Volvo aq151 carbs and ignition

[robjen1019]

Ok, bought this fixer upper Sunrunner. boat is in good condition and interior has been redone. but motor is not running.

I have some questions before I start throwing money at the sitiuation.

1. Is this motor enough for a 19.5 foot boat, or am I just wasting my time. I as this because repowering is an option I am willing to look at.
2. these motors have 2 carbs and they dont seem to have a choke. Ive been reading about a upgrade by weber that converts to new carb. They are rather expensive, but sounds like they work well. Is this the way to go, or should I just rebuild the carbs. Site states a power increase, if anyone has done this conversion could you post any testimonials about the change in performance.
3. Today I was trying to get it to run and I could get it to idle a little but then would die. But it would back fire then all of a sudden it started blowing oil out the hose connected to the air box. Looks to be a breather hose. Hasn't done it since, but is this a really bad sign, or just caused by backfire?

4. Looking at ignition and just thinking that I should convert over to electronic. is this a good idea? Will it help performance. Which brand is better for conversion?

Wow lot of questions, but I need some help. I have been working with boats for quite a few years. My other boat is a restored 1968 larson runabout with a Mercruiser 110. Runs like it is brand new, but I just haven't worked with a volvo before.

Last if you think I am crazy and should just dump the whole motor and outdrive and drop in a V6 or V8 let me know. Either way it is going to cost money. I just want to make the right decision.

Thanks in advance

 

[captmello]

Re: Volvo aq151 carbs and ignition

Are you by chance in MN? I may have looked at that boat and could help you out.

 

[robjen1019]

Re: Volvo aq151 carbs and ignition

yes, Rochester

 

[captmello]

Re: Volvo aq151 carbs and ignition

I looked at that in that boat in farmington as well because of the 290 outdrive it has. It was shown to me by the owners Girl friend who knew very little about it. She did state that it only had been used once last year and didn't run well at all.

1. Is this motor enough for a 19.5 foot boat, or am I just wasting my time. I as this because repowering is an option I am willing to look at.

I think the motor is sufficent for that boat. It's really an 18 fotter with a 1.5 foot swim platform.

2. these motors have 2 carbs and they dont seem to have a choke. Ive been reading about a upgrade by weber that converts to new carb. They are rather expensive, but sounds like they work well. Is this the way to go, or should I just rebuild the carbs. Site states a power increase, if anyone has done this conversion could you post any testimonials about the change in performance.

I don't believe you would get any noticable performance increase by replacing the carbs. The carbs Volvo Penta used were quite adaquate.

3. Today I was trying to get it to run and I could get it to idle a little but then would die. But it would back fire then all of a sudden it started blowing oil out the hose connected to the air box. Looks to be a breather hose. Hasn't done it since, but is this a really bad sign, or just caused by backfire?

Not sure what to say about this. You'll have to test your troubleshooting skills here. Were you running it on the boat gas tank? There may be water in the fuel tank.

4. Looking at ignition and just thinking that I should convert over to electronic. is this a good idea? Will it help performance. Which brand is better for conversion?

This doesn't help the performance but eliminates the points, condenser, and their adjustment. I would get it running the way it is if you have the mechanical abilities, tools and experience. If the points are fried that could have a lot to do with the bad running.

Last if you think I am crazy and should just dump the whole motor and outdrive and drop in a V6 or V8 let me know. Either way it is going to cost money. I just want to make the right decision.

Your crazy.

The hole in the hull for the 290 outdrive is bigger than a Merc so you would have to go with an older style volvo outdrive. You would also have to change the gear ratio in the lower unit if you tried to use the same outdrive with a larger motor.

This brings me to the reason I walked away from it. Did you examine the outdrive at all? Did you pull the drain plug to check the oil condition? I did.
First came a half a cup of water followed by some brown sluge.
The prop should turn freely when in nuetral and that one didn't. The owners Girlfriend said they had replaced the lower unit last summer. That may be, but I believe the new one may be bad now as well.

Before you start dumping any money into that boat, you either need to have a closer look at the drive, perhaps by pulling off the upper gear box would be a good start and have a look at the internals.

The guys on this website have been very helpful to me and many others, and you can get help if you need it as well. Please don't put any money into that boat until you have examined the outdrive thoroughly!!! I don't know how much you paid but you could spend thousands getting that boat going. I'm trying not to be negative but...

If you need help pulling the drive apart, Start a new thread with your specific issues and the knowledgeable guys on this site can help you out.

I'll be watching for your future posts. Good luck.

 

[robjen1019]

Re: Volvo aq151 carbs and ignition

ya, same boat, and I should have walked away too. I took the outdrive off, and the u joints were really bad. going to inspect outdrive today.

 

[captmello]

Re: Volvo aq151 carbs and ignition

I liked the boat at first. The interior is nice and the hull exterior seemed solid. I didn't spend any time checking for Rot after checking the outdrive. It didn't appear to be well kept.

If the floor and transum happened to be solid, It may be worth the cost of a new drive. The kicker is that those 290s are really expensive. You may have to consider a 270 or 280 to replace it, in which case you'd have to change out the transum shield as well.

If you decide to part it out, send me a PM.

 

[Don S]

Re: Volvo aq151 carbs and ignition

The kicker is that those 290s are really expensive. You may have to consider a 270 or 280 to replace it,

Most of the time, you can't just change a 270 for a 280 or 290 or a 290 ro a 280 or 270 bucause of a lot of little things not always thought about. A 290 has a completely different intermediate housing between the upper and lower than a 280 or 270. The upper gear boxes are different on a 270 thru 290's, lowers for the 280's and 290's are inter changable, but sometimes you have to watch out for the type bellows you have in the exhaust.

If you take it apart, keep track of the shims at least.
Here is a link to the manuals for both the drive and the engine.
Might want to look them over before taking things apart too far.

Engine manual/
http://www.4shared.com/account/file/64741910/25295432/230_250_251_131151171.html

Drive manual
http://www.4shared.com/account/file/48536730/fa3b3311/280_to_DP-C_Drive_manual.html

 

[captmello]

Re: Volvo aq151 carbs and ignition

Can you post some photos of what you find as you go through it? We all can learn something from your project. Have you gone over the floor and transum yet? If your looking for a project, you've found one.

BTW, Don S has the best advise and trumps anything I say.

To clarify:

When I said:

You may have to consider a 270 or 280 to replace it, in which case you'd have to change out the transum shield as well.

By this, I ment replace the entire drive, all the way back to the flywheel cover. If you try to swap lowers and uppers, like Don mentioned, You may have to shim the new parts. If you pull the existing parts of, you can bolt it back on since its been shimed to fit already. I've had my upper and lower off of my 275. Not hard to do.

 

[robjen1019]

Re: Volvo aq151 carbs and ignition

Well, took a day off and cleaned the garage in preparation for starting this project. Once I get started Im going to start a thread with pictures and findings.

Thanks for the replies. I knew it wasn't going to be easy but it wouldn't be fun if it was.

Later