Bad Riser gaskets?

[CascoBay]

Engine is a 2000 Volvo Penta GS 5.7L RWC.

I replaced the manifolds and risers last season with OEM risers, Barr manifolds.

Came down to the boat this morning and went to start the engine and just got a solid clunk.

I pulled the spark plugs and water came out of half of them (rear half). I cranked the engine over without the plugs in until the water stopped coming out. Thankfully this is fresh water.

Put the plugs in, and ran the boat at a fast idle until it was "warmed" up. I then drained the manifolds and left the drain plugs out of them, started the boat and then shut it down again. My thought is that if it is a manifold/riser gasket then I would avoid more water seeping into the engine right now by draining the manifolds & risers of raw water.

I checked my oil and it is clean with no sign of water in it. I have run the boat 16 hours this season since last changing the oil, so my assumption is the block is fine- but who knows at this point. The boat was winterized properly.

Should I pull the risers and replace the gaskets right now?

 

[CascoBay]

Re: Bad Riser gaskets?

Starboard:

Port:

The Port side looked like it may have been tracking but it's hard to say- given the corrosion of the surface it may be possible. I was able to get out most of the imperfections using an oak block with emery paper stapled to it- I took the photo before I was finished.

I ran the boat for an hour at 1500 rpms and checked the oil again:

Seems okay. Not sure what to do from here- assume it was in fact the riser gaskets?

 

[CascoBay]

Re: Bad Riser gaskets?

It would seem that the gaskets were the problem, no issues starting the boat last night and after running it for 2 hours there is no water in the oil.