Engine Moisture

[kragmin]

Volvo Penta AQ211A Ok now I?m getting concerned, a friend of mind took the two breather pipes of the flame arrester and covered them with his fingers for a few second once he removed them there was moisture on the ends of his fingers, and what I could only describe as a small spit of water from the pipes, so I had a marine engineer come down today to take a look a whooshing sound came from him he shook his head and said that?s not good. now he wants the engine to be lifted out and striped down he's talking a possible new engine, I know parts a getting harder to find for this model, what I?m asking is would it be normal for a near 20 year old engine to have these symptoms and is it still usable or is there anything else I could look for like moisture just lying in the engine or is it sounding doomed
When I check the dip the oil inset milky but the mech said that the water will lie below the oil so he removed the oil cap and there was moisture droplets in the cap he then replied its full of water

 

[Don S]

Re: Engine Moisture

Did he do any testing at all? Things like a compression test and a leakdown test? Pressure test the cooling system etc, or did he just look and listen and judge it?

 

[kragmin]

Re: Engine Moisture

looked listened and judged, he's volvo cert when i mentioned any testing he said its one of 3 things cracked head, leaking gaskets, leaking manifolds it would have to be stiped to find the problem, ???

 

[Don S]

Re: Engine Moisture

Could also be condensation if there is a lot of moisture where you are at. Or temp changes, or.........
It's easy enough to pull the exhaust risers and inspect the gasket surfaces without pulling the engine out and dissassembling.
A look at the spark plugs would tell a story too.
Seems your mechanic need some money for something, and you were chosen as the one to provide him with the money.

 

[JustJason]

Re: Engine Moisture

Change the engine oil. Pump it out, put it on a pan, and have a look at it. Run the engine a bit with new oil (and filter). And see if it gets milky again.

 

[kragmin]

Re: Engine Moisture

Don I?m in the United Kingdom there?s definitely moisture here and plenty of it the risers, it?s the riser and not the complete manifold can they be taken off with the boat in the water and what should I look for, the plugs what should I be looking for there, these guys had a meeting so that non off them would charge less that the other its crazy but true.

 

[kragmin]

Re: Engine Moisture

Hi the oil in the engine at the moment is not milky the only sign of water present in the engine is on the filler cap in droplets as condensation and when you cover the two breather pipe and cause a build up

 

[Don S]

Re: Engine Moisture

Without seeing the boat and how deep it sits in the water, I would suggest you pull it out of the water to check the risers.
Pull the spark plugs and look at them. If one (or more) looks almost new, that means it's been steam cleaned from water leaking into the cyliinder. If they all look about the same brown, or black, it's probably not a water problem. When I say brown, I mean a tan to brown dry color, I do not mean rust.

NOTE:
This is not an easy thing to diagnose without actually seeing what is happening when the engine is running and the engine could very well be bad.

 

[kragmin]

Re: Engine Moisture

i now the risers sits well above the water line, the problem is she's in a marina and without a trailer, she will have to be lifted at the boat yard, i now it will have to be removed for regular maintenance but i was hoping to leave it until later in the season for now i will check the plugs and change the oil, this engine seams to run fine when it reaches operating temp,

 

[Don S]

Re: Engine Moisture

Take it for a good run (above 3500rpm) for an hour or so at operating temp, then see what the "moisture" out the breather hoses looks like. Bet it's clear and no moisture. Do you do a lot of idleing, or short trips at low speed where it never really gets to operating temps for very long? is there water in the oil (milky) or does it look normal.
What does it look like inside the valve cover caps where you put the oil in, normal? Milky?

 

[CheapboatKev]

Re: Engine Moisture

Really reminds me of the old joke..

A guy calls the marine repair shop and says it's making a "clunk clunk" noise, what does it sound like???
The mechanic says "Sounds like 2 weeks in Hawaii"

I think you are being set up for a big non needed repair bill myself..

 

[kragmin]

Re: Engine Moisture

Ok I very much agree I got the boat near the end of last season and haven't really got to know the boat, my last 2 boats have been quite new and have had a lot more confidence in their ability, up to now the boat has had only short runs and a lot of idling. can?t see water in the oil looks clean normal not (milky) valve cover caps all look normal apart form when you turn the cap to face you there?s some condensation in the cap that?s when the mechanic said its full of water, (maybe he wants a new car or the down payment on a house and thinks i should cover the cost) the compression test and leak test you spoke about would you recommend i find someone to carry this out would this find the problem or eleminate one perhaps.

 

[Don S]

Re: Engine Moisture

At this point, I don't think you need a compression test or a leakdown test. I think you need to run the boat. What you just described is what I seen a lot of when I lived in Ketchikan, Alaska. We averaged 160 to 180" of rain a year (Yeah, that's 15 feet) and if you don't run the engine at operating temp for a while, the oil never gets hot enough to burn off the moisture build up.
If it runs ok, then keep up with the normal maintenance and just keep an eye on things and run it hard for a bit.
I think they want you to spend a lot of money for no problem. Wonder what would happen when you took it back after all that rebuild work and said you still have the problem.......

 

[kragmin]

Re: Engine Moisture

You think I?d get a refund or some head scratching
You mean other place's gets as much rain as we do in sunny UK....
Yea Don think I?m gonna listen to you folks once again, so much time and so many explanations?
I thank you

 

[mkast]

Re: Engine Moisture

What is the engine temperature gauge reading when the engine is fully warmed up?