Helping a friend with his boat...
He experienced power loss w/his 2002 Regal 2765 w/twin Volvo 4.3 GL engines SX drives.Eventually his alarm had sounded but temp was not very high ~150 deg.
Raw water, 3 yrs in salt, flushed and dry stored on trailer, fresh water use now, 150 hrs on engines.
Upon examination, the port engine had water in the oil AND there was water and oil 1+ qt of oil in the bilge. Previously, the bilge was spottless.
Oil was milky on the fill cap and dip stick. He's changed is out twice since.
The engine ran starts easily and idles smoothly on the muff but we limited this until he could check the cylinders for water and measure compression.
We ran a compression test and all cylinders were dry, plugs looked good and pressure was over 150 psi and w/in 10% of each other (i.e. no dead neighbors --> head gasket).
We pulled the carb cover and noticed oiling on the top of the carb - like a mist, plus a whitish foam where the spark arrestor sits on the carb. The carb intake was spotless.
There was also oil puddled on the top of the intake manifold at the right rear but no signs of leaks at the sides, front, or rear of the intake or valve covers. The front and rear of the engine were clean of oil. The oil sender and fitting were also dry.
We did find oil drips on the bottom of the port exh manifold, oil filter, and dip stick connection on oil pan but no obvious signs of the source.
I'm having trouble envisionin a scenario short of catastrophic failure that would cause both of these problems at the same time. However, the engine is definetly not toasted per the compression and starting - no odd knocks either.
I'm wondering if it's just a really bad coincidence but I want to get thoughts from the board first...
We plan to wipe the engine down and do a short test run on the muffs to see if the leak is evident before tearing into the exhaust manifolds.
Is it feasible that there's a blown head gasket on the port side of the engine that is both letting water into the oil (but not the cylinders) AND leaking oil and water into the bilge?
Not sure what else to look for prior to pulling the exh manifolds. Once these are off we may spot something else...
Ideas?
He experienced power loss w/his 2002 Regal 2765 w/twin Volvo 4.3 GL engines SX drives.Eventually his alarm had sounded but temp was not very high ~150 deg.
Raw water, 3 yrs in salt, flushed and dry stored on trailer, fresh water use now, 150 hrs on engines.
Upon examination, the port engine had water in the oil AND there was water and oil 1+ qt of oil in the bilge. Previously, the bilge was spottless.
Oil was milky on the fill cap and dip stick. He's changed is out twice since.
The engine ran starts easily and idles smoothly on the muff but we limited this until he could check the cylinders for water and measure compression.
We ran a compression test and all cylinders were dry, plugs looked good and pressure was over 150 psi and w/in 10% of each other (i.e. no dead neighbors --> head gasket).
We pulled the carb cover and noticed oiling on the top of the carb - like a mist, plus a whitish foam where the spark arrestor sits on the carb. The carb intake was spotless.
There was also oil puddled on the top of the intake manifold at the right rear but no signs of leaks at the sides, front, or rear of the intake or valve covers. The front and rear of the engine were clean of oil. The oil sender and fitting were also dry.
We did find oil drips on the bottom of the port exh manifold, oil filter, and dip stick connection on oil pan but no obvious signs of the source.
I'm having trouble envisionin a scenario short of catastrophic failure that would cause both of these problems at the same time. However, the engine is definetly not toasted per the compression and starting - no odd knocks either.
I'm wondering if it's just a really bad coincidence but I want to get thoughts from the board first...
We plan to wipe the engine down and do a short test run on the muffs to see if the leak is evident before tearing into the exhaust manifolds.
Is it feasible that there's a blown head gasket on the port side of the engine that is both letting water into the oil (but not the cylinders) AND leaking oil and water into the bilge?
Not sure what else to look for prior to pulling the exh manifolds. Once these are off we may spot something else...
Ideas?