Sailing Boat out of water-how to test inboard diesel engine

[crown22]

Hello Everybody I thought that I read somewhere that pushing a hosepipe up into the seacock was a bad idea.Any suggestions for how to test a forty year old Volvo engine and gearbox without lifting in? Thanks

 

[Tranona]

You can only test if it starts and runs. You can do it dry, but the norm is to either take the inlet hose off the seacock and pick up water from a bucket. If there is an above the waterline filter you can take the lid off, close the intake and run a hose in there. However, you won't be able to test it under load or run it for long enough to get hot.

If you are thinking of buying the boat then make the completion subject to satisfactory engine performance by way of a sea trial. However, even if it works you are taking a risk with a 40 year old engine.

 

[richardabeattie]

Don't use a hose pipe straight into the engine - it has to suck water from the bucket, not have it pumped in under pressure.

 

[gandy]

I run ours ashore by disconnecting the cooling intake pipe and sticking it into a bucket. I also arrange to catch (most of) the water from the exhaust so that with a couple of buckets to start off I can run the engine almost indefinitely. Long enough to get the thermostat open as needed to winterise the raw water cooled Volvo.

I second the risk around such an old engine, particularly as Volvo don't really support old models with many parts no longer available.