4.3 Volvo Penta constant issues :( Please help

[rottluvr303]

We live in Southern Indiana and bought the boat from Southern IL

We bought a 2000 Mariah Shabah Z182 with a 4cyl Volvo Penta in March 2016. It is our first ski boat so we know nothing about them.

We took it out on the lake in march and ran it around for a good 30 minutes, it ran perfect.



We parked it in our barn until boating season on the river which was Memorial Day weekend. A week before we took it out we took it to a guy that was recommended to us by 2 diff people. for routine maint ( Changing oil, impeller). Picked it up and went straight to water and within 20 minutes of having it out it overheated to 250, of course hubby panicked and tried to shut it off and it putted for a while before it went dead.

The guy that worked on it told us to bring it back to him right then. He said it was clogged with mud, he flushed it and we took it back out and it ran great.

Then we took it to Florida to the bay and it overheated anytime we put it under a load, but was fine if kept at a slower speed and fine idling also.

Took it straight to same mechanic when we got back and he changed impeller again, took apart a few things and found some sand and old pieces of impeller...flushed it all out real good and so we tried again.

This time it did exact same thing....only overheated at high rpms ( We never let it get over 180 now ) but cools right off when we back off .

Took it back to the guy again and he installed a thermostat ( He said it didnt have one before )...took it straight to water and it overheated before i could even get truck parked ...so we loaded back up and took it back to him, He pulled thermostat out and adjusted timing.

Took boat back out and now the lifters are knocking as timing is off,. so therefore cant get to high rpms to test if the overheating issues is still there.

Took it back to mechanic and he said he was planning to replace a hose....after 3 weeks of hearing he would get to it every monday we finally said forget it and picked boat up.

We took it back out on water and lifters were still knocking, guy said we wouldnt hurt it if we got on it so we flew on down river......then a super load racket started.

We took it to a Marine shop this time and they claim head gasket is blown and the most recent noise is from a blown intake gasket, So we were qouted $1,200 as of now...and thats if heads dont need any machining. This is on top of the $500 we have paid out to the other guy who messed timing up and who knows what else

Question is.........what in the world is going on with this boat !!!! Could ALL of these issues stem from us running it into the mud at our buddy's dock that very first day ?????

I will add that the previous owner never winterized boat.....it was parked in a heated garage

 

[spoilsofwar]

I'm sorry, but there are a lot of wrong moves in this tale of woe.

Engine is overheated to 250(!), then overheated how many additional times before the impeller is changed again? How much of that wrecked impeller, from the first instance, is downstream in the cooling system at that point?

Guy is then adjusting timing on an engine that ran fine until it had a cooling system-related overheat? Timing now obviously wrong since engine doesn't even run correctly enough to get to the point where it might get hot?

Engine now making audibly alarming sounds and you're told by this yahoo "dont worry, get on her!" ?

Finally take it to guys who might have a clue, and now you're getting your real world wake up call. It's harsh.

There are a lot of very experienced marine techs and shade tree guys here on iboats who clearly would put the original parts changer involved in this saga to shame, but I'll be honest with you; unless the poster they're talking to on here is the person who will be doing the work or at least the diagnostics, what is the point?

If you want to tackle what, at this point, may be a major engine overhaul, let it be known and I'm sure you'll be helped. If you want to pay someone to fix it, my advice is simply to take it to a Volvo Penta certified repair center. If there isn't one reasonably close, then at least take it to a Mercruiser certified repair center, assuming they'll work on it. The same engine is used by both. Whatever you do, don't take it back to the clown who got you in this mess.

 

[alldodge]

Howdy

Sorry to hear about your issues, but first, do not take your boat back to the mechanic which was recommended by 2 diff people.

We parked it in our barn until boating season on the river which was Memorial Day weekend

This comment makes me think about when was the boat bought? Was it winter time?

Does sound like you have a blown head gasket if not more damage.

Suggest doing a compression test to check this