Ralph Modica wrote:
Hello :

I have a 2003 Larson Cabrio 254 Cabin Crusier w/73 hours on the 5.7 Volvo Penta
I/O.

Have recently discovered water in the engine oil. The dealer's mechanic is
telling me this is "Normal" and may occur if the boat ingests water while coming
down off-plane too rapidly or even if water is splashed too high while putting
the boat in the water at a launch ramp.

Seems this is TOO easy an "explanation" for what I think is a defective engine
gasket.
IF this IS something common, I'm amazed more people have not complained to the
manufacturer's about designing their boats better to avoid water ingestion.

I've also heard water ingestion is a common problem on Volvo 8-cylinder I/O
engines. There is apparently a problem with valve timing being off - this allows
the intake stroke to pull vacuum while an exhaust valve is still open, thus
sucking water into the cylinders. Has anyone here heard of this or have further
details ?

Thanks in advance !

Ralph

Not so uncommon and may be due to a malfunctioning of the exhaust/raw
water discharge circuit.
Sometimes it is just a vent that is plugged and permits a backflow of
water into the cylinders after shutting off the engine. The water, then,
seeps between the pistons and the cylinder walls into the sump.
Sometimes this problem, if not understood early, may cause the blow up
of the engine head at the next attempt to start the engine.

Anyway if you realize it right away you may prevent fatal consequences.
Flush the oil sump several times with new oil and brand new oil
filters letting the engine run between oil changes for few minutes.
Repeat until the oil becomes unmistakenly clear of water contamination;
usually 2-3 times (or more) right away and then once more after few
hours of functioning. Be very careful to watch the oil pressure gauge:
one of the problems is that water in the system makes the pressure
erratical and you should never let the engine run with no oil pressure
for more than few seconds.

It happened to my old Perkins 4.108 but, after the cure, the engine
continued its normal life (well... hopefully... it happened two summers
ago!).

Daniel