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Bought the boat, no plug, boat filled w/ water. Now what? 1985 aq125

sonnyny

New member
Stupid me. Bought an 85' Bayliner Capri 19' with a Volvo Penta I/O AQ125 on Saturday. Ran great at time of purchase, started right up at idle no throttle, smooth. The seller did lots of maintenance. Anyway, came home, backed up into my pond, pushed her off the trailer, jumped in, turned the key, and just cranked, no ignition. I looked back and it was filling with water. Pulled her out ASAP. As far I as can tell the water got about as high as the block.

She cranks but no start. I have checked the oil which has no sign of water. I can see that the carb is getting gas and there is spark although the spark looks a bit weak. Pulled the distributor cap off and the rotor, points, etc. all look dry. Funny thing is that when I pulled the plugs they looked dry as well. I thought they would be soaked with gas.

I'm sure this happens plenty so anybody have any suggestions?
 
Re: Bought the boat, no plug, boat filled w/ water. Now what?

Almost everyone forgets at least once to check that the plug is in. this is sometingyou need to learn to do everytime you launch the boat. Its a good idea to pull the plug everytime you park the boat on its trailer. There is a real good example of why you do this a couple of miles from here. Boat filled with rain water and the weight of water caused the tongue of the trailer to bend.

Why it does not start... Is the fuel valve turned on?

A new or rebuilt starter may be on your horizon if the water got that high.
 
Re: Bought the boat, no plug, boat filled w/ water. Now what?

I do not see a fuel valve at all. Followed line from carb back to filter, pump, and tank. Seems to be getting gas at the carb, I can see it going in but plugs are still dry. What could be stopping the flow between carb and intake? I do lots of work on cars but mostly newer with electronic ignition and fuel injection. This is way old school. And by the way there is no lanyard switch. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks!
 
Re: Bought the boat, no plug, boat filled w/ water. Now what?

Look down the carb throat while you have someone cycle the throttle. See if gas squirts from the accelerator pump feeds. If not, possible needle valve on float in carb stuck.
 
Re: Bought the boat, no plug, boat filled w/ water. Now what?

sonnyny, before discussing anything else, please tell us that this was a river or lake..... and not salt water!

Starting:
There may be nothing wrong with this engine at all.
You did say that you just bought it, correct?
The PO started it up, and it ran just fine, correct?
You may not be accustom to starting a NO CHOKE carbureted engine.... especially if you have not typically driven cars with carburetors.
This engine will not have a choke, so they require a different starting technique that requires the use of the accelerator pump when cold!

As for the drain plug..... I did this once.... and years ago..... and I'll tell you that you do this ONLY ONCE in a life time. You'll never do it again! :D
 
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Re: Bought the boat, no plug, boat filled w/ water. Now what?

Hey thanks for the replies friends. It was a lake/river boat out of the Albany, NY area. Owner said never seen salt. I did own a 85' Renken w/ Ford OMC I/O about 20 yrs. ago so am somewhat familiar. I see what you are saying about the difference between modern auto tech. and older boats.

The old plugs looked okay, some carbon deposit, but could be pretty old so I picked up new ones today. I'll see how they look spark wise this weekend. I also noticed that the plug wires have twist on plug boots with replaceable standard 7mm high temp wire. I will replace the wire also.

I do have an ignition jumper so i was able to see the fuel being distributed down the carb throat into the manifold as I was cranking it over. I'm not in a huge hurry now b/c...snow up here in VT. forecasted for Sat and Sunday.
Thanks again and if ya' have any more thought I'm more than happy to hear them.
 
Re: Bought the boat, no plug, boat filled w/ water. Now what?

............. I see what you are saying about the difference between modern auto tech. and older boats.................
Well..... not exactly what I meant by that!

Yes, in the sense that you may have owned fuel injected engines only in the past..... car/truck, for example.... and may not be familiar with carbureted engines.

No, in the sense that this particular Solex carburetor does NOT have a choke (like other marine carburetors) to help en-richen the fuel mixture.
Therefore you must use the accelerator pump, of which you also may not be familiar with!

With this carburetor (and most all others), each time that you move the throttle position towards open, a small pump squirts fuel into the throat of the carburetor.
You'll need to learn how many times you must pump the throttle prior to starting the engine.

Not enough, and it may be too lean to fire when cold.
Too many, and you may flood the engine with fuel.

You will get used to it!

.
 
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Re: Bought the boat, no plug, boat filled w/ water. Now what?

Yes these are tricky i have the same engine.

Typically mine is 1.5 pumps and leave it at 11 o'clock start it and bump it to neutral when it warms up a bit. Also these dont like to move when there cold u shift it into gear and they like to die. I idle it up to op temp of 150ish before moving they run at 198 open thermostat.

Also if mine sits for longer then 2 weeks the gas fairy comes by and empties the float bowl out. So watch for that.

And yes everyone has done the plug bit. Mine was opposite thoe i had it in for the trip and took it out when i was done but i didnt like the way it was sitting on the trailer so i backed it back down to get a better sit and forgot the plug. That lil hole lets in water fast. Thankfully these starters sit up higher.
 
Re: Bought the boat, no plug, boat filled w/ water. Now what?

Thanks for all the replies. Here's where I'm at:
I tried several different starting procedure combinations(10 throttle pumps, 1 pump, 3/4 throttle, 1/2 throttle, etc..) as suggested and still cranks with no ignition, not a sputter.
-I pulled the carb and everything looks good. It squirts fuel as it should when throttling up.
-Have an extra monster battery hooked up with jumpers.
-Installed new plugs and the spark looks about the same, weak but it is present in all cylinders. And the plugs are still not getting wet even when I pour gas down the carb. I can see gas puddling in the intake manifold when I look down the carb throat.
-I'm bewildered! The only thing I can come up with is that when the boat flooded either:
1-water seeped into the gas tank mixing with fuel so it will not detonate
2-distributor got wet throwing weak spark, not enough spark for detonation
3-some kind of fuse or relay blew, but engine still cranks, sends fuel, gets spark.
As I said this boat ran smooth when I bought it. The no plug incident may have nothing to do with it. Any techs out there with an idea?
 
Re: Bought the boat, no plug, boat filled w/ water. Now what?

Ok...
For starters (no pun untended!) you can eliminate #3 right off.
#1 can be eliminated by hooking up an external (outboard style) gas tank filled with fresh gas.
#2 can be eliminated by pulling the cap and drying it out... if cap isn't new, replace it and the rotor (keep old ones as spares if decent shape and replacing them does not fix the problem). Check that the points aren't rusty or crudded up. Make sure that the advance weights springs and pivots aren't rusted and seized. When you replaced the plugs, did you gap them correctly?
 
Re: Bought the boat, no plug, boat filled w/ water. Now what?

check and clean the points under the distrib cap. Coil condenser issue perhaps... Timing belt may have jumped. Bad compression.

Process of elimination, try running your boat off a jerry can of good clean gas, just stick the fuel hose in a gas can. Take cover off carb and fill the float chamber.
Check all your connections the starter might not be spinning quick enough to start.
Compression test

All stuff i did when i first started having issues starting my boat. Turns out the plug wires were original with all the swedish markings on it and the spark plugs were different brands.

Plug gap .028 i belive
 
Re: Bought the boat, no plug, boat filled w/ water. Now what?

Turns out that the no plug incident had nothing to do with it. The timing belt jumped during transport. The spring on the tensioner is old and not putting enough tension on the belt. What a pain in the A!
 
Re: Bought the boat, no plug, boat filled w/ water. Now what?

Belt tensioners are cheap. When buying a new one, consider getting an automotive version, as it is identical to the "marine" version but significantly cheaper.
 
Re: Bought the boat, no plug, boat filled w/ water. Now what?

Turns out that the no plug incident had nothing to do with it. The timing belt jumped during transport. The spring on the tensioner is old and not putting enough tension on the belt. What a pain in the A!
Ahhh, If memory serves me, the spring is for initial tension only. Once set, the bolt that tightens down on the idler causes this to be fixed. The spring is then out of the loop, so to speak!
 
Re: Bought the boat, no plug, boat filled w/ water. Now what?

Finally got it running. The bolt on the T-belt tensioner pulley was loose and the spring was stuck compressed by some rust and corrosion. Engine must have kicked back, compressed the spring, and the belt jumped. Also noticed the jerk who sold me the boat had the disributor in backwards. Only problem left is the alternator bracket does not seem to line up right. Anybody have any pics or diagrams of the front end of a AQ125B? I have downloaded the manual but the pics are not up close.
 
Re: Bought the boat, no plug, boat filled w/ water. Now what?

Volvo had some problems with the alt bracket on many "cammer" engines. The ones that got replaced were painted green as I recall. The one you have may have a weld cracked that can be repaired. Some slight shimming may be in order to make it alighn just right. I've seen many that weren't even close but worked that way.
 
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