Volvo Penta 2003

I have a 1991 Volvo Penta 2003 (non turbo) in a 1991 Beneteau 35s5. The problem that I have been having, for some time now, is this:

The water coming out of the exhaust does not come out as forcefully and as plentiful as it used to. It sort of drizzles out and a spray pattern rather than the splash that it used to make. The exhaust gets hot and I see steam coming out of the exhaust.

This is what I've done so far.

1. Disconnected the pipe after the raw water pump and connected a clear hose. Ran the engine under load and monitored a steady flow of water. No bubbles or anything unusual. I also had the water pump taken out and replaced the impeller. All the gears looked fine, no shaft play.

2. Took off the exhaust elbow and replaced it witha new one. The opening where the water pipe went in, was about 90% clogged with soot. I could not clean it, so I replaced it with new Volvo Penta one. This did not fix the problem, although it made it somewhat better (less steam)

3. The only other piece left is the heat exchanger at $800.00 USD.

Should I replace the heat exchanger?
Can I overhaul the heat exchanger for a lesser cost?
Am I on the right track or is there something else I need to be looking at?

As always, I appreciate any comments.

Have the heat exchanger cleaned out with acid.
If possible, use a auto radiator shop, they normally have a 'bath' for it.

Haffiman,

Thanks for the reply, I will take off the exchanger and see if I can dismantle it somewhat and take it to a radiator shop.

is the engine overheating at all??????? you may find that the exhaust hose has delaminated in side and is restricting the out flow due to the clogged exhaust elbow

I had a similar problem, although there is a little confusssion in the modles, mine is a year 2003, d2-55 and it ended up being the heat exchanger, I removed it and cleaned it by hand and the probmem went away....

volvopentatech said:

is the engine overheating at all??????? you may find that the exhaust hose has delaminated in side and is restricting the out flow due to the clogged exhaust elbow

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The engine does not overheat. As you mentioned, the exhaust elbow was about 90% clogged and I replaced it with a new Volvo Penta part for about 300.00 USD. It did not fix the problem...
I did replace the hose from the the exhaust elbow to the water overflow tank.

Indecission said:

I had a similar problem, although there is a little confusssion in the modles, mine is a year 2003, d2-55 and it ended up being the heat exchanger, I removed it and cleaned it by hand and the probmem went away....

Click to expand...

I am beginning to think that it is the exchanger.

How did you clean yours? Did you take it apart? What type of solvent did you use?