New Engine Replacement - Engine Died and Hydro locked after 5 hrs!?

[bruceb58]

No I don't believe it does I think the gas tank is in it's own separate compartment. But I would have to believe that the limber hole goes below it as well.

There has to be access to the tank sender and hoses. It may be from the engine compartment side though

 

[Lou C]

Or it could be one of those pie plate hatches in the deck.

 

[CaptnO]

Or it could be one of those pie plate hatches in the deck.

Correct it is one of those. but you really can't see anything in there, it is literally just to access the pick up tube and a few hoses. No way to see the sides of the tank. I plan to go back to the marina on Wednesday and take my shop vac. Ill see if anything is clogged between the fuel tank area and the middle storage area.

 

[PaulinSWFL]

Well if you measured right your elbows are definitely too low and if the boat is holding water somewhere weighing it is the only way to know for sure, or removing fittings on the transom to see if you have water weeping out of them. You have some options but you may need a good ‘glass shop to get to the bottom of it. Even if the boat came standard with the platform it doesn’t mean that the installation is 100% correct in terms of exhaust water ingestion. There are many many reports of this problem on boats made by various manufacturers, and it got worse with the introduction of the Vortec engines. Boat companies give people what sells boats not what is always best from a design & engineering point of view.
Your vids of the water flowing over the top of that platform tell you a lot.

There is no way water should back up onto the swim platform backing off the throttle as slow and steady as was shown in the video. Water logged for sure. You should be able to back off waaay faster than you did without the water coming up that high. (This is a great thread. Learning a lot reading it.)

 

[PaulinSWFL]

Nevermind I said screw it and made the drive. Here are the results, I was able to weigh the trailer and boat. Boat is full of gas with 79 gallons. Total gross weight was 8240lbs minus the 79 gallons of fuel. (474lbs). So about 7766lb. Now I need to subtract the trailer weight not sure what that would be. I attached the CAT scale results and the sticker from my Trailer. I believe I need to subtract the GVWR 8525 minus the MAX GVCC 7225 which would equal 1300lbs.
So that means my boat weights a total of 6466lbs I think spec is about 5600lbs dry weight on this boat.

You have at least a 100 gallons of water weight in the transom.

 

[PaulinSWFL]

Nevermind I said screw it and made the drive. Here are the results, I was able to weigh the trailer and boat. Boat is full of gas with 79 gallons. Total gross weight was 8240lbs minus the 79 gallons of fuel. (474lbs). So about 7766lb. Now I need to subtract the trailer weight not sure what that would be. I attached the CAT scale results and the sticker from my Trailer. I believe I need to subtract the GVWR 8525 minus the MAX GVCC 7225 which would equal 1300lbs.
So that means my boat weights a total of 6466lbs I think spec is about 5600lbs dry weight on this boat.

100 gallons of water weight. No question.

 

[PaulinSWFL]

Here is what my plan is for today. I am going to remove the screws from the swim platform support bar and aftermarket LED lights next to them to see if any water comes from there. I don't feel comfortable drilling any holes into my boat as I don't know where I am suppose to do that. I'll consult with the Volvo mechanic as well tomorrow so go over my findings.

"After market lights" are the key words. Leaking likely at one of those.

 

[PaulinSWFL]

Nada guides indicate the smallest engine option for this boat was a 3.0 L. The dry weight spec. probably included this engine. According to VP data the difference in weight of this engine to the 5.7 L is 282 lbs. If that helps at all!

That's a great find. Big difference. It still seems like wet wood though.

 

[Lou C]

Imagine the size of a normal 40-50 gallon fuel tank that these boats have. Now imagine the volume of 2 of those, that's about 80-100 gallons. I'm having a really hard time imagining just where there is enough space on a boat this size for that much water to be hiding. Unless by some quirk all the below deck spaces that should have had foam, were not filled with foam and are now full of water. Not only that, if it ever freezes where you are and there was that much trapped water, don't you think you'd see evidence of freeze damage pushing things apart?
There is no way water in a transom can add that kind of weight, yes it can be wet, but add that much weigh?! You are talking a huge volume of liquid. I think the stated weight is off and the boats are normally heavier than what both the manufacturer and NADA said. The fact that NADA says you could spec a 3.0 liter gas engine on a boat that big right there puts doubt in your mind! Think of the volume of a hundred gallon fuel tank.

 

[CaptnO]

Here is the latest update:
Still waiting for fiber glass company to come out and take a look with a moisture reading. (should hear back this week). Spring is around the corner and boat season starts April 1st for us over here. So now I will be more active in making sure this boat is ready to go. I finished installing taller risers last week however I am having a slight fitment issue. My engine door won't close down all the way because the taller risers are rubbing. Any recommendations on what I can do here? Perhaps just sand down these edges a bit?

Once I got that situated I plan on going on so more water trails next week to see if those taller risers help this issue.

Riser Install Photos & Video

Video of the engine door not shutting

 

[Lou C]

OK I figured out a way to weigh my boat using a tongue weight scale, any of the scales here are hard to find/too far etc. I got a surprise, similar to what you found, the dry weight for this boat is listed at 2560 so you'd thing wet weight with equipment, roughly 3000 lbs and the single axle trailer should weigh about 800 lbs, for a combined weight of 3800 lbs. Well, I got 5040 lbs boat on the trailer with 1/4 tank of gas. And, I redid the deck/stringers on this boat 15 years ago, it wasn't waterlogged then and I'm sure its not now.
As I said a number of posts back, for the original trailer for this boat, the carrying capacity of the trailer was 3750 lbs. So even though "dry" weight was listed at 2560, they must know their weights were way off.
When people talk about boats being waterlogged, its not that it can't happen, it does but think about the required volume that 100 gallons takes up. The only way I could see that is on a boat where there is no foam, and under decks was all full of water. On a foam filled below the deck boat it just does not make sense. 100 gallons of water is about 800 lbs. The volume of that is about 13 cubic feet. Where the heck can you fit that much water on a foam filled boat that is 26' long? Not to say there is none, but the #s to me do not add up. I think it is a case of the boat builders not providing accurate information.

 

[alldodge]

Still waiting for fiber glass company to come out and take a look with a moisture reading.

Need to find out the moisture reading before anything else. If hull is full of water or wood is soaked then your dead in the water. The higher risers will help but may not be enough

What were the holes in the hatch used for?
You could probably cut them off for clearance. Then get a piece of maybe 1 inch square tubing and bolt above to add strength

 

[Scott06]

Here is the latest update:
Still waiting for fiber glass company to come out and take a look with a moisture reading. (should hear back this week). Spring is around the corner and boat season starts April 1st for us over here. So now I will be more active in making sure this boat is ready to go. I finished installing taller risers last week however I am having a slight fitment issue. My engine door won't close down all the way because the taller risers are rubbing. Any recommendations on what I can do here? Perhaps just sand down these edges a bit?

I see no reason you can't trim those down . It looks like a strengthening rib/stringer. If you remove a lot of material you may have to add something back in or double up material like sistering a floor joist or use some type of angle iron ...

 

[CaptnO]

I have a surveyor which is going to come out in two weeks to provide me with moisture readings and see what else he can find out. I sent him all the info which I've posted along with pics and videos. So hopefully that will get me somewhere. While I wait for him to come out I plan on getting on the water next week and testing out those taller risers and see if the issue still happens. I think just sanding down those edges a bit more should do it. I work on that when I get back down to the Marina.

 

[CaptnO]

Update as of today. Took the boat out last 2 weekends ago and it ran fine. I had 8 people total and did a few slow downs and the engine never hydro locked. So I thought the taller risers did the trick. Turns out I was wrong. Today took the boat out with 6 people and went for a 15 mins cruise at around 3-4k rpms then entered a no wake zone. Dropped it gradually to 1k RPMS and in about 3-4 mins the engine just shut off. Tried to turn it back on and nothing. Hydro locked again! I removed all the spark plugs and them looked okay. No water came out of the cylinders expect for cylinder 3 when I pulled out the plug water came gushing out. I then disconnected the fuel pump and the ignition coil and cranked the engine. Water did come out in all 8 cylinders. So again I have no idea what is causing my engine to hydro lock. Any other input would greatly appreciated.

 

[tpenfield]

Not having read the entire thread, but . . .

- Did you ever do a cooling system pressure test once the engine was all back together? It can be a bit tricky blocking off the exhaust and input hose to do a test, but at this point might be worth it.

- Are intake manifolds and cylinder heads ruled out as not being the source of water ingestion.

- Has the recent hydro-lock done any damage to the rotating assembly?

 

[alldodge]

Did you get the boat weighed ?

 

[Lou C]

When it hydrolocks is it random or is it only when decelerating?
In addition to checking for other signs of water intrusion (cooling system air pressure test) there are are a few other things:
One thing I’m wondering about the cam grind used on that engine, is it definitely a marine grind or a high performance grind? Because if by chance you were sold an automotive version the cam grind could be causing reversion which can cause a hydro lock.
Did the survey find signs of trapped moisture to account for what was felt to be excessive weight?
Other things I’m wondering about are that swim platform adding too much weight and the lack of any kind of flappers. I have seen one Volvo SX equipped boat that had a similar problem, this was a small boat with a big engine (Four Winns 180 with a 5.7 V8)
He wound up trying this with success: removed the VP exhaust bellows and fitted an inboard style flapper to that flange. You’d have to measure the exhaust flange diameter to get the right size.
PS: is that swim platform OE or was it added on as an aftermarket accessory?

 

[CaptnO]

Not having read the entire thread, but . . .

- Did you ever do a cooling system pressure test once the engine was all back together? It can be a bit tricky blocking off the exhaust and input hose to do a test, but at this point might be worth it.

- Are intake manifolds and cylinder heads ruled out as not being the source of water ingestion.

- Has the recent hydro-lock done any damage to the rotating assembly?

I've been looking into more doing some pressure testing however not sure how to do that. I've seen some videos that show to to pressure test the exhaust manifold and risers so I think i will try that today. The only place it would leak from would be the riser gaskets but both are brand new from installing the taller risers and they were new before with the shorter risers and the issue now is happening before and after so the chances of have bad gaskets twice i think is unlikely. But again I don't know what else to check.

The intake manifold and cylinder heads haven't been ruled out as this was a new motor put in so there was no need to check that but i guess again at this point it wouldn't hurt to look and see. I rather test it with the engine put together rather then start taking everything apart but not sure if there is a way to test it like that?

I don't think the hydro locm has done any damage yet however not sure how to check that.

 

[CaptnO]

Did you get the boat weighed ?

Yes I did get the boat weigh and all the data was previously posted a few pages back on this thread. I believe I was around 700lbs overweight however I am still waiting for a survey to come by and check to see if there is water hiding anywhere.