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Water spewing out of the seawater strainer cap.

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pugetsounder

Advanced Contributor
SO I finally took my new boat 1981 Bayliner Explorer 2270 out for a maiden voyage and shake down cruise on the lake last Sunday. I came back with a few issues but nothing really serious but I have some questions.

The worst problem was having water spewing out of the cap on the seawater strainer. It seems to flow with RPMS as in as idle it doesn't leak but at 3000 it spews pretty bad. I took the cap off and checked the gasket it seems fine but had a groove worn in so i reversed it. It seems pliable and in good shape but after reinstalling the cap it still leaked. The strainer basket itself is clean as and so the copper tube going into the exhaust. The temp was even at 180 degrees the entire trip out. I've had the entire system off the motor and I know it's clean. I thought the exhaust mainfold was clean as water flowed through it but could it still be clogged enough to create that mcuh back pressure? It's old and could be original but it seemed to work fine before I took the system off the motor to clean and check. I went through the motor and outdrive as much as I dared just to see what condition it's in. I know the raw water colloing system is in pretty good shape coming into the pump, the pump, the heat exchanger and all copper tubes. The coolant system insdie the engine is in fine shape has brand new coolant and like I mentioned before the temp never got above 180 degrees on our maiden voyage. ANy ideas? Thanks.
 
Is the lip (the strainer surface against which the cap gasket seals) cracked? If so, I see you buiying a new (and expensive) strainer.
 
Wait a minute. According to your description, when you bring the engine up in rpm the strainer leaks? The strainer should be before the water pump, not after the pump.
 
Hey El Pesc, the seawater strainer plastics are all in good shape no knicks or cracks. Even the rubber is in pretty good shape. That's the first thing I thought of.

Dockside sorry but the AQ 120B has the pump first then goes into the strainer. No other way.

kimcrwbr1 that's kind of my thought too. The exhaust isn't hot it is warm. It definitely gets warmer after a run at rpms but not too hot to touch. Engine temp seems a steady 180 degrees. But I don't know how old it is so it could be the culprit. I have the drive in a container of water so it's hard to see how much water is coming out. Maybe I'll pull the rubber boot and have a look. I find the ears that strap on the outdrive don't work very well so I like to have the drive submerged.

Is it worth it have a mani boiled out or just buy a new one? Also has anybody used the Osco brand? They seem affordable at < $300 vs Sierra or Volvo Penta.

Thanks for the response. It's officially boating season in the Seattle area today and I want to get mine in trustworthy condition for the summer.
 
I found this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/230775419249?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Sorry I should've stated it's a AQ120B a B2.1L OHC motor. I've had it all apart and put back together. I replaced the T-belt and tensioner so the cooling system had to come off. Also I removed the manifold for piece of mind. I know everything but the manifold is clear and in good shape. The strainer, copper tubes, seawater pump, drains everything seems to be in good shape. I did flush the exhaust manifold out with a hose thinking that was good enough but come to think of it I might have just pushed more crud into the passages!

Thanks for the tip on the ground wire. I have a thread here about the #4 exhaust port rotted out. Here's what I did: Cleaned the corroded area as good as I could with a brass wire brush and drill. Used acetone to clean it. Bolted the exhaust manifold to the head as a form and used JB weld to form the missing port area. JB weld is good to 750 degrees and as long as I keep the head and manifold cool enough I don't think I'll have aproblem. If it fails it's not catastrophic I just take my extra head in for a rebuild and install it. Currently I have 150lbs compression on the nut in each cylinder so I hated to mess with a good thing.

BTW how come you're not out enjoying opening day on the cut?
 
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Hello, Pugetsounder.

When a manifold is corroded or has scale in the water passages, I think it is a false economy to boil it. It may give you one or two extra seasons, or it may start leaking if it is very wasted away. For the price they are asking, I would buy that Osco manifold without hesitation.

The VP OHC engines manifolds usually corrode around the riser area. If that was the case you would have seen the passages fairly plugged up with scale. If that was the case, I would suggest a new manifold.

Those strainer housings can be tricky. Once I broke one and I didn't notice anything abnormal except that water was leaking whent he engine was running. Eventually, I saw that the area below the lip was cracked.

pugetsounder said:
Hey El Pesc, the seawater strainer plastics are all in good shape no knicks or cracks. Even the rubber is in pretty good shape. That's the first thing I thought of.

Dockside sorry but the AQ 120B has the pump first then goes into the strainer. No other way.

kimcrwbr1 that's kind of my thought too. The exhaust isn't hot it is warm. It definitely gets warmer after a run at rpms but not too hot to touch. Engine temp seems a steady 180 degrees. But I don't know how old it is so it could be the culprit. I have the drive in a container of water so it's hard to see how much water is coming out. Maybe I'll pull the rubber boot and have a look. I find the ears that strap on the outdrive don't work very well so I like to have the drive submerged.

Is it worth it have a mani boiled out or just buy a new one? Also has anybody used the Osco brand? They seem affordable at < $300 vs Sierra or Volvo Penta.

Thanks for the response. It's officially boating season in the Seattle area today and I want to get mine in trustworthy condition for the summer.
Click to expand...
 
el_pescador said:
Hello, Pugetsounder.

Those strainer housings can be tricky. Once I broke one and I didn't notice anything abnormal except that water was leaking whent he engine was running. Eventually, I saw that the area below the lip was cracked.
Click to expand...

Ha ha I hope not. The worst part of that idea is I just sold a strainer unit on ebay! Doh! I know they are not cheap. I'll take a another look.

Are you still in naniamo? We're thinking of heading up there this summer if I get the bugs worked out of this boat.
 
Yup, I'm in the Nanaimo area. If you come this way send me a PM a few days in advance. Maybe we'll chance to catch some salmon in Barkley Sound.
 
Will do El pesc.

I bought the Osco Manifold off of Ebay so I'll give an update once it's installed and tested. It sure is a lot less expensive than anything from Volvo-Penta or Sierra.
 
Update: Installed the Osco manifold for the 4 cyl OHC Volvo motor and problem solved. No leaks, runs nice and cool. Nice unit for the money. $280 delivered from Ebay. Just remember to clean any threaded hole on it. I think they must powder coat the thing and nothing will thread into it until the threads are cleaned by tap or chaser.
 
pugetsounder said:
Hey El Pesc, the seawater strainer plastics are all in good shape no knicks or cracks. Even the rubber is in pretty good shape. That's the first thing I thought of.

Dockside sorry but the AQ 120B has the pump first then goes into the strainer. No other way.

kimcrwbr1 that's kind of my thought too. The exhaust isn't hot it is warm. It definitely gets warmer after a run at rpms but not too hot to touch. Engine temp seems a steady 180 degrees. But I don't know how old it is so it could be the culprit. I have the drive in a container of water so it's hard to see how much water is coming out. Maybe I'll pull the rubber boot and have a look. I find the ears that strap on the outdrive don't work very well so I like to have the drive submerged.

Is it worth it have a mani boiled out or just buy a new one? Also has anybody used the Osco brand? They seem affordable at < $300 vs Sierra or Volvo Penta.

Thanks for the response. It's officially boating season in the Seattle area today and I want to get mine in trustworthy condition for the summer.
Click to expand...
Hi,
I'm trying to help a buddy out with his boat. I'm an auto tech by trade but never really got involved with marine engines. My buddy has the exact boat you are talking about. The other day he called me and said his engine stalled while driving. I had him start it and it would run but only when accelerating or then it would cut off. As this was happening water was pouring out of the strainer cap! Long story short I determined and verified by pulling the bottom tube off the strainer that runs to exhaust manifold that the water was actually coming out of the exhaust manifold.

This sounds similar to what you were experiencing. I just can't figure out how this could be. If the exhaust was plugged in some way could it create pressure that could cause sea water to be pushed "backwards" into the strainer?

Curious if you had any drivability issues when this happened to you. I checked every other reason for his stalling but couldn't find anything wrong. I would stand in the engine compartment and my shoes would get wet every time he accelerated so I decided we should research this first. I can't find much info on the exhaust system. I think my next step is to remove the exhaust manifold but this is a scary task given the rust and the age.

Thanks in advance for any info you can give me on this.

Mike
 
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