2005 Chaparral 180ssi with Volvo Penta 3.0GLP-C water in cylinders

[sms1976]

Hi iBoats folks; thanks for the great forum! I have been working on getting a 2005 Volvo Penta 3.0GL going after it sat for a few years. Things were going well, having replaced plugs, flushed everything out, re-jetting carb for high altitude (6400') operation, setting idle speed, and making sure timing is good. I had a helper as we checked the timing out on the lake since the boat seems to have a bad hesitation in the middle of the throttle.

We weren't quite done with the timing checks when he slowed down quickly and the motor sputtered and died. Trying to crank it back over, it half cranked and stopped, so I suspected water injestion. So I pulled the plugs, turned over the motor until it seemed all the water was out (mostly from cyl 3), sprayed fogging oil in the spark plug holes, and got a tow back to shore. The oil seemed thin and looked like there might be water in it (although no separate water/oil droplets so not sure on that?).

We got the boat out of the water and I pumped the oil out and removed the oil filter last night. My plan is to put a new oil filter on this evening, fill it with oil 10W30 synthetic, and test compression tonight. If compression looks good I will put spark plugs back in and try to start it.

My questions are...Is there anything I'm missing? Should I be doing any other tests before trying to start it? I don't want to damage anything if there is a chance I still have a good engine.

Thanks again and I appreciate your help!

 

[Dave-R]

I have seen this happen a lot. What can happen is if you slow down very fast the engine exhaust pressure might not be enough to overcome the water that is still in the exhaust. I bought a boat with a seized engine from a guy who got an alarm, and then just turned the key off at full speed. The engine sucked up the water into the cylinders, and locked the engine. I would do what you are doing and fire it up ASAP. Run it hot for at least an hour to get rid of any remaining water in the oil. If after that you are still getting water in the oil, think cracked block or manifolds leaking. Dave-R

 

[tpenfield]

How much oil did you pump out? Was it more than the oil capacity? See how things go when you get the engine running. Do you know if the engine was winterized properly prior to you owning it?

 

[sms1976]

Thanks Dave-R. Is there something to do after an initial compression test if they don't all show good compression to differentiate a cracked head from a leaky manifold?

 

[alldodge]

I would do what you are doing and fire it up ASAP. Run it hot for at least an hour to get rid of any remaining water in the oil

I think your fine, and Dave has some good thoughts, only comment is just run it, IMO doesn't need to be hot, just get it up to temp for some time. Check the oil every now and then and no need to stop the motor to check, just looking for milk. Doesn't matter if you do stop it, just not necessary

 

[Bondo]

So I pulled the plugs, turned over the motor until it seemed all the water was out (mostly from cyl 3),

Ayuh,..... Welcome Aboard,...... Ya shoulda thrown the spark plugs back in, 'n Fired her up, right then, 'n there,.....

No way water went past the rings in the minutes before ya pulled the spark plugs, 'n blew out the cylinders,....

Sounds like ya need a set of shutters in the exhaust system to block the backwash,....

 

[mklearl]

Sounds like ya need a set of shutters in the exhaust system to block the backwash,....

Volvo Penta issued a bulletin to remove the flappers because they were notorious for getting stuck in the closed position and melting in the exhaust tunes. It was determined that they were causing more problems than they were helping. Don't rip the throttle down to idle from cruise speed. Slow down at a "normal" rate. If it continues to happen and you have the space there are now taller riser elbows or extenders to compensate for the lack of exhaust flappers.

 

[Scott Danforth]

the hesitation is from crud in the carb from sitting. sitting ships go to shi#

fire the motor up ASAP. you have water in the cylinder yet that is just rusting away at the bore. you should have fired it up the moment you got towed home and expelled the water.

oil with water in it turns to pudding. like a big giant blob of Jell-o Brand butterscotch pudding.

 

[sms1976]

Okay thanks everyone. I put oil back in and did a quick check for compression...looked good. I ran it on the garden hose at idle and then high idle for awhile, checking oil periodically and still looked good. The boat is in a somewhat close alley so I didn't want to run the engine at too high an RPM. I'm relieved it runs and sounds good, but I'll be able to test it at higher RPMs on a lake this weekend. That lake is 2500' lower so I may switch jets again. At the high lake, plugs looked very dark after low rpm operation, and too white after running higher RPMs and getting soaked with water.

By the way, how high is too high an RPM on the hose (no load)? And how do I get rid of crud in the carb that causes this hesitation (if that's what this is)? Thanks!

 

[alldodge]

Nothing above 1500 rpm on a hose, the impeller can start starving for water and can be damaged.

Need to clean and rebuild the carb, unless the accelerator pump is out of adjustment, then just adjust it. Accelerator pump will also have different needs at different elevations. Needs more fuel at low and less at high

 

[sms1976]

Thanks everyone; that's helpful. I ordered a carb rebuild kit for that, and will check clearance on the accelerator pump. I haven't yet found information on what high elevation changes to make for that accelerator pump but I might give Holley a call.

Next is figuring out how to size a prop for the high altitude. I don't think it's the stock prop since the last owners used it for wake boarding at sea level, with a Vortex XHS 14x20. If anyone has thoughts on that or if I should start a new thread, let me know.

Thanks!