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Seized VP 5.0GL - Options/Insights

Don't know about the Valvoline, "it's a one size fits all" no idea if it will cause problems.

Engine oil, your engine used 30w full synthetic when new. Volvo quit making it and now recommends Volvo Penta 10W-40 4-Stroke Synthetic Engine Oil. If you want to keep using the 30w, Sierra SAE30 4-Stroke Synthetic Marine Oil is available.
I try and stay away from auto oil, It has additives that aren't needed for your engine, is designed to protect engines that operate very different from your engine and doesn't have the additives that your engine needs.
Not sure why you want to flush it? But if you do I recommend a NMMA rated oil only.

You can use any oil you want, it's your boat. So much depends on how you use the boat as to what's best. Will auto stuff work? Ya probably. Will it work as good as a marine rated oil? Probably not.
 
I have used Mercruiser's 25/40 conventional oil and their syn blend oil, both hold up well to marine use, I did several oil analyses on my 4.3 and they do stay in grade well. I don't know if the same would be true of Chevron 15/40 or Delo 15/40 which also a lot of people use because it's a good deal less expensive. The Merc oil is easy to find if a bit pricey and it's gotten a lot pricier in recent years. Another option I might try out if I get tired of Merc's pricing is Valvoline VR-1 20/50, I suspect this oil will also stay in grade well.
I would for sure use the Volvo gear oil in the SX drive, I think cone clutch drives are particular about the drive lube used, more so than a dog clutch is.
I had good luck using the Mercruiser High Performance gear lube (bluish-green stuff) in my old dog clutch Cobra drive. The OMC stuff is hard to find nowadays, I've been using the Merc stuff for 20+ years with no problems, but use the Volvo oil in the SX.
 
Conventional Merc 25/40 is $42, the Syn Blend is $58, whereas the Valvoline VR-1 25/50 is $29
Note also that the Merc oil is even more if you buy it with the Merc label vs the Quicksilver label, but AFAIK it is the same product.
Merc's top oil the 25/50 syn blend is $72! This has gone up about $20 over the past 4 years or so.
 
Today I sucked the oil out from the engine, first couple of pumps were water then changed to oil. I removed the oil filter from the block, had a mixture of water and oil in the filter also.

Filled it with some cheap 15W-40 heavy duty diesel oil, put a new filter on. Sprayed some fogging oil into the spark plugs holes.

Put all new ac-delco plugs in the engine with the proper gap.

Before reinstalling the plug wires I cranked the engine over with the starter.

Then I plugged the plug wires into the spark plugs.

It took several times of cranking the engine to get it to stat and run. I’m guessing it just needed to be primed since it had been sitting for a few weeks.

The engine now starts on the first crank and seems to be running ok. Oil pressure at idle fluctuates between 25-40 according to the oil gauge near the steering wheel.

While the engine is running and warmed up, I see a drip coming from the raw water pump. There is a drip of water about every 10 seconds coming from the bottom side of the water pump. I assume this is not normal?

Does a impeller replacement fix this or would it need a new raw water pump?

Other question, how to I determine if the bellows are leaking when it is connected to the hose using muffs?
 
For future reference, after putting something in the cylinders - crank it over before installing spark plugs. Less chance for damage.

Correct, the sea water pump shouldn't drip. Impeller won't help leaking. Volvo doesn't sell the parts to repair - just the complete pump. Do an internet search for "rebuilding Volvo sea water pump" if you want to attempt repairs.

U-joint bellows are inspected visually from the back of the boat or better yet, pull the drive after the boat has been in the lake. Running on the hose won't tell you anything about the bellows.
 
Each season the drive should be pulled at the end and all of that inspected (bellows, gimble, u-joints, input shaft seal).
I also tilt the drive up and look in the folds of the bellows, if you see small cracks forming it is time to change them because that means the rubber is getting stiff. I have found the ones for my OMC Cobra last at least 10 years before you see cracks forming and this is with OEM parts.
 
Today I did another oil flush by sucking the oil I put in yesterday and putting new oil in. Replaced the filter again. Ran it for 20 mins. Sucked that oil out and replaced with 25W-40 Lucas 4 stroke synthetic oil and a VP OEM oil filter.

I replaced the fuel/water separator filter with a WIX filter.

I removed all of the new spark plugs while the engine was warm. I preformed a compression test on all cylinders. With all of the spark plugs removed, each cylinder on the starboard side (or left side of engine if looking at it from the front of the engine) read 184 PSI. Each cylinder on the port side (or right side of engine if looking at it from the front of the engine) read 188 PSI.

Per the VP manual and the SELOC manual for this engine, 75% of the highest reading is 141 PSI. All of the cylinders read higher than that. Is it fair to assume that the compression is good on this engine and head gaskets have not been damaged or any valves/rings/seals have not been damaged?

After compression test, I put all the spark plugs back in and re-torqued them, put a small amount of dialectic grease inside the plug boots and put the wires back on.

Engine fired up normally, I let it come up to operating temp (175 on the temp gauge) and let it run with the muffs on for another 15-20 mins. All seemed normal except for the raw water pump dripping.

So, the question is now, how did water get ingested into the engine?

I don't see any cracks or rust marks on the exhaust manifolds. I don't see any cracks on the elbows or rubber that connects the manifold to the elbows.

Currently, I am waiting on the 75W-90 Volvo Penta gear oil for the drive to be delivered so I can drain the old fluid out and put new in. If the bellows are leaking/bad, would that allow water to be ingested into the engine?

If there is a seal or ring that is leaking water into the drive unit, could that be ingested into the engine somehow?

Im struggling to figure out how water got ingested in the engine. Something doesn't add up from what the "mechanics" said about the engine being seized and them not able to turn it over and it needing a new engine.
 
You have done well so far!
I know it's frustrating not knowing how the water got in, there are numerous ways it can happen:
Leaky elbow to manifold gasket (sometimes they leak on both the outside and inside, sometimes only on the inside) Volvo revised their gaskets due to this being a common problem
rusted manifold/elbows that allow cooling water in the exhaust gas portion, or rusted sealing surfaces that result a new gasket not sealing

others:
stopping too fast, rear of boat loaded more than normal, engine installation puts the top of the elbows too low vs the boat's static water line...this last one can happen and requires measuring to determine if you need spacers between the manifold and the elbow to get adequate height above the static water line. Merc uses spacers, Volvo actually sold a taller elbow for that purpose.

engine related:
rusted intake under the thermostat housing
bad intake manifold gaskets
bad cylinder head gaskets
cracked cylinder head or rusted through
cracked block or rusted through

The engine related issues can be tough to find, pressurizing the cooling passages with air up to approx 15 psi will show it it holds pressure or not. You have to rig up a few hoses and a pressure/vacuum gauge to do this....the guys over at iboats.com can explain it well.

However, a leaky driveshaft bellows will not put water in the engine, it will put it into the gimble housing and then into the bilge, if it gets really high it could get into the oil pan but that's unusual.

exhaust system problems will put water in a cylinder right away, and then a bit later it shows up in the oil
stopping too fast, low height of elbows, same thing it puts water into the cylinders by coming up the Y pipe and also, depending on the camshaft design (amount of overlap) a vacuum can develop in the exhaust where water actually gets sucked up the Y pipe into the elbows and when you turn off the engine is winds up in the cylinders. Some Volvo engines actually had vacuum break valves in the elbows to keep a vacuum from developing in the exhaust system.
if you did not have water in the cylinders, then the exhaust isn't as likely and it is more probable that it's an engine related issue.

I figured out a way to actually look inside the elbows, with an inspection camera to see if there are signs of rust inside, sometimes you will see little dots of rust, that is likely condensation, but rust stains around the joint and at the bottom of the manifold exhaust passage suggest that the joint is definitely leaking inside. The Volvo style elbows have a fitting on the top that is for a temp sensor, if that fitting will come out you can snake an endoscope camera down inside and see what's happening. I do it once a year to monitor the exhaust condition because I am in salt water.
starboard side:
exhaust staboard side.jpg

port side (port side runs cooler, this is condensation)
exhaust port side.jpg
 
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Today I was able to pressure test the outdrive.

I drained the gear oil out of the outdrive, then I connected a pressure gauge to the top fill port on the outdrive. When draining the gear oil, the gear oil was very black and had a small amount of water in the gear oil, especially towards the end of draining. But I would say 85% to 90% of it was pure gear oil and the remaining was water/grey fluid.

When I pumped it up to 10 PSI the first time, I thought I heard some "gurgling"coming from the prop shaft seal area. I looked at the pressure gauge and it lost about 1 psi with in a 3 minute time frame.

I let all the pressure out again, removed the lower drain screw again just to make sure all of the gear oil was drained out, reinstalled the lower drain screw and re check my pressure gauge fitting and the top dipstick tightness.

I pumped back up to 10 PSI and it held for 3 minutes. I let it remain at 10 PSI at for 5 mins and it held at 10 PSI. I let all the pressure out and then pumped it to 15 PSI. It held 15 PSI for 3 minute, 5 minute and 10 minutes.

I repeated the 10 PSI test and 15PSI test again doing all tests for 3 mins, 5mins and 10 mins. The last time still did not loose any pressure.

I could have sworn that I heard a "gurgle" sound coming from behind the prop near where the prop shaft seal would be located. But then when I tested a 2nd and 3rd time, the pressure gage didn't lose any pressure.

I do have some replacement o-rings for the lower drain screw, the upper fill screw and the dipstick. I will install those once I get the new gear oil installed.

I guess with the pressure holding on the 2nd and 3rd tries for at least 10 minutes, I don't have a seal leak?

Would it a good thing to "flush" the out drive with some cheap 75W-90 gear oil before putting in the new VP 75W-90 gear oil I have?
 
Any water in the gear lube would have been the first to drain out -- water is heavier then lube.
When it comes to pressure testing lower units, techs have a saying, push-pull twist-twist wiggle-wiggle. You should be doing these 3 things with the input shaft, prop shaft and shifter. This is the only way you get a correct test. You should also test @3-5 psi, at this low pressure you don't run the risk of the higher pressure causing a weak seal to have the lip of the seal pushing against the shaft and giving faulty results.
Flushing with anything other then Volvo lube is a bad idea, unless you also flush a second time with Volvo lube. Also just filling and draining won't do much, you have to run the drive to really do anything.
 
Yes, water is heavier than oil but once it gets emulsified it may or may not ever seperate completely.
Furthermore, there is always a film coating that remains.

I do agree with your last paragraph. But any clean oil flush is better than leaving an unknown oil that is potentially contaminated.
Yes, running it a few minutes will help get a better flush. Being this is a cone clutch, there is no rotation of parts in the bottom unless it's in gear. If on the trailer, remove prop & idle in gear briefly.
 
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Yesterday, I replaced the raw water pump, put a new power steering belt and water pump belt on, set the belt tension on the v-belts, and put 75w-90 Volvo Penta gear oil in the outdrive unit. Before I filled the outdrive with gear oil, I pressure tested it again. It held pressure with me moving the prop and wiggling the whole unit. Engine again ran normal and sounded normal. No more leaking from the weep hole in the raw water pump.

Today, we took it to a lake and put it in the water. Engine fired right up ran normal sounded normal. Got it off the trailer, out of the wake zone and out on to the water. I wasn't able to get it to go over 2000 RPM. Felt like something was pulling the boat down, making the boat slow down and making the engine strain heavily. When I tried to give it more throttle, sometimes it would act like it wanted to go but majority the time it made the engine strain and I could even hear what sounded like the V-belts squealing. When I would pull it in to neutral, the engine would try to die but then go back to normal idle.

It was worse in reverse gear, I couldn't get it above 2000 RPM and it felt like the boat was not moving in reverse. In order to keep the boat moving forward or backwards, I had to keep the engine rpm below 2000 RPM. If I went over 2000 RPM, I got a severe vibration and the engine acted like it was under a heavy load and sometimes I would hear what sounded like the v-belts squealing.

I trimmed up just to make sure we weren't touching the bottom and I am pretty sure could see the prop moving. When trimmed up, Still the same results. Not able to get it over 2000 RPM without a severe vibration and the engine straining and sometimes squealing of the belts sound.

Finally got it back on to the trailer and took it back home.

I connected the muffs to it and put it in forward gear. I took a video of what the outdrive sounds like at about 1200 RPM. I hear a like a clattering noise from the top of the out drive, I don't know if this is normal or if it is a sign that the outdrive is in need of repair or damaged?

Please listen to the videos and tell me what you think. Is this an indication that it needs a rebuilt out drive?


Volvo SX-M Outdrive Noise

Volvo Penta SX-M Outdrive Noise 2
 
While the noise isn't that loud, it shouldn't sound like that.
The gear oil did have water in it, and also the level was low, nothing on the dipstick, so I am wondering if some bearings/races are corroded/worn.
I would pull the drive and spin the input shaft and see if it's very stiff, same with the prop shaft and also spin the gimble bearing and see if it is rough, grinding, etc. If it's the gimble bearing or u joints, it isn't that bad of a job but if it's the outdrive itself, the cost will add up fast.
Have you pulled the drive and inspected the gimble, ujoints and look for water in the bellows?
Outdrives need yearly maintenance, running them low on gear oil (must be a leak, maybe the input shaft seal, which you won't see till you pull the drive) and milky oil due to leaks, is not good maintenance, it will cost you like I said earlier.
I have a 38 year old OMC Cobra which people love to hate on but that thing has been very reliable, but only because all the maintenance was always done. Here in salt water you have no choice, either you do it, or your boat will not be reliable. The only things it has needed:
water pump seal
trim ram rebuild
steering actuator replacement
shift cable adjustment
that's it, 24 years of salt water boating.
 
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Would any of these (bad gimble bearings, stiff input shaft, bad u-joints) cause the engine to feel like it was straining over 2000 RPM? Like staining enough to squeal the v-drive belts? Would any of those listed also cause a vibration at 2000-2500 RPM? Or would the vibration more likely be a bent/damaged prop shaft?

BTW the sound does get louder with increased RPM. I didn't want to take it over 1200-1500 RPM with it on muffs.

I guess I am trying to figure out if it is the sound of the gears slipping/grinding/worn because or improper maintenance before I got it?

Could the cone clutch be an issue? Currently, It does not pop out of gear and it shifts smoothy into forward and reverse.

I have not pulled the outdrive yet. Seems kind of daunting since I have not worked on an outdrive before. I will need to build a stand for it. I have a furniture dolly that has 4 casters on it and I can fabricate a frame for the outdrive to rest on.

The other thing is that the weather will be turning cold/freezing probably soon. If I winterize the engine with marine antifreeze and then remove the outdrive and leave it off to work on it, wouldn't all the antifreeze come out of the engine? Thus making it pointless to winterize the engine? Will I damage the engine if there is no antifreeze in the engine during the winter time? Or if there was antifreeze circulated through the cooling system, would there be enough residual in the cooling system to keep from freezing?
 
That’s not a concern. You manually drain the engine and can leave it dry or fill it with antifreeze. If you remove the outdrive whatever antifreeze you added to the engine won’t leak out.
 
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