93 vp aq570 with 280 drive hydrolocked??

[Carver 2850]

Hello all. New kid here and new to vp drives. Got a good deal on a Carver 280 express so rolled the dice. Have gone through most normal maintenance and tune up stuff, lubes, etc. Ran it with earmuffs. Started and ran, sounded good. Compression averaged 140 and seemed within specs.
Put the boat in the river, started right up, idled great, moved out into the channel, looking good! Started accelerating, playing with trim tabs. Almost on plane and got a hiccup and puff of smoke or steam from eng compartment. Shut it down and dropped anchor. Pulled the dipstick and milkshake to the top of the stick.
Got towed to ramp and trailer home. Removed about 7-8 gallons of milky sludge. Looking things over discovered that the drain hole in lower unit is plugged. Also the flapper is a little tweaked and may not be sealing completely under back pressure. Are one or both of these issues likely to cause the hydrolock??
I'm out of town for a couple of days and haven't been able recheck compression after draing the block.
Sorry for the rambling post. Hopefully someone has some info. Thanks.

 

[Carver 2850]

Hello all. New kid here and new to vp drives. Got a good deal on a Carver 280 express so rolled the dice. Have gone through most normal maintenance and tune up stuff, lubes, etc. Ran it with earmuffs. Started and ran, sounded good. Compression averaged 140 and seemed within specs.
Put the boat in the river, started right up, idled great, moved out into the channel, looking good! Started accelerating, playing with trim tabs. Almost on plane and got a hiccup and puff of smoke or steam from eng compartment. Shut it down and dropped anchor. Pulled the dipstick and milkshake to the top of the stick.
Got towed to ramp and trailer home. Removed about 7-8 gallons of milky sludge. Looking things over discovered that the drain hole in lower unit is plugged. Also the flapper is a little tweaked and may not be sealing completely under back pressure. Are one or both of these issues likely to cause the hydrolock??
I'm out of town for a couple of days and haven't been able recheck compression after draing the block.
Sorry for the rambling post. Hopefully someone has some info. Thanks.

I forgot to mention that I pulled the plugs immediately after getting home, they all look good, the boat does turn over.

 

[captmello]

it doesn't sound like hydrolock. hydrolock is when water in the cylinders causes the engine to lock and not turn over.
it sounds like you have water mixing with your oil, a lot of it. where the water is coming from, I can't say. but, it doesn't good. you may have a cracked block.

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,..... Welcome Aboard,..... I agree with captmello, it sounds like a freeze busted block to me,.....

To test it, drain the block, isolate the block, 'n pressurize with air to 'bout 15 psi,.....
You here the air loss, follow the sound to the crack,....

 

[Carver 2850]

Ayuh,..... Welcome Aboard,..... I agree with captmello, it sounds like a freeze busted block to me,.....

To test it, drain the block, isolate the block, 'n pressurize with air to 'bout 15 psi,.....
You here the air loss, follow the sound to the crack,....

Ok. Thank you both. For what its worth I did drain both water jackets and there was no sign of sludge in either. Also when I turned it over after removing the plugs it did spit out the sludge from 2 cylinders on both sides, I will try to do the psi test when I get back to the boat.

 

[Bondo]

Ok. Thank you both. For what its worth I did drain both water jackets and there was no sign of sludge in either. Also when I turned it over after removing the plugs it did spit out the sludge from 2 cylinders on both sides, I will try to do the psi test when I get back to the boat.

Ayuh,..... Just to be clear,..... Both sides of the Block,..?? not the manifold drains, Right,..??

 

[Carver 2850]

Yes. The lower block drains. One of them (port side) goes to the hot water heater heat exchanger.

 

[Scott Danforth]

You didn't drain the exhaust manifolds?

May have freeze busted manifolds and water leaking into crankcase thru the exhaust ports

 

[Carver 2850]

No I didn't think to drain the manifolds after the ingestion. I'll do that also. There was sludge in the breather hoses and inside the spark arrestor . It took in a lot of water In a short time is why I was thinking hydroloc vs cracked block. Don't get me wrong I agree that a cracked block or manifold(s) is a very real possibility. The fact that I didn't get any sludge out of the water jacket from the block drains made me think the block may be OK. Thanks again guys.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Pressure test and find out

 

[kenny nunez]

The weakest section of a Chevy block is under the intake manifold, that is where you will find the crack.

 

[Carver 2850]

The weakest section of a Chevy block is under the intake manifold, that is where you will find the crack.

Good to know. On Wednesday/Thursday I'll check compresion again and pressure check the block. Thanks.

 

[Carver 2850]

Good to know. I'll check compression and psi check the block Wednesday, Thursday.

 

[Carver 2850]

Good to know. I'll check compression and psi check the block Wednesday, Thursday.

I have a little more information and more question. I've tried to pressure test the block but not sure I'm getting a good seal on connections, not getting any pressure reading yet. It seems like if the block was cracked enough to let multiple gallons of water in in a matter of minutes I would have had some oil in the water drained from the block drains?
Scott mentioned manifold cracks,is there a specific test for that? I took hte risers off,not seeing any water in the manifolds. I ordered new riser gaskets, they are a little different than the old ones, the long sides of the gasket have one long opening for the two smaller ports instead of individual openings. does it matter?
Checked compression with oil pan drained, it is way HIGH, I'm gettin 200+ psi on all cylinders, some at 230 and not at WOT. Would that be caused by sludge sitting on top of the pistons? I'm not sure what else would cause that. I'm pretty sure the tester is ok. I might verify with another tester.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Either your gauge is way off or you have water or oil in top the pistons

Plug the lines going to the exhaust manifolds to pressure test the block and heads

You won't find oil in the water, you will find water in the oil with a cracked block

 

[Carver 2850]

Either your gauge is way off or you have water or oil in top the pistons

Plug the lines going to the exhaust manifolds to pressure test the block and heads

You won't find oil in the water, you will find water in the oil with a cracked block

Thanks Scott. Where is the best place to pressurize the block?
Also, there are 3 separate riser gaskets on each side. Did someone just keep adding them instead of remove/replace or is that normal?

 

[Carver 2850]

Thanks Scott. Where is the best place to pressurize the block?
Also, there are 3 separate riser gaskets on each side. Did someone just keep adding them instead of remove/replace or is that normal?

I meant each side of the risers.

 

[Scott Danforth]

pull the two hoses going to the manifolds, and tie them together. pull the hose coming from the crankshaft mounted raw water pump and put a nipple in it with a schroeder valve and a pressure gauge and pressurize to 15psi. should hold forever

should only be one gasket on the manifold to riser joint. could be the surface is boogered up and needs to be cleaned, or the manifolds and risers need replacing.

 

[Carver 2850]

pull the two hoses going to the manifolds, and tie them together. pull the hose coming from the crankshaft mounted raw water pump and put a nipple in it with a schroeder valve and a pressure gauge and pressurize to 15psi. should hold forever

should only be one gasket on the manifold to riser joint. could be the surface is boogered up and needs to be cleaned, or the manifolds and risers need replacing.

Thanks again Scott and everyone else who's chipped in. Pulled the intake manifold this morning. Kenny called it. Large crack in the valley. I'll try to post a pic. Is this an automatic new block? Has anybody ever successfully repaired this type of crack?

 

[Scott Danforth]

Thanks again Scott and everyone else who's chipped in. Pulled the intake manifold this morning. Kenny called it. Large crack in the valley. I'll try to post a pic. Is this an automatic new block? Has anybody ever successfully repaired this type of crack?

yes, easily repairable...... to repair - buy new motor