Volvo Water ingestion?

[JohnD]

Neighbor with new (05) Regal has Volvo with duoprop. Unsure details this am.
Water ingestion into the cylinders. Dealer says NOT warrenty.. that distributor would slip back one notch - valves opened and sucked into water - engine hydro-locked.
Any posts about this with Volvos?

Thanks johnd

[Split Decision]

I think that is the main reason that Mac is no longer using them and why he came out with the straight inboard in the 25 with the crusader.

[deepwater]

I was told that they wouldn't do any I/O setups because Volvo wouldn't warranty their outdrive unless a Volvo engine was used. Mac will only use a Crusader gas engine as he feels it's the only one that hasn't had water ingestion problems. If you think about it the exhaust on a 25 straight shaft is basically the same as a I/O. If you were going to get water ingestion you would get it on either one. I don't know about the setup on a 28 or larger boat. He said that Crusader had done some proprietary work on their manifolds/risers but wouldn't tell me what. The valve timing on the engines has also been changed slightly to help prevent the problem. Mac suggest running the engine at 2k for a minute or so after stopping to help dry out any moisture that might be there to cause rust on the valves.

Shutting the engine down suddenly after a hard run in my opinion could make them suceptable to a backwash to the engine. The CC boats use a water lift muffler that should reduce the posibility of that. There is also a fair amount of rise in the exhaust and riser to help prevent backflow.

You can also get a insert to put in the line that has a flap that closed when the engine exhaust pressure drops. They even make mufflers that have that feature.

If the engine was at the rear of the boat I suspect that it might be more susceptable to the ingestion problem.

[Pbock]

Is there any help from Volvo on the ingestion problem. I replace two engines last year with less than 700 hrs. I now have seen the problem re-occur in less than one year on a new engine.

I cannot keep replacing engines. Does anyone have any directions in how to proceed?

Any advice is appreciated.

[Stuart Wade]

The Crusader has had no ingestion issues. Should you stick with Volvo you'll keep replacing engines. Phone Carlton Layton at (252)482-1504 for more details.

Stuart