1998 Volvo Penta 3.0GS MBYMCE Water getting in oil. Head Pulled Help

Willhorne22

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Jun 21, 2014
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1999 Larson with a 1998 Volvo Penta 3.0GS MBYMCE

Hi everyone thanks for helping me get through my first boat motor repair I have a bad gut feeling i have a cracked block but, I want to rule out every other option first and get to the bottom of it. I just need some help and advice.

From the beginning. Boat ran perfect all summer. Winter came around I followed the manuals instructions and removed the drain plug from the manifolds and the head. I removed the water pump hoses and drained all water from them. I defogged in and put stabilizer in the gas. I ran it for a good 40 or 50 secs with no water hooked up to it trying to make sure it all came out. This was my first boat winterization. The boats first lake run this year went like this. I idled out of the no wake zone no problems a belt started to squeak then stopped squeaking. I pushed the throttle wide open and started going across the lake watching my guages. My temp starting go up past 200 and i smelt something burning and my engine lost its power and bogged down. I opened engine bay the temp read about 230 I had milky water/oil around and in my carburetor. The water pump belt broke so i just thought it overheated and maybe blew a gasket.


I got the boat home and have started messing with it. For ****s and giggles i wanted to put a new belt on with fresh oil and oil filter and run it and see what it would do. It took in a lot of water so i drained the oil again. Now I have removed the riser Elbow. It had a Gasket Metal spacer Gasket setup. The top gasket was in real bad shape. The actual exhaust manifolds gasket seems to be ok. I have pulled the spark plugs and there was water in 1 or 2 of the cylinders I have cranked and cranked and cranked trying to get it all out. If i try to hand crank the motor it gets harder to turn over in one spot so hard that my starters bendix wont engage but once i get past that one spot by hand i can turn the key and it will turn continuously no problem.

Now I have pulled the Head off. The gasket doesn't look bad but i also dont see any cracks anywhere in the motor. When the water pump belt broke the boat was ran awhile without taking in water.




Last edited by William Horne; Yesterday at 10:57 PM.​
 
Last edited:

Willhorne22

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Jun 21, 2014
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Just found a crack in my exhaust pipe. I just the drain plug and its was gunked up pretty bad didnt drain all the water out at winterization.



Is this the reason im getting water in my motor? thanks
 

Willhorne22

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Just found a crack in my exhaust pipe. I just the drain plug and its was gunked up pretty bad didnt drain all the water out at winterization.



Is this the reason im getting water in my motor? thanks
 

steve2075

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Jun 23, 2014
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I have same problem now.. replaced all gasket looks just like yours .did you have oil and water coming out of your valve cover.. please let me know what you found out hoping not a cracked block
 

John2037

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Mar 16, 2012
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Your winterization sounded fine other than I wouldn't run it without water for any amount of time unless you plan on replacing the impeller

The "crack" picture is kinda rough - I'm assuming that you're looking at your intake/exhaust manifold... From your story, it sounds like the belt broke, it overheated bad, then either it cracked from heat or you tried to start it while it was too hot and the cold water popped it. If you see the crack and its not just a weld seam (you can test it by blocking off the riser port with some homemade plate and connecting a hose to the water inlet and see if it leaks) then get a new one, not a cheap part... and have the head checked out by a shop, which is cheap. The 3.0 is a tough motor but IMO the intake/exhaust mani has too much going on and is the weakest part. That burning smell was probably your exhaust bellow on your riser - you'll probably need one of those too.

The question is - why did the belt squeal and break? I had bought a boat where the previous owner did a impeller but did not mention that there were pieces missing... which ended up wedged in the t-stat housing and blocking the water flow.
 

Lou C

Supreme Mariner
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Nov 10, 2002
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11,802
Well one possibility is that one of the belt driven accessories (front water pump, impeller, alternator) seized up and caused the belt to stretch and break...now it should be easy to find which one by turning them by hand and feeling for a seized bearing. NEVER run the engine without a source of cooling water. When you remove drain plugs when winterizing always probe the opening of the drain because they get blocked by rust flakes.
 

Willhorne22

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Jun 21, 2014
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I checked the impeller everything is good and every pulley turns great, the belt was worn out and started to make noise then it broke. The burning smell was oil and water coming out of the carburetor and boiling on top of the manifold. I have all all new gaskets ordered and a new intake manifold. The crack in the manifold is real bad i just couldn't get a good picture of it. I could feel my manifold up with a water hose and it would barely run out from the drain plug. I didn't probe it during winterization so I'm sure this is my fault. Ill get all my new parts installed and post back with results
 

Pesimist

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Jul 6, 2012
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You didn't mention whether you pulled the one or two engine block drain plugs. After pulling those, you should use a scribe, small screw driver, or piece of wire to ensure sand or other residue hasn't prevented water from draining out. If you didn't pull any engine block drains - you probably have a cracked block.
 

Rickf

Cadet
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May 26, 2009
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Lets get back to basics, 99% of the time in order to get water in the cylinders it has to come from the intake, or HEAD/BLOCK area, as there is no pressure in the ex water flow that would override the oil or cyl pressure, or intake suction
not being overly familiar with this engine is there coolant running through the intake? if there is make blocking plates and pressurize and ck for leaks 15psi is enough,
You have the head off already have the head checked for cracks, a good machine shop can do this, they maybe can do the intake also if necessary.
​clean the block /head surface and ck the block for cracks

Note when you put the head bolts back in make sure the head bolt holes have no fluid in them unless they go into the coolant jacket or you will possibly crack the block and have wasted all this time

rotate the engine and closely ck the cylinder walls for any possible signs of a crack, abnormality ,or maybe a rust mark to guide as a possibility if you suspect take it to a machine shop and have it checked,
if you haven't found any thing to write home about by this point, pull the block and rotate and ck the inside for cracks
 
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