2000 Four Winns H170 with Volvo 3.0 - Engine removal necessary?

[christianborys]

hey guys, I'm just looking for some advice because I'm really disappointed with what I've got.

This winter, I bought a 2000 four winns H170 with a Volvo 3.0 and I took it out last week. I had no problems apart from the engine stuttering when I tried to push out of a very low speed cruise into a higher speed. No matter how gently I tried to push the throttle, the same thing always happened. It felt like the boat had to stutter for 3 seconds before finally getting to speed.

And then, this weekend, I went for a ride on the lake and when I brought it back to the dock, when I shut the engine off, it sounded like it gasped for air before I heard a loud bang. I figured I flooded it because I didn't idle long enough and it would be fine in a few minutes.

But when I tried to restart it, this is the noise I heard.

https://imgur.com/a/JmTUaKv

I called some friends and they said the engine was probably flooded and the spark plugs needed to be cleaned or replaced.

But when I called the service tech over from the local marina to ask him to tow the boat back into the marina, right away he said that the starter was blown. He said that he'd worked on the same Volvo engine on two Glastron's and they'd had the exact same problem.

So he said they'd try to replace the starter without removing the engine but a day later, he told me that they couldn't get to the bolt in the starter without removing the engine.

They've quoted me $1,200 to remove the engine and replace the starter which makes me wonder if this is a common problem, if I bought a lemon, or what the hell happened. Any advice would be tremendously appreciated.

 

[alldodge]

The stuttering would indicate it needs a carb rebuild

The noise does sound like the starter. Being a 3.0 there should be room to get at the bolts. The issue may be the design of the boat. Are there any panels/seats which can be unbolted? If not then its the boat that causes the problem

Starters don't fail that often, in most cases its from the motor not being taken care of. If its in a saltwater area, or high humidity

 

[Lou C]

What you’re dealing with is very common, unfortunately boat builders don’t give a damn about engine access and in my opinion it’s gotten worse with later designs not better. To deal with your starter issue the rear seat has to come out. Then you’d probably had adequate access to the starter bolts. They bolt in from the bottom up like every other Chevrolet old school engine used in boats. I’m wondering if this engine hydrolocked; any decent marine mechanic knows that when you have a starter problem on an I/O the first thing you should do is remove the spark plugs and crank the engine over to check for water in the cyls. Water can come from leaky water cooled exhaust or other engine problems.
So start figuring how to get that seat out of the way and then take some pix of the starter and post em up. That ancient 4 cyl (by the way it’s a GM engine) is about the simplest thing there is to work on. Your problem is 100% caused by bad boat design; they are all the same in this regard. I modified the rear seats on mine to make it easy to take them out.
If you don’t want to deal with these headaches fix this boat sell it and buy a late model boat with a 4 stroke outboard. The maintenance will be far less.

 

[christianborys]

What you’re dealing with is very common, unfortunately boat builders don’t give a damn about engine access and in my opinion it’s gotten worse with later designs not better. To deal with your starter issue the rear seat has to come out. Then you’d probably had adequate access to the starter bolts. They bolt in from the bottom up like every other Chevrolet old school engine used in boats. I’m wondering if this engine hydrolocked; any decent marine mechanic knows that when you have a starter problem on an I/O the first thing you should do is remove the spark plugs and crank the engine over to check for water in the cyls. Water can come from leaky water cooled exhaust or other engine problems.
So start figuring how to get that seat out of the way and then take some pix of the starter and post em up. That ancient 4 cyl (by the way it’s a GM engine) is about the simplest thing there is to work on. Your problem is 100% caused by bad boat design; they are all the same in this regard. I modified the rear seats on mine to make it easy to take them out.
If you don’t want to deal with these headaches fix this boat sell it and buy a late model boat with a 4 stroke outboard. The maintenance will be far less.

Thanks very much, that's what I plan to do. I'll fix this and sell it in July.

 

[christianborys]

The stuttering would indicate it needs a carb rebuild

The noise does sound like the starter. Being a 3.0 there should be room to get at the bolts. The issue may be the design of the boat. Are there any panels/seats which can be unbolted? If not then its the boat that causes the problem

Starters don't fail that often, in most cases its from the motor not being taken care of. If its in a saltwater area, or high humidity

I wish I knew the past history of the boat but I really don't so as far as I can tell, I'm probably better off selling this

 

[jbcurt00]

Thanks very much, that's what I plan to do. I'll fix this and sell it in July.

Why do you want this topic deleted?

 

[tpenfield]

21 year old boat . . . needs a starter . . . hardly a lemon. Maybe a pineapple.

Has anyone tried to turn the engine over by hand? The loud bang that you heard might need some investigation/explanation.

If I were me, and it was just the starter, I'd fix it myself for about $200 and then use the money saved to buy beer.

BTW - you need to get some mechanic friends.

 

[Bt Doctur]

that sound is a blown bendix drive in the starter ,mostlikely caused by water in a cylinder or two,Usually happens when a motor coughs and spins backwards. It sucks water up into the engine causing a hydrolock