1990 VOLVO 7.4 LITER 454(WATER IN THE OIL)

[magicbandit]

Hey folks,<br />Heres the scoop. I just bought a 1990 Formula with the volvo 454. Discovered water in the oil.<br />The engine run absoulutely beautiful.Idles great,sounds great, plenty of power.<br />The previous owner put a new medium rise aluminum intake manifold on it. The rest of the engine looks original. also the boat has always been a freshwater boat.<br />I have read some of the similar problems on the forum and have discover a variety of scenarios.<br />1. cracked block<br />2. head gasket<br />3. intake manifold gasket<br />4. oil cooler<br />5. exhaust manifolds/risors and gaskets<br /><br />If 1-3 were possibilities would the engine run as great as it does?? I plan to pressure test the oil cooler tomorrow which should be easy to do.<br />If that test ok i will move to the manifold and risor system. How do you pressure test the risors and manifolds??? I'm kind of bumbed out seeing this is my first boat. Ive pput 1 hour on it and its already broke.<br />Any help would be greatly appreciated.<br />Thanks folks<br />Mike

 

[vinney]

Re: 1990 VOLVO 7.4 LITER 454(WATER IN THE OIL)

If the engine runs well you are a head of the game. You need to find out were the water is coming in the engine. The first question I would ask. Is the engine in the boat the factory engine that came with the boat. If it did I think thats great news. If the engine been replaced then your boat usally will have a story. In most causes no one has ever found the real problem. They have replaced what is broken but never found the problem. If the engine been changed you need to know if its a roller cam engine If it is you need to check the static line. If is the factory engine your in luck. I would start with risers and manifolds. 8 years on a raw water cooled Mercruiser. If you dont find the problem you will end up putting an engine in it. Look for the clues. Check compression and look for rust on the spark plugs. The clues dont lie. Vinney

 

[magicbandit]

Re: 1990 VOLVO 7.4 LITER 454(WATER IN THE OIL)

Vinney,<br /><br />The engine is the original marine engine. Do you think the 12 year old manifolds are shot

 

[magicbandit]

Re: 1990 VOLVO 7.4 LITER 454(WATER IN THE OIL)

Vinney, <br />Ther is no rust on the plugs i plan to check the cylinders for water tomorrow

 

[vinney]

Re: 1990 VOLVO 7.4 LITER 454(WATER IN THE OIL)

Risers and manifolds have a life cycle. I look at risers like tires on your car. You can run them till the cords show and you blow them out or you replace them befor you have a blow out. There is a problablity chart. Example. water in engine. 1. 90% of failure riser. 2. 80% riser gasket leaking 3. 75% manifold failure 4. 45% static line incorrect 5. 20% bad head gasket 6. 15% cracked head or rotted out head 7. 5% hole in block. I say start with the easy stuff first and dont guess everything leaves clues you need to find them. If you think about how the systems wears out its from (usally) the outside in. Riser to block.(raw water cooled engine. Vinney

 

[magicbandit]

Re: 1990 VOLVO 7.4 LITER 454(WATER IN THE OIL)

thanks for your reply vinney