Hello, the first two paragraphs are the "story" of what is happening. I put a TLDR at the bottom with a summary of my understanding of the issue.
I own a Volvo Penta 3.0 GSP-C on a 2002 19' Wellcraft Excalibur bowrider. At the end of a ~1 hour boat outing, much of it going idle speed, I accelerated the boat to planing speed. Suddenly, the engine seemed to lose power in a jerky kind of fashion, so I cut the engine. An alarm started beeping, and the oil pressure read zero. After 30 seconds or so, I decided to restart the boat, and things seemed to start up normally. I was very close to the dock, so I took the boat in. I checked the oil level, and it seemed to read near full on the dip stick. Temperatures looked normal, both with an IR gun and the gauge. I didn't know what else to look at, so I closed up the boat for the day.
A couple weeks later, I took the boat out for a test drive to see if the issue would reoccur. The boat seemed to start up normally, so I accelerated and started to plane. Oil pressure and temperature were normal. Overall, I thought the boat was running a little weak (slower @ a given RPM than I expected) and sounded a little off. About 5 minutes into the ride, the problem happened again. The boat engine started to seem weak and jerky, and then the engine died. After the engine died, the alarm started with a zero oil pressure. I again turned off the boat and waited ~30 seconds, and the boat started up normally. I started to plane again, and the boat seemed a little off again. I played with the throttle a bit to change speeds while planing, and the engine died again in a similar fashion when I throttled down a bit. Once again, the oil level read zero immediately following the engine dying. I again waited ~30 seconds before restarting the boat. The boat seemed to start up normally again, and I slowly took the boat back to the nearby dock.
Any ideas on things I should check? It seems very strange to me that the oil pressure would bottom out then recover. I'm pretty sure the oil pressure sensors (of which there are two, one for the gauge and one for the alarm) are working, as the gauge reads zero and the alarm sounds nearly simultaneously. I also don't know what would cause the engine to weaken and die, particularly when adjusting the throttle. Any thoughts/comments would be appreciated.
TLDR: Engine is dying for no apparent reason and the oil pressure reads zero after the engine dies. Things seem normal upon restarting, then the problem reoccurs within minutes of planing.
I own a Volvo Penta 3.0 GSP-C on a 2002 19' Wellcraft Excalibur bowrider. At the end of a ~1 hour boat outing, much of it going idle speed, I accelerated the boat to planing speed. Suddenly, the engine seemed to lose power in a jerky kind of fashion, so I cut the engine. An alarm started beeping, and the oil pressure read zero. After 30 seconds or so, I decided to restart the boat, and things seemed to start up normally. I was very close to the dock, so I took the boat in. I checked the oil level, and it seemed to read near full on the dip stick. Temperatures looked normal, both with an IR gun and the gauge. I didn't know what else to look at, so I closed up the boat for the day.
A couple weeks later, I took the boat out for a test drive to see if the issue would reoccur. The boat seemed to start up normally, so I accelerated and started to plane. Oil pressure and temperature were normal. Overall, I thought the boat was running a little weak (slower @ a given RPM than I expected) and sounded a little off. About 5 minutes into the ride, the problem happened again. The boat engine started to seem weak and jerky, and then the engine died. After the engine died, the alarm started with a zero oil pressure. I again turned off the boat and waited ~30 seconds, and the boat started up normally. I started to plane again, and the boat seemed a little off again. I played with the throttle a bit to change speeds while planing, and the engine died again in a similar fashion when I throttled down a bit. Once again, the oil level read zero immediately following the engine dying. I again waited ~30 seconds before restarting the boat. The boat seemed to start up normally again, and I slowly took the boat back to the nearby dock.
Any ideas on things I should check? It seems very strange to me that the oil pressure would bottom out then recover. I'm pretty sure the oil pressure sensors (of which there are two, one for the gauge and one for the alarm) are working, as the gauge reads zero and the alarm sounds nearly simultaneously. I also don't know what would cause the engine to weaken and die, particularly when adjusting the throttle. Any thoughts/comments would be appreciated.
TLDR: Engine is dying for no apparent reason and the oil pressure reads zero after the engine dies. Things seem normal upon restarting, then the problem reoccurs within minutes of planing.
