water in oil

[Jeffreyi]

1979 volvo penta gm 305 i/o. Today I found water in the oil. I had the boat out three days ago and it ran fine although I didn't check the oil. I did have a problem restarting on the water. It seemed like the stared was stuck, though finally it did turn over. I don't know if these problem are related, I sort of doubt it.

Thanks

 

[Brucetafer]

Re: water in oil

could be related, could not be related... change the oil and run it again, if water in the oil again then uhoh.. thats what i would do... if it still runs, run it, usually if a motor wants to go bad, it will, if you want to make it perfect then pull the motor and take it to a engine builder and then will do it all for you for a bunch of cash

usually when you have any kind of foreign fluids, you usually have a big problem...

im sure ill get crap for this post but hell, a 30 year old motor usually gives you crap, and needs to get rebuilt especially when in a marine environment... from what ive got from the marine world, is usually when something goes wrong, its twice as bad and twice as expensive.. good luck..

 

[paultjohnson]

Re: water in oil

Ya might wanna pul the spark plugs and look for moisture/water in the cylinders and do a compression test. Dont run it till you fig out whats goinng on or you may end up witha way more $ repair. If you have water and /or low compression an some cylinders. you prob have a head gasket/head problem. Exhaust mani/ riser. Your engine sounds hydrolocked--water in the cylinder/s cuz your starter sounded stuck. Its trying to compress water in a cylinder and liquid dont compress-hydro lock... I would start with compression check plug inspection tho .. Post your results for more direction Goodluckbuddy

 

[RogersJetboat454]

Re: water in oil

1979 volvo penta gm 305 i/o. Today I found water in the oil. I had the boat out three days ago and it ran fine although I didn't check the oil. I did have a problem restarting on the water. It seemed like the stared was stuck, though finally it did turn over. I don't know if these problem are related, I sort of doubt it.

Thanks

Jeffrey,

If you have water in the oil, and the engine is turning over hard, you may have an exhaust manifold leaking water into the cylinder via the exhaust valve. When this happens the water will bypass the rings, and get into the oil. Enough water present in the cylinder during cranking will cause the engine to hydro-lock, which can cause damage. I recommend removing your plugs to see if there is the presence of moisture on one, or if one looks abnormally clean. Crank over the engine with the ignition disabled, and see if water sprays out of any of the cylinders.

 

[Alpheus]

Re: water in oil

Read This:

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=369864

 

[Jeffreyi]

Re: water in oil

Thanks to all for the valuable information.

Alpheas' post pointed me to Don S. who in turn pointed me to a Merc service bulletin. If water in the through the exhaust this could cause water in engine/oil. I remember now going in reverse in moderate sea. Couldn't that be the cause of this problem? The difficult start occurred soon afterward.

Thanks.

 

[Jeffreyi]

Re: water in oil

I did the following:

1) Drained and replaced oil.

2)Removed spark plugs and cranked engine. Water splashed out as some did when I removed the plugs. Engine cranked fine (see below).

3) Replaced with new sparked plugs.

PROBLEM: Now the motor will crank but slowly and eventually stop cranking altogether. The two batteries tested fine. I cleaned the connection to the starter and battery connections.

 

[cr2k]

Re: water in oil

Re pull the plugs and crank again. If water squirts out again you have a bigger problem.

 

[Jeffreyi]

Re: water in oil

Thanks.
It doesn't sound or feel like the hydro lock that occurred earlier. I will pull the plugs at some point but I am looking for additional ideas.

 

[ziggy]

Re: water in oil

when i had water intrusion, i used the link in Don S' thread http://www.boatfix.com/merc/Bullet/01/01_13.pdf to help me decide where the intrusion was coming from. you need to do the same..
fwiw, in my case it was a rusted through manifold at the very least. manifold and riser were replaced with success at stopping the water intrusion..

 

[nightowl]

Re: water in oil

I had same symptoms, I had (salt) water getting into the exhaust. The bad part is when it gets in there the valves rust and sieze (see pic). i also had the slow cranking problem after that and had to switch to fresh batteries but
I ended up selling the boat, the new owner is going to do a rebuild.

Jim

 

[Jeffreyi]

Re: water in oil

I'm pretty sure that the water got into the engine through the exhaust. As I mentioned in an earlier post. As per Nightowls note are there any less drastic measures to fix this problem and/or do further diagnosis.

 

[Fishermark]

Re: water in oil

I'm pretty sure that the water got into the engine through the exhaust. As I mentioned in an earlier post. As per Nightowls note are there any less drastic measures to fix this problem and/or do further diagnosis.

Well, if it is not too late already, you definitely need to either get it started ASAP or remove the plugs and squirt some oil down the bores and get the engine turned over to distribute the oil to the cylinder walls, etc. That will at least give you some time to discover the source of the water.

It could have simply been when you were going in reverse in moderate seas... or it could be your exhaust needs replacing. Pull the risers and see what you find. That will tell you a lot.

 

[Jeffreyi]

Re: water in oil

Thanks.

I squirted some oil into each cylinder. The motor cranked ok. Tomorrow I'll put the plugs back in and see if it starts. Will the oil in the cylinder foul the plugs??

 

[Fishermark]

Re: water in oil

Will the oil in the cylinder foul the plugs??

Maybe - and it might make starting it a little more difficult initially. But a low cost to pay for saving the engine.

 

[Jeffreyi]

Re: water in oil

The motor started right up! Thanks to all for your great help. The oil is still a bit milky but on other posts people seem to thinks that the heat of running the motor will eventually solve that problem.

Also, after fully draining the oil I had to put 7 quarts oil in to get it to full (yes, I ran it). This is a re-built engine with a lot of parts from other engines. I'm wondering if the dip stick is the wrong one for this engine. How long should it be?

Thanks.

 

[Fishermark]

Re: water in oil

Unless someone has put on an aftermarket oil pan I doubt seriously that your engine requires 7 quarts. I would suspect either the wrong dipstick or the boat is on a trailer at an extreme angle. Check it with the boat in the water.

Did you find the source of the water - or just hoping it was an isolated event?

 

[Jeffreyi]

Re: water in oil

Thanks.

I'll get a new dip stick. Also, what's involved (do I need to torque them putting them back?) in pulling the risers and what specifically am I looking for?

 

[Jeffreyi]

Re: water in oil

Today I took my boat out for the first time since the water problem. I assumed the problem was because I backed up quickly as I mentioned in my earlier notes. In the days that passed after I changed the oil etc. I started the motor numerous times without any additional water being in the oil. I noticed in the last week or so when I started the engine it would backfire a few times, that was something that never happened before this incident.

So as I said, I took the boat out today for the first time. It did not run well. Normally, I can get it up to 4000 rpms , and it runs nicely. Today, when I hit about 2000 to 2200rpms the motor seemed to be straining and not increasing in speed or RPMs. When I increased the throttle. About a month ago I had my hub replaced and everything ran fine until my "water problem". This problem seems like the same thing (hub) but I don't lose power it just reduces. Also with the hub problem I was able to increase RPMs but not speed in this case I can't increase RPMs too much.
Please help.
Thanks to all.

 

[Bondo]

Re: water in oil

I noticed in the last week or so when I started the engine it would backfire a few times, that was something that never happened before this incident.

So as I said, I took the boat out today for the first time. It did not run well. Normally, I can get it up to 4000 rpms , and it runs nicely. Today, when I hit about 2000 to 2200rpms the motor seemed to be straining and not increasing in speed or RPMs. When I increased the throttle.

Ayuh,... Sounds like it goin' Lean,.... I'd start with the fuel filters...