Liberation!

[hesper]

Took a couple of hours last night and this morning but it's out. The Volvo MD7A I installed(used) last summer to replace the old Palmer is back in the garage where it belongs.
The engine was running well untill a couple of weeks ago when something bad happened. Either a major oil leak somewhere, a head gasket or something else I haven't figured out. I saw water coming out the injectors and the oil is grey and definately got water in it too.
I pushed the old Marshall 22 around for a week with the de-flatable then installed my 20 year old 8hp outboard on a new bracket last week. Final step was acheived in a fit of inspiration last night when I rigged up a lift with the mainsheet attached to the boom above the engine and held up by the peak halyard. Brought the old girl into the dock and with the help of a friend, we swung the beast out of the engine compartment and into the lawn tractor's trailer.(wish I'd had my camera) Drove it home behind the lawn mower and backed it into the garage. Went down this AM and cleaned out the bilge.
Now we're running a relativley quiet outboard and have lost probably 150-200#. I'm thinking of installing a live bait well or a giant cooler but I'm open to suggestions.
Maybe I'll look at the Volvo in a few days but right now, I'm enjoying the ride. Take that you diesel burning Swedish monster!
jim

[Jason K]

It's nice to see I'm not the only one that has an antagonistic relationship with the inboard.

Despite putting major work into it this year, I am always relieved when it starts up; it's something I never take for granted.

Congrats on your new found liberation.

[Tim]

I love my diesel, and it runs like a top, but I still never expect that it will start when I push the button. The fact that it always does start is nice, but one should never, ever rely on that happening. If you think you'll truly need the engine, start it early to be sure, so that there's still plenty of time to execute an alternate plan.

This applies to any engine: gas, diesel, or outboard. No fuel wars here.

I had an engine that was unreliable. It only took me a few weeks of dealing with that mess to decide to put in a new engine. I'd rather go without than have something that might or might not run at any given time.

[hesper]

Thanks for the empathy.

I probably should have installed a new engine and avoided the rebuilt engine anxiety. I'm still pretty sure that the Volvo has some life in it but maybe it's better off with someone who appreciates a challenge.

Money's a little tight right now and so is time so I think that I'll take my time on any new pruchases. Maybe at boat show time I'll look seriously. In the meantime, I'm pretty happy with the old outboard. It runs fine and has plenty of push. Plus, the net reduction of a couple hundred pounds definately lifted the transom. I have not removed the prop and shaft as they are a pretty tight fit. Plus, I'd then have to plug up a pretty good size hole. As the prop is 2-bladed and hides in the deadwood, I don't think there's much drag. So, we'll hopefuly finish the smmer on an upnote. Oh...if this engine gives me trouble, I've always got the 5hp from the deflatable...........

jim

[dkall]

You may want to consider having a school shop rebuilt it. Sometimes they'll use the engines as a means of teaching. But then you may be back into the "I'm worring about it thing." Although I think if it works for a few hours outa the shop it will work for a lonnnnnnnnng time.

Second you may want to give it to them rather than leave it for the municipal people to get a hernia from lifiting it into their snazzy vehichle.

[westsail42]

I feel for ya man. We had a volvo MD7A in our sloop till it gave up the ghost a few years back. It smoked quite a bit up until then. The raw water cooling was a
PITA. We were always trying to clean out corrosion. We figure it blew rings in the rear cylinder. We suspect the exhaust installation had too much back-pressure. Anyway we didnt want to spend much time trying to fix it and we replaced it with a Yanmar 3GM. Gained about 10 hp and lost 150 lbs. Though I liked the low revs of the Volvo (the Yanmar is about 3000 rpm nominal).

[hesper]

So, enough whining. I'm no mechanic, as you've probably already guessed but I'm willing to learn.

In the interest of science, I took off the head last night. Sure enough, the rear cylinder which was down when i opened up the engine was about 1/2 full of water. Definately signs of water but only minor corrosion. It looks pretty recent and cleaned right up. The gasket was intact but there is a small tear from one of the "water holes" to the cylinder hole. I'm guessing that water entered the cylinder via this tear. The forward cylinder was clean and dry with very little carbon. The gasket between the "valve cover" and the head is shot. Sounds easy to me, replace gaskets, change oil, and fire it up, right?

However, I'm wondering if there is a deeper problem. I really do believe that water got into the cylinder from the tear in the gasket. Is that possible? Or could that water have then got into the engine oil or is the water in the engine coming from somewhere else? The oil does not appear wicked watery so maybe it's just water from the cylinder?

On another note, I reached around under the engine and probably 1/2 of the bolts securing the oil pan could be taken up enough to make me guess that some or the oil in the bilge is coming from the pan. I wonder if the pan was ever removed and if the gasket was replaced?

Now, where do I get gaskets for this old beast or do I get to make them myself?

jim

[westsail42]

On buying or making gaskets...

How much do you want to spend? For a point of reference...

The simple small cast iron thermostat housing on our MD7A was corroded and leaking. Cost of a new one quoted from dealer == $325. That was ten years ago. I think the green paint contains some rare element found only in Sweden which accounts for at least %50 of the cost. We fixed it with Marine-Tex.

New gaskets will cost???

I recall the gaskets on that engine were fairly simple so making them could be easy. But if they are metal lined (I know the exhaust manifold gasket was) that might make it tough.

Seems if you are willing to put money in it (even for parts) and it is out of the boat, it would be worth doing a bit more work on it. That is a really simple engine to work on, even for an amateur with a bit of patience.

Heck, the "official Volvo shop manual" which had rebuild instructions, was only 20 pages long!

[dkall]

You can get some of the parts from the Volvo auto dealer at much less. Not diesel specific gaskets most likely but maybe the thermostat and some other stuff.

When we had a volvo md11c I took the part into the Volvo shop and we found a match. Was about 1/4 the price of the marine part.

Good luck.

[bcooke]

Sounds easy to me, replace gaskets, change oil, and fire it up, right?

Yep!

However, I'm wondering if there is a deeper problem

Yep!

My guess is that you may get lucky and you may not. It could really go either way. If your time is cheap you could try option #1 and see what happens. A ripped gasket can happen although I wouldn't say it was very likely and the condition of the rest of the engine leaves a lot of room for doubt. If you want to be sure then more investigation would be needed. If this was a used motor when you bought it you might want to consider an overhaul while it is out since tearing it apart is half the work already.

It sounds like the motor was running, albeit poorly, when you shut it down. That works in your favor. Water in the cylinder can cause catastrophic failure of some very expensive parts but you would know it if it happened (usually a very loud bang followed by an even louder silence).

Good luck!

-Britton

[Rachel]

On those gaskets: You might be horrified at the price, but then on the other hand you might be pleasantly surprised. I work at a marina that's a dealer for a number of engine types, including Volvo, and it never fails to amaze me how they can get monstrous prices for some parts; but then a gasket set will be something like $5.83

I'm more familiar with Mercruiser and Yanmar, because we sell more of those, so I can't say for the Volvo offhand. That's why I leave the door open for the horrifying price. But it might be worth a check.

--- Rachel