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New Engine Replacement - Engine Died and Hydro locked after 5 hrs!?

CaptnO

New member
I purchased a 2004 Chaparral 260ssi with a Volvo Penta GXI-E 320hp earlier this year. The boat ended up needing a new block so one was purchased from Marine Engines out of MA which was manufactured by Eagle Engine Sales . This seems to be the correct engine based on Part Number that is stamped on the side of the engine. 5.7 MPI Long Block. The Boat was finally completed on October 23rd after waiting since June. On October 24th I took the boat out again for a few hours to continue to break in the engine and while I was cruising around 1200-1400rpms the engine just shut off on me (it seemed like the same way when you turn the key off. It was an instant shut off) I attempted to restart the engine however it was not turning over. Link of Video here. I contacted my mechanic immediately and he thought that I might have ran out of fuel. My fuel gauge was reading 1/4 Tank full which would be about 19.75 gallons of gas on this boat. (79 Gallon Tank). I had to get towed and we left the boat at the ramp. My mechanic was able to inspect it 2 days later. He called me and told me that I hydro locked the motor, he found water in all 8 Cylinders. I explained to him that I was just cruising at slow speeds and it died, he still believed that I ran out of gas which cut the engine suddenly and then allowed water to enter through the exhaust port. He said he would get the water out and do a few oil changes to get it running again then fill up the gas to see how much Fuel I actually had in my boat when it died. 3 weeks had passed and I didn't get any response from him I called him everyday all last week and nothing. He basically abandoned my boat at the marina and left me hanging after paying him $14k for all the work that was done to the boat.

I decided to take my boat to a local Volvo Penta Dealer shop this past Tuesday. I just meet with the Volvo Penta mechanic today and he spent over 2 hours going over everything he did and explaining some possibilities. The good news was that he was able to get all the water out, there was some surface rust on the inside when he cracked the motor without the plugs in but he said that it would be okay. He did about 3 oil changes to make sure there was no water left in the engine. His conclusion was the following:

1) Needed to make sure that the engine which was installed was compatibly with my 5.7 GXI-E 320hp since that OEM engine had the 1.6 Ratio Rockers Comp cams. The ECM was tuned for that Original Volvo Penta engine and he said if the valve train was different it could cause some intermittent issues with the ECM (I am not sure what ratio the rockers are however I found out this afternoon which engine it was and where it came from I called both Marine Engines and Eagle Engine sales to confirm that the PN: 2541-S1 was compatibly and they both said that they were)

2) His other finding was the Engine wiring harness had some corrosion on the 10pin connector (pic here) He also said that it wasn't all the way in so messed around with the pins and made sure that it was secured correctly and sprayed some WD-40 on the pins as well. He confirmed this might have been the problem as when he was doing the oil changes and running the engine he would wiggle that connector around and it would kill the engine. He mentioned that I might have to replace the wiring harness but I am not sure if I can just remove the corrosion from the pins, spray some electrical cleaner and throw some Di-Electric grease on there to help preserve it longer.

3) The no fuel Theory was pretty much cancelled out because I personally filled up the boat with 60 gallons of gas and didn't stop until the gas was all coming out of the fuel filler port. This means that when my engine died that day I had at least 18-19 gallons of gas. Which was about 1/4 tank of fuel so my fuel gauge was reading correctly. The only other possible scenario which my old ******* mechanic brought up was that the pick up tube might not be all the way down to the bottom of the tank or could be corroded or damaged. I guess the only way to confirm that is to run my boat back down again to the 1/4 tank mark or lower and see if it dies out. When I mentioned this to the Volvo Penta mechanic he said that could another possibility however didn't want to remove the pick up tube from the tank as giving the age of the boat it could do more damage then good. Also if your boat has trouble sucking up fuel usually it starts to sputter and hesitate before dying out. I don't believe it would die out instantly like it did that day.

So my plan now is take the boat back on the water tomorrow and continue breaking in the engine and drive it around to make sure that it is running okay. Thank you guys for taking the time to read this long post. It is a very stressful and frustrating situation and I look forward to hearing your thoughts and opinions.
 
I think the no fuel theory is not valid here, seems like you need to fix the harness issue. You might be able to tweak the pins for a tighter fit so this doesnt happen again. Same hydro lock is common if you pull the kill switch. …

take tools with you in case it does happen again immediate pull all eight plugs, ground the coil to distributor wire and crank it over to expel water.

also looks like you found a new mechanic. Unless there was a legit personal issue original mechanic should have know the clock is tocking when you ingest water
 
Don't leave the slip. Just run while still tied up. At least for a few hours anyway to be certain.
Water ingestion can happen on sudden deceleration, as the water that you have been pushing out of the way suddenly rushes back into the hole and swamps your transom. The extra high risers tell me the engine is mounted well below the waterline. That makes you particularly susceptible to this happening. Not saying the hydrolock was your fault but that the engine suddenly conking out certainly could have set you up for this to happen without your control.
I would take a long look at the exhaust routing. It appears to be thru the prop. Maybe consider rerouting it thru the transom with exit well above the waterline. There are silencers available that will reduce the exhaust noise, prevent backwash, and save the engine from future damage.
 
I think the no fuel theory is not valid here, seems like you need to fix the harness issue. You might be able to tweak the pins for a tighter fit so this doesnt happen again. Same hydro lock is common if you pull the kill switch. …

take tools with you in case it does happen again immediate pull all eight plugs, ground the coil to distributor wire and crank it over to expel water.

also looks like you found a new mechanic. Unless there was a legit personal issue original mechanic should have know the clock is tocking when you ingest water

Thanks for your input Dieter, I agree that is exactly what the new mechanic did, he tweaked the pins for a tighter fit and also sprayed some WD-40 to help with the connection. I'll make sure to bring tools with me, I'll be going out on the water shortly. If it does happen again and I expel the water am I safe to restart the motor or do i still need to get towed? Does this depend if the oil is milky or if the engine is running different?

Yes I found a Volvo Penta dealer and the mechanic that works there is solid been in the business for over 30 years.

The original mechanic was a complete dickhead. He knew I had water in the block and he still let the boat still there for 3 weeks with the spark plugs removed. Ill be seeking legal action against him. It was such a horrible experience with him.

However right now in focused on making sure the boat is solid and running well.
 
Don't leave the slip. Just run while still tied up. At least for a few hours anyway to be certain.
Water ingestion can happen on sudden deceleration, as the water that you have been pushing out of the way suddenly rushes back into the hole and swamps your transom. The extra high risers tell me the engine is mounted well below the waterline. That makes you particularly susceptible to this happening. Not saying the hydrolock was your fault but that the engine suddenly conking out certainly could have set you up for this to happen without your control.
I would take a long look at the exhaust routing. It appears to be thru the prop. Maybe consider rerouting it thru the transom with exit well above the waterline. There are silencers available that will reduce the exhaust noise, prevent backwash, and save the engine from future damage.

Hey O2batsea,

Thanks for your response, I just ran it at idle and 1500 rpms for about 15 mins while at the boat ramp. I had about a 30 mins no wake zone from the boat ramp so I was traveling around 800-1200 rpms. I was out for about 2 hours today went from 1500rpms to 2000, 2500,3000,3500. I did these a few times back and forth and it was running good. i did notice my brand new fuel pumo assembly was making a high pitched noise not sure why but it's brand new. I'm going to have to duscuss that with the shop on Monday . On the way back to the boat ramp. I was traveling around 3300rpms dropped it to 2800rpms then walked it down to about 1500 as i was entering the no wake zone. Now the same issue happened again. About 3-5mins into the no wake zone the end suddenly died. I quickly threw it into neutral and attempted to restart the end. It took about 5 seconds then it started right up. So I don't think i got water into the engine this time around but I'll have to check the sparkplugs and cylinder tomorrow and see. I Crusied the additional 25mins in the no wake zone at 1000rpms and made it back to the ramp safety. This is very frustrating I hope I can find out what is causing this intermittent shutoffs.
 
Thanks for your input Dieter, I agree that is exactly what the new mechanic did, he tweaked the pins for a tighter fit and also sprayed some WD-40 to help with the connection. I'll make sure to bring tools with me, I'll be going out on the water shortly. If it does happen again and I expel the water am I safe to restart the motor or do i still need to get towed? Does this depend if the oil is milky or if the engine is running different?

Yes I found a Volvo Penta dealer and the mechanic that works there is solid been in the business for over 30 years.

The original mechanic was a complete dickhead. He knew I had water in the block and he still let the boat still there for 3 weeks with the spark plugs removed. Ill be seeking legal action against him. It was such a horrible experience with him.

However right now in focused on making sure the boat is solid and running well.
you would be ok expelling the water if yku catch it quick likely wont milk up the oil much. Would be prepared to change oil . You can use cheap oil for this.
 
He knew I had water in the block and he still let the boat still there for 3 weeks with the spark plugs removed. Ill be seeking legal action against him. It was such a horrible experience with him.


​I can't understand how people like this can be allowed to be in business. I'm amazed that your engine isn't a complete loss.
 
He knew I had water in the block and he still let the boat still there for 3 weeks with the spark plugs removed. Ill be seeking legal action against him. It was such a horrible experience with him.


​I can't understand how people like this can be allowed to be in business. I'm amazed that your engine isn't a complete loss.

I agree the lack of professional and communication was horrible. I am going to do my best to avoid people giving him business. He is a complete POS
 
Go to the fuel tank and remove the feed tube from the tank, pass a wire from the bottom and see how far it goes. You may have a internal screen INSIDE the tube.
If so, unscrew the tube from the fitting and remove the screen
 
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Go to the fuel tank and remove the feed tube from the tank, pass a wire from the bottom and see how far it goes. You may have a internal screen INSIDE the tube.
If so, unscrew the tube from the fitting and remove the screen


I don't understand could you elaborate more as to the reasoning behind removing the screen? Why do you think this would be an issue?

Here are some additional videos from the other day as well, we didn't get the two times it stalled but maybe this might give some people an idea of what's happening back there when slowing down and holding at those RPMs 2000-1500.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/mUBhw7eeWs6ZSNTk8
 
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