor, and try again.

 

[saxman9801]

Re: Hydrolock/Stalled Out

Uggh that means the sides of the doghouse come off and thats a royal pita. Lets hope that I dont have to deal with this again. Any thoughts on the slight miss I am experiencing? Water in the cylinders still?

 

[rs2k]

Re: Hydrolock/Stalled Out

I hate to keep coming up with problems, but another unlikely possibility is that you could have also blown a head gasket. Check under the distributor cap to see if there's any moisture. That would cause hard starting and missing issues.

 

[wca_tim]

Re: Hydrolock/Stalled Out

couldn't it also be an exhaust manifold or riser / manifold gasket leak?

I don't know what the exhaust system on your boat looks like, but it seems like a few waves while it is running wouldn't be able to cram water far enough up the exhaust to cause a problem... the water ie injected in the exhaust pretty close to the manifolds in most set-ups anyhow...

 

[saxman9801]

Re: Hydrolock/Stalled Out

There were quite a few waves and also bunch of donkeys turning tight circles on wave runners right behind me as i had to back into one. I just pulled all 8 plugs and the electrodes all look like they have been washed lightly, u can see some streaks on them looks almost like someone sprayed them lightly on the tip. It was worse on the back plug on each side. I doubt it is a head gasket or riser gasket, it would would be strange for both sides to go. I dont see any signs of water in the oil, and I doubt there was alot of water anyways since it would still crank over just not start. Anything else I should do before heading back out?

Thanks for all the help.

 

[wca_tim]

Re: Hydrolock/Stalled Out

agreed!

 

[saxman9801]

Re: Hydrolock/Stalled Out

Well I took the boat back out today, less than five minutes out from the dock it stalled out on me again. Would not fire up, cranked just fine but no starting. I pulled a few plugs and no evidence of water in there. I had my girlfriend work the throttle while watching and there i a nice stream of gas coming in. Put the spark checker on and I had spark while from the coil, and spark off the top of the distributor, however it seemed weaker then. Came home and tried to fire it up and no luck. Went to troubleshoot the ignition, when i follow the guide and tap the white with green to ground to check for spark at the coil, and get nothing, but when I crank it with evverything hooked up it shows spark. Coil was new when the motor went in. Could I have a weak module? Would apprecitae any thoughts.

 

[rs2k]

Re: Hydrolock/Stalled Out

Dang it, I hydro locked my engine a couple times today due to a bad exhaust manifold or gasket. I also just discovered the ignition is intermittent. I'll go through the trouble shooting process I come up with tomorrow and get back with you.

What kind of ignition system do you have on that boat? I am most familiar with HEI ignition and points ignition.

My first guess in your situation is weak connection between the coil and all of the plugs. This usually means a bad cap and/or rotor or moisture in the distributor.

If I were you I'd take of the distributor cap, look for and remove any moisture, then spray some WD40 in it.

WD40 was designed for use in distributors.

 

[saxman9801]

Re: Hydrolock/Stalled Out

I am starting to think my initial problem was not water in the cylinders and that the washing i observed on the plugs was possibily from the gas getting into the cylinders while trying to start it. When it died today I pulled two plugs and had no water in there at all. Today when I got back it would not even fire on the hose it tried once and spit out some blackish smoke but I would not catch. I'll argue with it tommorrow, cap and rotor are all new as is the coil so I am not sure what the hell the issue is, but it is quite agravating. Is there an amout of voltage I should see at the end of the plug wire that I could check with my DMM so i can verify that I am getting enough juice to the plugs?

Thanks

Dan

 

[rs2k]

Re: Hydrolock/Stalled Out

Your DMM won't be able to read the spark plug voltage. That's going to be between 10K and 50K depending on how fancy your ignition is. Yoyu might want to invest in a timing light. Hook it up to plug wire number one and crank the engine. if it lights up then you know your getting fire. Then you am it at the timing makr and see if it's in time.

 

[saxman9801]

Re: Hydrolock/Stalled Out

Turns out there was a small bare spot on one of the wires running from the shift interrupt on the exhaust elbow, it was hitting ground and shorting the system out. Covered it up and it the boat ran great when I took it out last weekend.

 

[rs2k]

Re: Hydrolock/Stalled Out

Very good. I like those easy fixes. Too bad most easy fixes are hard to find.