Did I cause the hydrolock? HELP

[baurand]

I recently bought a 1985 Renken with a GM 350 and an OMC drive. When I brought the boat home, I knew it had BAD batteries. So I bought 2 new right away. I installed them, hooked up the "earmuffs", turned on the hose, and tried to start the engine (notice the sequence). When I turned the key, the starter "thumped" into the flywheel, but would not turn it over at all. After reading some other threads, I pulled the spark plugs. When I got to plugs 1 and 7, water actually poured out of their holes. Is there any chance, with high hose pressure, that I pushed water back through the manifold and into the cylinders, or would this sound more like a head gasket or manifold leak? Hopefully it was user error and I just need to let them dry out and maybe use a plastic tub next time instead of the muffs? Please hurry, I'm scheduled to go on a vacation and I'd LOVE to take a working boat.

 

[bomar76]

Re: Did I cause the hydrolock? HELP

More tha likely you bought a boat with a bad exhaust manifold/riser/riser gasket.
It would have filled the cylinders with water no matter what approach you took.
Hope you dried out the cylinders right away.
You need 2 (yes two) brand new not used but look good manifolds and risers.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Did I cause the hydrolock? HELP

Is there any chance, with high hose pressure, that I pushed water back through the manifold and into the cylinders,

Nope....

 

[baurand]

Re: Did I cause the hydrolock? HELP

OK, well then this will sound REALLY stupid. I had to take off the one manifold to replace the starter. So I bought a new gasket kit for that manifold. But I wanted to test the starter before I replace the manifold, so when I hooked up the hose and ran the starter, I was running without the manifold on at all. Could it be as simple as reinstalling the manifold (with new gasket) and try again? And yes, as soon as I found out it was hydrolocked, I pulled all the plugs and drained the water. Any other suggestions to make sure they are dry before I replace plugs and try again?

 

[bjcsc]

Re: Did I cause the hydrolock? HELP

Why did you have to replace the starter? The problem is most likely the gasket and/or surfaces between the manifold and the riser. If it is, and you took them off as one piece, reinstalling them with only a new manifold gasket won't fix it...especially considering the ingestion was on the port side and the starter (and thus manifold you removed) are on the starboard side...

 

[bomar76]

Re: Did I cause the hydrolock? HELP

Any other suggestions to make sure they are dry before I replace plugs and try again?

Yes, do what I suggested above, buy 2 NEW manifolds and risers and replace both.

 

[wca_tim]

Re: Did I cause the hydrolock? HELP

OK, well then this will sound REALLY stupid. I had to take off the one manifold to replace the starter. So I bought a new gasket kit for that manifold. But I wanted to test the starter before I replace the manifold, so when I hooked up the hose and ran the starter, I was running without the manifold on at all. Could it be as simple as reinstalling the manifold (with new gasket) and try again? And yes, as soon as I found out it was hydrolocked, I pulled all the plugs and drained the water. Any other suggestions to make sure they are dry before I replace plugs and try again?

Assuming that you did not get water in the cylinders on the side with no manifold installed while turning it over without the manifold (if that's the case, you got bigger fish to fry...)...

The people above are telling you true...

first realize that if you turn it over with water in the cylinders and the plugs in... even once can cause irreparable harm to the engine. maybe you can eventually get it to work if you keep trying things... maybe you destroy what would still work in the process...

wd-40 or a similar water displacing / dissolving oil in the cylinders could help dissolve the water and offset rust formation...

then turn it over with plugs out... slowly... without water hooked up and running more water in of course...

new manifolds and risers (the ONLY option I would consider if it were by boat) - or at the very least, and ONLY if you are sure they look good and haven't been frozen / cracked, pressure test manifolds and risers BEFORE running water through them...

New manifolds and risers are a LOT cheaper than a new engine... note that you don't have a ton of time to play around with this before you rust and further damage internal engine components...

my two cents respectfully submitted... not an expert, but have the experience of making lots of mistakes myself. sometimes costly ones...

 

[baurand]

Re: Did I cause the hydrolock? HELP

To better explain, I did NOT have water in the cylinders on the starboard side (without manifold) The water was in the cylinders on the port side, which still had the manifold on. I'll heed the advise and price/purchace new manifolds. Thanks.

 

[bomar76]

Re: Did I cause the hydrolock? HELP

To better explain, I did NOT have water in the cylinders on the starboard side (without manifold) The water was in the cylinders on the port side, which still had the manifold on.

Which kinda points to the manifolds/risers being the problem......

 

[baurand]

Re: Did I cause the hydrolock? HELP

Please click one of the Quick Reply icons in the posts above to activate Quick Reply.

 

[baurand]

Re: Did I cause the hydrolock? HELP

Ok, I'm going to buy manifolds. I know I need those. My next question would be, how do I break the hydrolock so that I can at least turn the motor over by hand. Right now, after WD40 and sitting for 24 hours, I can't even budge the crankshaft pulley.

 

[tommays]

Re: Did I cause the hydrolock? HELP

How long was the water in there if it was even a few days you have problems

 

[bomar76]

Re: Did I cause the hydrolock? HELP

Ok, I'm going to buy manifolds. I know I need those. My next question would be, how do I break the hydrolock so that I can at least turn the motor over by hand. Right now, after WD40 and sitting for 24 hours, I can't even budge the crankshaft pulley.

Sounds like you need to be long block shopping.....

 

[wca_tim]

Re: Did I cause the hydrolock? HELP

Ok, I'm going to buy manifolds. I know I need those. My next question would be, how do I break the hydrolock so that I can at least turn the motor over by hand. Right now, after WD40 and sitting for 24 hours, I can't even budge the crankshaft pulley.

removing the spark plugs lets the water out... and "unlocks" the hydrolock...

will it turn over with the starter with the spark plugs all removed?

 

[obezag]

Re: Did I cause the hydrolock? HELP

If this was the first time you tried to start the engine and it didn't turn over, I believe the water was already in there. Who did you buy it from? Was it running before you bought it?

 

[Dakota47]

Re: Did I cause the hydrolock? HELP

fog that engine real quick..

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Did I cause the hydrolock? HELP

Fogging the motor is done with the engine running.

I have the same question as a previous poster. Has this engine ever turned over since you owned it? When was the last time?

 

[bjcsc]

Re: Did I cause the hydrolock? HELP

Has this engine ever turned over since you owned it? When was the last time?

Oh no...

 

[baurand]

Re: Did I cause the hydrolock? HELP

OK, here's the latest in my saga...I had a mechanic look at my boat last week, and he made the same recommendations as made here (new risers and manifolds). BUT, he also added a small but.....he said that when buying risers and manifolds, I might as well buy 2, since they will become increasingly hard to find. OR, just give up on the inboard, patch the through-hull hole, and mount an outboard on a transom bracket. I have no problem reinforcing the transom and filling the holes myself (plywood, glass, etc.). I also happen to have a Merc 150 outboard. Here's my big question. Given that the boat has OMC parts, and is currently not running, would it make sense to just throw in the towel, pull the engine, and make the conversion? The only big expense would be the bracket and new controls (stearing, throttle, etc.). Just looking for opinions. Or should I just suck it up and keep looking for OMC parts?