Volvo 2003 exhaust elbow removal and replacement.

lampshuk

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Thanks, all, for advice and encouragement. A couple of whacks with a lump hammer and a wooden block and it came off. So, perhaps a bit wimpy for Storky, but good enough and nothing broken yet. Slight congestion of the main chamber, as well as in the injection tube, so probably worth doing but I doubt it will improve the performance much. I will have a poke around and maybe leave it to soak in HCL overnight.

Less straightforward, though, there was Lots of gunk on the block face - looked like some liquid gasket on top of the solid one. It was blocking up a small channel on the side of the main chamber. Not sure if that is supposed to be open or not. I have some photos and will post, Would appreciate advice.
 

lampshuk

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Very interesting. Thanks, Len.
Those 3 rounded rectangular channels either side of the main one were blocked by the gasket-goup stuff (actually it looks like araldite, but I hope it'll be easier to remove).

What are those channels for?

I'd like to post a picture but I seem to have "exceeded my quota" in some mysterious way. The picture is only 95kb, so I'm puzzled by that. Will check into it.

(added below)
Hmm. even blocks me adding a 25kb JPG file. Definitely something screwy there.
Maybe a link to the photos? https://goo.gl/photos/3pyqoLwsrditEZTN7
 
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Len Ingalls

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Very interesting. Thanks, Len.
Those 3 rounded rectangular channels either side of the main one were blocked by the gasket-goup stuff (actually it looks like araldite, but I hope it'll be easier to remove).

What are those channels for?

I'd like to post a picture but I seem to have "exceeded my quota" in some mysterious way. The picture is only 95kb, so I'm puzzled by that. Will check into it.

(added below)
Hmm. even blocks me adding a 25kb JPG file. Definitely something screwy there.
Maybe a link to the photos? https://goo.gl/photos/3pyqoLwsrditEZTN7

Link to shop manual:

http://www.bluemoment.com/manuals/volvo_penta_2002_worksh.pdf

The passage ways are only in the ell & do not continue into the cyl. head.They are cooling water jackets for ell only & use the same water that gets injected into the exhaust hose. You are probably seeing built up corrosion on the cyl head from this jacket water that just contacts the head thru the rectangular holes in gasket. Scrape the face off smooth & just use a new gasket without sealant . I keep a spare gasket aboard as it is a waste of time trying to get an old one tight after eng. has run for more than 10 hrs or so. These elbows tend to weep a bit at times-either from the gasket or the donut rubber rings used at the inlet copper pipe or one of the diamond shaped blocked off plates on sides of ell. Replace these rubbers & scrape their sockets clean. Use a bit of Vaseline or similar on the new rubbers. In fact,these engines are notorious for weeps at these copper pipe rubber donut connections,so I bought several of each size.If you have a leak,just clean the socket & pipe & use a new donut.The old ones get hard after a while. I will provide a link to VP 2003 parts book also. One more thing-my elbow attaching bolts were quite corroded about halfway along their length so I replaced them with SS equivalents. Wouldn't hurt if they were 5mm or so longer than originals.I don't believe there would be any problem if the bolt ends protruded thru the tapped holes in cyl head.I don't think there is anything but open space below them. Reason I suggest this is that on mine one of the bolts feels a bit mushy when I torqued it-as if the threads in the head were about done for. Be very careful when tightening these 4 bolts for that reason-not a lot of threads are used. Tighten the bolts criss cross as you would a cyl head-drawing the ell down square to cyl head .

Cleaning scale out of elbow passages-I just used a screwdriver & hammer with ell held in a vise & chipped it out. Acid bath sounds ok to me-perhaps an auto radiator shop can do that. A new SS elbow would be the ultimate cure & less $$ than VP cast iron replacement. Saving my pennies for this ;)
I have had my 2003 out & overhauled everything except pistons,rings & bearings myself,so if I can help let me know.

Cheers/ Len
 
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RichardS

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Wow - that's a really complicated casting compared to the usual concentric-pipe-with-a-flange type of elbow.

What connects to the three fittings either side of the elbow? Is that a triple injection water feed and do those rounded rectangular channels in the elbow connect through into the injection points, if that ls what they are.

If the rectangular holes do connect through to the injection points then they should be unblocked at the manifold as they appear to be some kind of manifold cooling device. If they do not go through to the injection points but are dead-ends then they are not circulational so probably not very important. When you get the new manifold gasket you will soon see whether it is designed to keep the holes blocked or not.

Richard

Overlapped posts and Len has answered all those questions - ports connect through to injection point so an active manfold cooling device. First time I've ever seen active manifold cooling although I'm not a marine expert!
 
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lampshuk

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Thanks, Len and others. Len, your answer and other posts are particularly helpful.

Interesting point about the threads on the bolts. No corrosion on mine, but they were not tightly secured - which may explain the gunk/glue. Perhaps the previous owner (or maybe even before him) felt the threads were stripping (or even worse, had stripped) and only part-tightened the bolts, so the glue was a backup. Ooer. That's horribly plausible.

Your idea of extending the bolts - maybe even through-bolting them to a nut on the far side, if the holes go that far - sounds like a sensible one. I'll clean everything up first, then see what the options are. The gasket itself is quite thick, so maybe a liquid gasket would give an extra couple of turns of thread. Of course, being careful not to block the manifold cooler holes.

One question: the surface of the gasket seems different on one side compared to the other. Does it matter which way up it goes? My inclination is to put it on with the writing uppermost.

(and finally - just a quick check to see if the pictures are visible here: https://goo.gl/photos/3pyqoLwsrditEZTN7 - you can see that the rectangular holes are blocked with a glue-like substance. It's not rust or other deposit)

Thanks, all.

Martin.
 

jonrarit

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I did mine this winter. It took 3 days of soaking in patio cleaner before I cold eventually poke the channels clear with a bent coat hanger.

Note it wouldnt have last 4 days soaking .... the cleaner started eating away at the recesses for the rubber seals. Caught it just in time but having seen the link for SS one from the states it's a no brainer...just ordered one

JR
 

DJE

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....Hardest part can be getting exhaust hose off. I use a thin screwdriver inserted and wiggled and used to lever the hose from the manifold all the way round.....
Get one of these for getting hoses off couplings:

hirochi2_sga173br_1


http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item.asp?search=true&item_ID=646478&PartNo=SGA173BR&group_id=681665&supersede=&store=uk&tool=all
 

lampshuk

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Thanks. That link works for me now, too (previously, I got an error report from the Snap-on website). ebay search for "hose pick" also works.
 

lampshuk

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I've left the elbow marinading in 23%HCl (standard strength from SuperU and other French supermarkets). It's fizzing gently.

Having scraped off the gunge I can see that the casing around one of the internal cooling channels is quite badly eroded, which would probably lead to it leaking to the outside of the elbow if it weren't blocked in some way. Which probably explains the gunge.
Maybe some plastic padding "metal" would do an equivalent or better job, and I could target it a bit better than the previous attempt.

That SS Elbow is looking quite attractive right now, if a little pricey.

I'll post some pictures in the morning when the fizzing has stopped.
 

Len Ingalls

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Thanks, Len and others. Len, your answer and other posts are particularly helpful.

Interesting point about the threads on the bolts. No corrosion on mine, but they were not tightly secured - which may explain the gunk/glue. Perhaps the previous owner (or maybe even before him) felt the threads were stripping (or even worse, had stripped) and only part-tightened the bolts, so the glue was a backup. Ooer. That's horribly plausible.

Your idea of extending the bolts - maybe even through-bolting them to a nut on the far side, if the holes go that far - sounds like a sensible one. I'll clean everything up first, then see what the options are. The gasket itself is quite thick, so maybe a liquid gasket would give an extra couple of turns of thread. Of course, being careful not to block the manifold cooler holes.

One question: the surface of the gasket seems different on one side compared to the other. Does it matter which way up it goes? My inclination is to put it on with the writing uppermost.

(and finally - just a quick check to see if the pictures are visible here: https://goo.gl/photos/3pyqoLwsrditEZTN7 - you can see that the rectangular holes are blocked with a glue-like substance. It's not rust or other deposit)

Thanks, all.

Martin.

Great pics! It helps to see what you are up against.

As you can see from the shop manual pics,the rectangular holes do not go thru the manifold. I can see "bumps" of rust on your manifold mating surface caused by years of water lying there.That is normal-just scrape them off as best you can. The object is to get as flat a surface as possible on the manifold so that the gasket will seal where it is supposed to seal . The gasket has the rectangular holes in it & the remaining "bumps" will just set up into the gasket holes & cause no problem as long as they don't stick up too far.
The elbow does have these passages open to allow cooling water to surround the central exhaust hole.They lead to the injection hole on the outlet side of the hump. These passages need to be cleaned out fairly well & the acid bath may do it.

Cheers/ Len
 

Neeves

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We have found that you can only acid wash the elbow once. The build up is calcium, in some form (but soluble in acid), and carbon (which is why its black). Unfortunately rust or iron oxide also dissolves in acid and as the elbows corrode or rust the simple technique of removing the clogging also removes some of the oxide, leaving a fresh surface to rust. I think the steel is also soluble, slowly, in acid so the act of cleaning need to be done with caution - it might not work (or it works to well) and you end up with a hole in elbow, been there, done that!

Stainless seems the way to go, especially if you intend keeping the yacht. I have heard tell that stainless does not result in the build-up or clogging in the first place - but I actually do not know of anyone with one to verify this.

Jonathan
 

jonrarit

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I have heard tell that stainless does not result in the build-up or clogging in the first place - but I actually do not know of anyone with one to verify this.Jonathan

If you hang around long enough Jonathan, I'll be able to tell you having just ordered a SS one. In the grand scheme of things I didnt consider it to be that expensive especially given the peace of mind it will give.

JR
 

Neeves

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If you hang around long enough Jonathan, I'll be able to tell you having just ordered a SS one. In the grand scheme of things I didnt consider it to be that expensive especially given the peace of mind it will give.

JR

I have no plans to go anywhere, or not out of contact of YBW - though the best laid plans of :)

If its as good as suggested it will last for ever!

Good luck

Jonathan
 
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