'08 Volvo Penta 5.7 GI Water In Cylinders

[Regal1973]

I appreciate all the help and fast response guys! Planning on ordering the BARR manifold & riser kit in next day or so.....seeing as I'll have to wait for them to ship, I'll pass the time by doing the compression test.

 

[Regal1973]

So I went out to measure the risers on my 5.7L VP and they are the 11.3" extra tall one piece risers. BARR has a kit for 1k plus shipping
A quick www search turns up plenty of oem VP tall risers. I don't wanna skimp on the parts but was hoping I wouldn't have to spend top $$$ either
Plan on doing compression test tomorrow.

 

[Regal1973]

Its a little crazy to think that it's very likely, every 3-4 years, we have to spend near 1k to perform preventative maintenance with the exhaust...not including all the other routine maintenance we do throughout the year. Guess they know we really have no choice in the matter, and therefore they can jack us on the price tag......imo

 

[Lou C]

I agree and there are not too many options to avoid that, one being you re-power the whole thing, start with a new or re-man engine and then see if you can add full closed cooling (may need to be a custom job on a Volvo). That way you have the manifolds on the closed cooling circuit and only have to do the risers every 5 years.

Or, and this is what I plan to do, step away from I/Os in salt water. Get outboards, even though the initial cost is higher, if you run it for 10 years lets say in salt the maintenance costs will be far lower. My next boat will be powered by either an Evinrude Etec G2 or Mercury 4 stroke....no more I/Os for me.....

 

[Regal1973]

I just ran out to check the oil dipstick ( which I hadn't done yet) and oil looks brand new, no milkshake, no off color, nothing odd.
Now I'm going to go out & do the compression test. Once I get my 8 readings, I'll know better what direction I'm heading, JUST routine maintenance of exhaust / OR repair/ OR replacement of motor.
I'm praying it's just exhaust without valve or motor issues and that I dodged a bullet this go around.

 

[Lou C]

Also water does not always show on a marine inboard dipstick till it gets really bad. Take off the oil fill cap and look in there for a milky like oil/water mix. If all you see is normal oil then great.

 

[Regal1973]

Lou C and others here giving me advice, IT'S ALL BAD........
Pulled oil filler cap as Lou C suggested.....very slight milky sludge....looked down inside valve cover and I have standing water!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ughhhhhhhh.....im just sick to my stomach right now. Just bought this boat, spend dang good money on her....never ever having one good day out of her other than the sea trial day which I'm willing to bet it was already happening then too...just hadn't reared its ugly head yet

 

[Regal1973]

Is it ok to say, right now, I WANNA PUNCH PEOPLE IN THE FACE!
LOL..................I'm trying to laugh....having hard time doing it though

 

[Regal1973]

Now I need to find a replacement motor.........and someone who won't take me to the bank to do the removal and install.....are there such marine mechanics in existence anymore?
If I could get the motor out and back in, id take it on, but this boat is so big and tall, I have no earthy idea how I could remove and install.

 

[alldodge]

Various ways to pull the motor
chain or electric hoist and something to hoist from such as

Farm tractor with gin pole
Wooden A frame
Backhoe
Highlift
Rent a small crane

As for a honest mechanic, there around just need to find where

 

[Regal1973]

I just spoke with a VP dealer. He asked, "Does the dipstick look clean? & has the oil level been affected"? As in, has it increased where water may have altered the overall volume.
The dipstick is clean as a whistle, and dead on to the full mark.
I told him about the water I see standing inside the valve cover through the oil cap.
This is his suggestions:
*Lube up cylinders again.
*Try to suck out any water from under valve cover, use shop vac with fuel line attached to get inside if I can't get valve cover off easily to access water .
*Reinstall spark plugs
*Pull serpentine belt off
*Attempt to start motor, off the garden hose
*If motor starts, allow to run, short period of time for VERY LOW heat to build in assisting moisture displacement in cylinders, BE CAREFUL not to let it get hot or we will have other issues.
*Then Re-fog cylinders with oil
Then call him to let him know the outcome. He said it may just be risers and manifolds and a replace and cleanup of water on heads may be all it needs....but possibly a head issue too. Said he is leaning toward riser manifold issue seeing as there is nothing yet, to indicate water internally.
what everyone's thoughts on this?

 

[Regal1973]

A recheck on dipstick and yes it's still clean, but it's definitely reading higher than it should.....about half again as high over the full mark.....leading me to believe it has water down low, offsetting the oil level.
Advised the VP machanic and he said pull oil out, replace filter and oil and fire it up to get oil circulating.
My thoughts here.....why even deal with it? It appears as though it's ingested water and that seems like it's going to be something that will possibly cause me other issues in future, even if I get it going for now. Sounds like the need for a Remanufactured engine, yes????

 

[BarryTurano]

As some one who spent a small fortune chasing down gremlins, and finally lost confidence in my motor. Cut your losses now and do a replacement. You can search back on the threads I put up here regarding my motor. Best to do it now before you start to wonder "if I go out will it get me back"? Not a good feeling.

 

[alldodge]

If there is nothing wrong with the motor, the risers can put water in the cylinders and can drain down past the rings to the pan. So long as the exhaust is leaking water in the motor, it will not go away.

Since your planning on replacing manifolds and risers anyway, get new ones and install along with fogging cylinders and extracting oil out now.

 

[Regal1973]

Put pump down dipstick tube and pumped nothing but water! Local shop said the motor will be shot because there's enough water that it would def be up to the crank.
I asked for a ballpark price to have shop remove and reinstall a long block. He ballparked me at 10k for remanufactured and labor
Only option is to do all work myself
I'm confident in my abilities, just don't know how I'm going to accomplish this......gezzzzz what did I get myself into!

 

[Lou C]

OK now you may be able to do something here, you think the water came from the manifolds/risers, what you might try is installing the new exhaust, run it till it gets good and hot and do 3/4 oil changes to get all the moisture out I think its worth a try. Keep in mind my engine had salt water in it for over a week before I figured out what was wrong. I drained out all the water, got the boat home, and kept running it, changed oil, drained water, etc till most of the milkyness was gone. Did 3 oil changes that fall, drained all the water out fogged cyls. Then dealt with the blown head gasket and bad heads in the spring/summer. After I changed the cyl heads and gaskets, I changed it 2 more times. Checked it a few weeks ago when charging the batts and its like new oil, both on the stick and under the valve cover. You have nothing to lose, but the cost of the oil and time, by doing this. In order to get it all out, you will have to run it, because the water makes it even thicker and no way will it pump out then. The draining and fogging I did, really helped avoid rust in the cyl walls. I pulled out all the valve lifters and none were rusted, anywhere. Same with the pushrods/rocker arms.

So I say, don't give up yet. Get your new exhaust bolted up and go at it!

 

[Regal1973]

Lou C, I guess your right...........it just scares the cr*p out of me to think I could get it going, just to have something major fail on me in near future as a result of the orig incident like rod and crank bearings.

Anyone have any opinions on Michigan Motor"z"? They have a long block on Ebay for $2399.00.
I'd just have to swap over intake and misc parts, & add new exhaust. Not sure what kind of warranty they offer.

 

[alldodge]

Michigan Motorz is top notch, several here has installed their motors and they have been good with issues

 

[Lou C]

You're in Fla right, why not call Rapido Marine, several here have used them (FreebeeTony) you might pm him and ask how he liked the engine that Rapido built for him. MM in Michigan is well thought of as well. The basic issue is warrantee and labor coverage if there are problems after the install. I did my top end overhaul as a learning process but fully realized it is a gamble. We'll see how long it lasts, lol.

 

[Regal1973]

Thanks for all the help and suggestions. I've located a shop I intend to use and will be dropping boat off & ordering a new long block today.
Never in all my years of boating did I think I'd have run into such major issues as i have on a new purchase (New to me) as I did with this one. This is a perfect example of how you can't judge a boat by it's overall appearance, because this boat looked like a gem & it seems to be other than the major motor issue
I'm trying to be a half glass full kind of guy and having a new motor (not reman) will be a piece of mind, especially seeing as we have a family vaca on th horizon that will revolve around us boating. I need to have it reliable and don't want to take chances rebuilding and or using a reman motor ( not that there's anything wrong with a reman, just a piece of mind☺).