Post by jcraft0708 on Mar 7, 2021 8:37:17 GMT -5
I have a 1998 322 with twin 5.7 Gsi Volvo Pentas. I recently had salt water in 4 cylinders on one side of the port engine (raw water cooled). Found it because the starter was making a grinding noise when trying to start the engine but wouldn't start so obviously I started looking deeper. More than likely it was from the exhaust manifolds/risers as they are older and were considerably rusted internally when I took it all off. I cleared the water out of the cylinders as best as possible and put everything back together to start up the engine and burn off any remaining water vapor in the cylinders (new plugs, manifolds, risers, etc.)
With the plugs and manifolds off the engine, I used the starter to "push" as much water out of the cylinders as I could (to the point there were only small droplets coming out). During that time, the starter sounded like normal when cranking an engine. Once everything was put back together, I tried to start the engine and got the same grinding noise from the starter area immediately. I've manually turned the engine over by hand to keep everything moving freely throughout the water removal process to make sure the engine wasn't locked up, and it was fairly easy with the plugs out.
Is it possible for the starter to work properly and have no issue when the spark plugs are out (basically when there is no resistance from compression) but not work and "grind gears" inside the starter or on the flywheel when there is a load on the starter? Or could it be that something is damaged inside the engine from trying to start it with water in the cylinders even though I can turn it over by hand just fine?
I'm leaning towards something internally in the starter being damaged as my problem but didn't know if this was even possible or if I needed to look at something else. I'm going up to the boat later today and going to pull the starter and inspect it as well as the teeth on the flywheel. I may stop by an auto parts store and pick up a non-marinized starter just to try it out and see if a new one works since they are fairly inexpensive. (NOTE: It would not be staying on the engine if it does work. It would be strictly for trouble shooting. They are just considerably cheaper to 'try' something rather than dropping $200+ on a marine starter right away if that ends up not being the problem.)
Any thoughts of additional things to look at or check would be greatly appreciated or even reassurance if it sounds like I'm on the right track. I've had to replace one engine from water intrusion before (hurricane, not my fault) but not ready to replace this one just yet if I can get it to chug along a little longer. Thanks!!
With the plugs and manifolds off the engine, I used the starter to "push" as much water out of the cylinders as I could (to the point there were only small droplets coming out). During that time, the starter sounded like normal when cranking an engine. Once everything was put back together, I tried to start the engine and got the same grinding noise from the starter area immediately. I've manually turned the engine over by hand to keep everything moving freely throughout the water removal process to make sure the engine wasn't locked up, and it was fairly easy with the plugs out.
Is it possible for the starter to work properly and have no issue when the spark plugs are out (basically when there is no resistance from compression) but not work and "grind gears" inside the starter or on the flywheel when there is a load on the starter? Or could it be that something is damaged inside the engine from trying to start it with water in the cylinders even though I can turn it over by hand just fine?
I'm leaning towards something internally in the starter being damaged as my problem but didn't know if this was even possible or if I needed to look at something else. I'm going up to the boat later today and going to pull the starter and inspect it as well as the teeth on the flywheel. I may stop by an auto parts store and pick up a non-marinized starter just to try it out and see if a new one works since they are fairly inexpensive. (NOTE: It would not be staying on the engine if it does work. It would be strictly for trouble shooting. They are just considerably cheaper to 'try' something rather than dropping $200+ on a marine starter right away if that ends up not being the problem.)
Any thoughts of additional things to look at or check would be greatly appreciated or even reassurance if it sounds like I'm on the right track. I've had to replace one engine from water intrusion before (hurricane, not my fault) but not ready to replace this one just yet if I can get it to chug along a little longer. Thanks!!