Question about a 5.0 volvo penta

[Finz123]

Hello everyone, I am looking at buying a 99 Monterey Montara 196 with a 5.0L volvo penta. It needs some work, just not sure if I should steer clear or if it won't be too much to fix. I have mechanical knowledge and have worked on my mercruiser 165 lots. This boat i guess was running hot and beeped at the owner to let him know. He said he shut it down and let it cook then tried again and it got hot quick. Once he looked into it his rw impeller was shot. He replaced the impeller and it runs at a good temp. But now he says there is a water leak on one exhaust manifold right where it meets the block. Just wondering if there would have been enough heat to warp everything, or could it just be the gasket? He also said the exhaust bellows melted.

 

[tpenfield]

Water leak would be more rust-through or a crack rather than a gasket fail.

 

[Finz123]

Would you think the heat could have cracked the manifold? Is it possible to find good used manifold or better to go new?

 

[Scott06]

Would you think the heat could have cracked the manifold? Is it possible to find good used manifold or better to go new?

I would just go with new manifolds. Agree with penfield on crack or rot through gasket between manifold and head doesnt have water at that spot. Crack is likely due to lack of winterization.

If purchasing this boat that has obviously had a hard overheat and isnt 100% fixed i would pay a price that even if you need to replace the long block ($4k) it still makes sense. Not necessarily that it needs a long block but if it got hot could have head warpage etc. If seller didnt keep up on basics like impeller probably didn’t get a lot of maintenance over the years.

if you post a pic of where the water is leaking we can probably give you a more detailed reposnse.

 

[Lou C]

Water leaks are unusual on a manifold where it meets the block, they are more commonly seen between the manifold and exhaust elbow. A water leak near the block would make me suspicious that it was really neglected and there could be other problems...rotted head, cracked head etc. look a lot closer but you might not be able to tell unless you remove the manifold. Bad exhaust systems have trashed more inboard engines than most other causes other that bad winterizing. Any sign of a leak around those Volvo manifold to elbow gaskets means the elbows have to come off and everything has to get inspected. We replace them every 5-7 seasons usually in salt water.