Should water come out here? (DP-G)

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See pic below. Hooked up to muffs, should water come out of here? (Engine not running). It was the same on both out-drives.

I know Volvo out-drives don't like muffs - I told the lads I wanted to run the engine earlier and they hooked up the muffs first, not realising I wanted to be dropped in the water.

 

[Portofino]

Coming out of the bellows area because it can‘t go anywhere when the engine is off - impeller is not rotating and bunging it .

 

[BruceK]

Either your water intake pipe is leaking or you have burst past the impellor and it's coming out the exhaust low pressure pipe which if it is the case turn the engine over by hand rather than starter to check you haven't hydraulic locked it

 

[BruceK]

Also the elbow for the water uptake on top of the drive are known to crack and break.

 

[alt]

Coming out of the bellows area because it can‘t go anywhere when the engine is off - impeller is not rotating and bunging it .

I would have thought the bellows have nothing to do with the intake, though? To get to the exhaust bellow, it'd have to go through the engine first, surely?

Either your water intake pipe is leaking or you have burst past the impellor and it's coming out the exhaust low pressure pipe which if it is the case turn the engine over by hand rather than starter to check you haven't hydraulic locked it

Well, it's the same on both. Water intake pipe, within the fork, you mean?? There was a reply on a FB group staying that their 290SP does the same as there's holes there??

I haven't burst any impeller - this happened within a few seconds of putting the muffs on. (I ran the engine after, pumping plenty of water via impeller)

Also the elbow for the water uptake on top of the drive are known to crack and break.

Yeah that's well known. No issues there (I just replaced them when painting the out-drives). That's way higher up, the water appears to be coming out of the bottom of the fork joint thing, whatever you call it.

 

[BruceK]

the water appears to be coming out of the bottom of the fork joint thing, whatever you call it.

So not dribbling down from the top. Then I am all out of ideas. Not sure if that's good or bad.

 

[BruceK]

I haven't burst any impeller - this happened within a few seconds of putting the muffs on. (I ran the engine after, pumping plenty of water via impeller)

I meant squeezing past the vanes opposite to normal flow and spin. We have 3.5 bar water pressure here. Passing through the vanes is no issue

 

[[2068]]

I thought the exhaust bellows had drain holes in them, could be wrong.

 

[spannerman]

If it was passing the impellor it would run out of the bypass ports each side of the shield, and eventually out of the exhaust. Its because its not passing the impellor that its leaking from the water tube that goes up through the fork, there is an O ring at the lower end where the tube meets the gear housing which swivels when you steer and its leaking from there. Not a problem as when its underwater it its all under suction so water will go in to the pump. It will most likely stop if you start the engine.

 

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If it was passing the impellor it would run out of the bypass ports each side of the shield, and eventually out of the exhaust. Its because its not passing the impellor that its leaking from the water tube that goes up through the fork, there is an O ring at the lower end where the tube meets the gear housing which swivels when you steer and its leaking from there. Not a problem as when its underwater it its all under suction so water will go in to the pump. It will most likely stop if you start the engine.

Thanks for the info, this makes sense.

However, is this normal?? I don't have any overheat issues but I'm now paranoid that something is wrong. I won't allow a spec of dort in the engine bay, so of this os not normal I want to fix it.

My fear is that if it let's out water as above, will it suck in air when on the plane? This bottom end of the fork is out of the water when on the plane (to my knowledge)

 

[spannerman]

I haven’t experienced this before and suspect that your water pressure is too high or the muffs too tight. We run engines every day on muffs and they spray out around the muff until the engine is started then all the water gets sucked in. The alternative is to drain the gear oil, remove the lower gear housing and replace the O ring if you want total peace of mind. If you haven’t had any overheating problems then I think it will be fine as when its on the plane the speed will be forcing water in through the intakes so there will be positive pressure in the water tube in the fork so its easier for the pump to draw water via the intake than pull air past the O ring.

 

[A_8]

I thought the exhaust bellows had drain holes in them, could be wrong.

I does have a drain hole as far as I remember but this seems to be a lot more water than what would pass through the drain hole .

 

[alt]

Thanks for the info @spannerman

Can you confirm it's item 10 here: Volvo Penta Exploded view / schematic Hook Up fork DP-G 1.68, DP-G 1.59 - MarinePartsEurope.com

Do I also need to replace anything else apart from items 12 + 13 here: Volvo Penta Exploded view / schematic Gear Housing, Lower DP-G 1.68, DP-G 1.59 - MarinePartsEurope.com

 

[Moodysailor]

There is a rubber seal at the end of the water pipe that runs up the leg, it looks like it's leaking past that seal. Item no. 10 in your first link above.

You will likely not notice it in the water as it's usually submerged, but a tell-tale would be overheating at high speed on plane, then OK again as soon as speed lowers.

The seal is cheap, but it needs the drive split to replace so that's a bit of a cost. If changing the seal, change item no. 9 also as they always crack when removed.

 

[spannerman]

Yes, 9,10,11 and 12, make sure you don’t lose the shims above the bearing upper race if it comes out of the upper section. Normally the race stays up in the upper section but they can slide out. And don’t forget the splined break tube that sits on the vertical shaft and engages with the upper shaft going to the top section.

 

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Thanks a million guys, i'll get ordering... shouldn't take too long to do. I've never had an over-heat issue but if it's not right, it needs to be fixed... oh the joys!

To get to the 8 hex bolts that hold the upper / lower drive look like a bit of a nightmare to get to... don't think a socket will get in there... i'll have to get an allen key the correct size I suspect?

 

[Moodysailor]

Thanks a million guys, i'll get ordering... shouldn't take too long to do. I've never had an over-heat issue but if it's not right, it needs to be fixed... oh the joys!

To get to the 8 hex bolts that hold the upper / lower drive look like a bit of a nightmare to get to... don't think a socket will get in there... i'll have to get an allen key the correct size I suspect?

Best "special tool" in the VP engineers arsenal for these - an 8mm allen key L wrench, cut down so it fits in the gap. Edit: it may be 6mm, it's been a few years since I did one of these, so check the size before you grind down the tool! ;-)

If you cut off the allen key with a dremel, you can use the small remaining bit and put an 8mm ratcheting spanner on it to help spin them out once loosened off.

 

[Moodysailor]

As you are going ahead with the strip, a couple of tips from memory:

• Make sure you replace any & all o-rings you disturb. The sterndrive is not the place to save a few quid on sealing rings. This might sound obvious, but i've seen some very odd things over the years!
• Before you take the drive off, check the vertical play in the H-bracket. If the drive can "shuttle" up and down then there is wear between the H-brakest and drive body. VP sells a shim kit for this, so well worth checking as you are 80% of the way there with the work you are doing.
• I can't remember the name of the compound now, but we used to use a liquid semi-hardening gasket material between the drive segments. This prevented crevice corrosion. It may well be a VP sealant, if so it's well worth asking about and getting some as it will prevent some nasty long-term damage. Just don't get any in the oil-ways!
• Check the plastic elbow for the water intake hose at the top of the drive carefully. If you take it off, replace the o-ring. They can crack on occasion if they have been levered against or knocked.
• Definitely new drive bellows when you refit, they are expensive but not an area to cut costs. Exhaust are usually OK and will only need replacing if hard, perished or damaged. we would do drive bellows every year (without fail), and exhaust every other year, but some I know did exhaust bellows every 5 years
• A good grease to use (don't tell VP I said this) is the Quicksilver/Mercruiser green propshaft grease. The VP blue stuff is good, but the green Quicksilver stuff is brilliant in these underwater areas. It can be used for the drive shaft into bell housing and on prop shaft, plus any small areas that need a smear of grease during reassembly.

Good luck!

 

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Hi all,
So, i've the bits ordered.

When I remove the 8 8mm allen bolts, should the lower-end just split from the upper end easily? I'm worried that the water tube (which goes up the H-Fork) will fall down.

Should be just a case of replacing the 2 ORings for the oil and then pull off the old water seal and retainer, pop new ones on and re-install the lower unit?

 

[alt]

Moodysailor - All good points, thanks.

I actually had the out-drives off last December for a re-paint. All O-Rings that were disturbed were replaced / Bellows replaced / Anodes replaced.

Regarding grease on the shaft... I tend to use bog standard grease. I'm in fresh water and take the props off annually and have never had a problem!