engine locked after accidentally hitting kill switch

[mjalstad]

So out on the lake the other day on My '99 Four Winns Horizon Volvo Penta 5.0GL I was probably going about 25 mph when I accidentally hit the lanyard and knocked it off of the kill switch. The boat died and I couldn't get it to start, the starter just clunked and grinded. We tried to turn the engine by hand just thinking that the starter was hitting a bad part of the flywheel or something but we couldn't turn it. The crank pulley has hoses on the front and no accessible nut so I was putting a pry bar on the water pump pulley but all that would happen is the belt would slip on the crank pulley. We decided to take out the plugs, we could only get the front 6 plugs out with my crappy tool kit and I noticed water come out of one of the holes. We tried turning the water pump by hand and again the belt just slipped. So at this point we just decided to anchor and drink some beers and call it a day. Now I got the boat home and looking at the internet it sounds like the engine must have dieseled and resulted in a hydrolock. So tonight I removed all 8 plugs and the starter just sounded like it was spinning so I took that out and found that we must have broken the nose cone off of the starter while we were messing around with it out on the lake. I then checked the oil and it was up higher than it should be so I removed all the oil thinking maybe the oil being too high would hydrolock it as well but I still cannot turn the engine by hand, shouldn't it turn easily enough that I could turn the water pump pulley and get the engine to turn with it? I guess I'll know when I get a starter and it still won't turn but I'm getting nervous since I can't get the engine to turn. The throttle is in neutral and all the plugs are out so I don't understand what could be holding me back other than something really bad but I would certainly hope that pulling the kill switch wouldn't wreck an engine. Anybody have any wise words of advice for me on this? Thanks in advance.

 

[captmello]

Re: engine locked after accidentally hitting kill switch

Drain and refill the oil. You need to pull all the plugs and replace the starter ASAP. spin the engine over with the starter to remove the water. Once the water is out replace the plugs and restart the engine to fully dry it out.

If this is salt water you may be engine shopping.

 

[wellcraft19]

Re: engine locked after accidentally hitting kill switch

Hydro lock can easily result in broken pistons or connecting rods. Water does not compress (as air) and when you have the rotating inertia of all the engine components wanting to continue spinning the engine but something's blocking due to water in one or more cylinders...

You can get into a hydro lock situation w/o "dieseling". Enough to quickly pull back on the accelerator, or killing the engine and then the wake catches up to you and want to push water up the exhaust system. W/o enough exhaust pressure, water can get in. It does not take much. Unfortunately.

All that said. I hope you find something less damaging, but this would be my guess.

 

[mjalstad]

Re: engine locked after accidentally hitting kill switch

Well I've got all the plugs out already and I sprayed some fogging oil into all the cylinders. Hopefully I can find a starter tomorrow and get it in there and see how things go. This was in freshwater by the way

 

[adeneo]

Re: engine locked after accidentally hitting kill switch

If the engine is'nt turning with the plugs out, cnances are your sterndrive is locked from stopping the engine at speed and in gear.
Start by checking your cluch cone.
As for water in the oil, could just be water getting in thru the risers when suddenly stopping at speed, or could be more serious ?

 

[mjalstad]

Re: engine locked after accidentally hitting kill switch

If the engine is'nt turning with the plugs out, cnances are your sterndrive is locked from stopping the engine at speed and in gear.

So once I get the starter in, will I have to unlock the stern drive or should it just fire up?

 

[adeneo]

Re: engine locked after accidentally hitting kill switch

So once I get the starter in, will I have to unlock the stern drive or should it just fire up?

You'll probably find that out when you try it!

 

[The Revenge]

Re: engine locked after accidentally hitting kill switch

Had the same thing happen two months ago. My engine heated up rapidly and I shut it down. Then it was locked. Water was injested back into the engine. Took out all the plugs, changed the oil and turned it over with plugs out. Then put plugs back in and it started. Ran for a while on the water then changed oil again. It runs cooler now than it did before.
You may have bent a rod if you kept trying to turn it over.

 

[Maclin]

Re: engine locked after accidentally hitting kill switch

If you cannot turn the engine manually in either direction (especially with the spark plugs out) then that raises the odds towards it being a broken rod or piston or other internal engine problem mentioned.

As far as just grabbing the water pump pully, that may not have enough traction, it would be best to try to turn it at the crank via the balancer nut.

 

[mjalstad]

Re: engine locked after accidentally hitting kill switch

So I got the new starter in and it turns over just fine! I still can't turn it over by hand so maybe my outdrive locks it all the time or something? I really don't know much of anything about that stuff so it's beyond me. So I changed the oil once before the starter and then I got the starter in and turned the engine over with the plugs out and changed the oil a 2nd time, then I got it running and warmed up and changed the oil a 3rd time which looked like chocolate milk and the filter for the 1st time which looked disgusting as well. I then just ran a couple of quarts through until the oil looked good to try to get any remaining junk sitting in the bottom of the pan and once it looked good I filled her up and ran it in teh driveway and everything looks and sounds good. I'm gonna take it out on the water this weekend and probably change the oil yet again afterwards. I think I'm going to bypass the kill switch so no matter what happens the boat will never have the problem from that again. Is there anythign else I can do to prevent this from ever happening again? I just simply cannot believe that you can actually wreck your motor from pulling the kill switch.

 

[RogersJetboat454]

Re: engine locked after accidentally hitting kill switch

. I think I'm going to bypass the kill switch so no matter what happens the boat will never have the problem from that again.

Sooo... no matter what happens, if you're tossed out of the boat by a rogue wave, loss of balance, etc, now the boat keeps going without a driver? :facepalm:

What cost more to replace, the engine or the driver?

Keep the kill switch.

 

[mjalstad]

Re: engine locked after accidentally hitting kill switch

Sooo... no matter what happens, if you're tossed out of the boat by a rogue wave, loss of balance, etc, now the boat keeps going without a driver? :facepalm:

What cost more to replace, the engine or the driver?

Keep the kill switch.

Do you seriously clip that on to you every time you drive your boat? I have never seen or heard of anybody ever clipping one of those on in all of my life except on a jet ski. Have you ever heard of somebody getting thrown out of their boat? You'd have to be a total retard driving drunk in a hurricane to get thrown out of a 20 foot boat.

 

[adeneo]

Re: engine locked after accidentally hitting kill switch

Have you ever heard of somebody getting thrown out of their boat? You'd have to be a total retard driving drunk in a hurricane to get thrown out of a 20 foot boat.

Just two days ago four people in a 29 foot Goldfish RIB where thrown out of the boat almost right outside my living room window, probably when turning too steep at too high speed.
Noone was wearing life jackets, and two women where found half an hour later dead, one guy survived and one is still missing, they are still searching, but he's probably dead as well.
This was the second time in three days where people have died boating right here, first time was two guys hitting another boat at full speed and being thrown out of the boat.
Both times they where probably knocked unconscious from being thrown out of the boat and hitting the water, and not wearing life jackets, they drowned.
Just to show that people actually do get thrown overboard, but I don't really know if they had the kill switch clipped on or not, and it probably would'nt have helped much, a life jacket would though.

 

[wellcraft19]

Re: engine locked after accidentally hitting kill switch

Yes, people do get thrown out of boats, and every time I'm out on my own, I wear a life jacket (I get the looks, but better be safe than sorry). Around here (Puget Sound) people die out on the water for the most various (and sometimes stupid/avoidable) reasons.

That said, I'm glad your engine seem to be OK. As I posted above, you had all the signs of a hydro-locked engine, but this time you came out OK. Enjoy the boat and the summer. Mine hasn't even hit the water yet. Maybe next week.

 

[mjalstad]

Re: engine locked after accidentally hitting kill switch

Just two days ago four people in a 29 foot Goldfish RIB where thrown out of the boat almost right outside my living room window, probably when turning too steep at too high speed.
Noone was wearing life jackets, and two women where found half an hour later dead, one guy survived and one is still missing, they are still searching, but he's probably dead as well.
This was the second time in three days where people have died boating right here,
Both times they where probably knocked unconscious from being thrown out of the boat and hitting the water, and not wearing life jackets, they drowned.
Just to show that people actually do get thrown overboard, but I don't really know if they had the kill switch clipped on or not, and it probably would'nt have helped much, a life jacket would though.

Yes, and they were probably totally retarded and driving drunk. And like you say, I'm sure they didn't have the kill switch on and would it even have made a difference?

first time was two guys hitting another boat at full speed and being thrown out of the boat.

I really don't think the kill switch would have helped too much in this instance, haha

 

[adeneo]

Re: engine locked after accidentally hitting kill switch

Yes, and they were probably totally retarded and driving drunk. And like you say, I'm sure they didn't have the kill switch on and would it even have made a difference?

I really don't think the kill switch would have helped too much in this instance, haha

Maybe some respect for the dead and the families they leave behind
There's actually a news story on the subject in English here!