Brettwallace
05-10-2011, 11:40 PM
Just wanted to share my latest experience with my new to me 05 xlv. Bought the boat in the fall with only 38 hrs on it and have used it for about a month now and have the hrs up to 63. Beautiful boat in damn near show room condition.
Saturday i noticed my starter sticking. if you played with it enough it would finally turn the motor over. Ended up getting stranded on the lake sunday and needed a tow in as i thought my starter was shot as it couldn't turn the motor.
After pulling from the water and getting back to the house i noticed my oil was very milky and approx 2 quarts high. All was perfect on friday night when i checked fluids. something had happened during an outing on saturday.
Went to the local mechanic and he advised me that i was probably hydrolocked from having to much weight in the boat and water rushing up thru the exhaust and flooding the cylinder. Recommended to take the boat home, pull the plugs, spin the starter to push out water, change plugs and oil and all should be fine. He was correct on the hydrolock but not on how the water got in.
Tonight i started the boat to circulate and change oil again to remove remainder of water which was in the oil and the starter was stuck again. I again pulled plugs and found water in the passenger side cylinders. Hoping i just didn't get it all out last night, i ran again on the fake lake. after 5 min of run time shut it down and pulled the plug again to check. Sure enough more water in cylinder #4 (passenger side back of boat).
Got to thinking of how it got in and came to the website here. Found the below thread in service and repair titled "boat motor cylinders filling with water" by walb0244.
Got to thinking and understanding how things work with the exhaust and decided to remove the passenger side riser and exhaust manifold (pretty simple removal). Did a water test on both and sure enough found a leak in the manifold right above the cylinder 4 position. Ordered a new manifold tonight and will install when it gets here. Total bill is around $400 for the manifold, gaskets, and a few oil changes to flush the water from the crankcase. Sucks but could have been worse so I'm grateful.
Mechanic was partially right by pointing me to the exhaust area instead of the starter. Not sure if his theory of the boat being sunk to deep and water rushing in is accurate but will always be in the back of my mind now. it may have caused the initial crack as we were trying to learn to surf saturday morning and our water temp is only 60. The slow speed, big wave offset to the damaged side and a lot of sudden stops may have pushed cold water up past my flappers and caused a stress crack, who knows.
Just wanted to thank everyone and express how great this forum is. I've learned so much and its my #1 resource for any issues with my boat. Great ideas also for misc mods.
Brett
Saturday i noticed my starter sticking. if you played with it enough it would finally turn the motor over. Ended up getting stranded on the lake sunday and needed a tow in as i thought my starter was shot as it couldn't turn the motor.
After pulling from the water and getting back to the house i noticed my oil was very milky and approx 2 quarts high. All was perfect on friday night when i checked fluids. something had happened during an outing on saturday.
Went to the local mechanic and he advised me that i was probably hydrolocked from having to much weight in the boat and water rushing up thru the exhaust and flooding the cylinder. Recommended to take the boat home, pull the plugs, spin the starter to push out water, change plugs and oil and all should be fine. He was correct on the hydrolock but not on how the water got in.
Tonight i started the boat to circulate and change oil again to remove remainder of water which was in the oil and the starter was stuck again. I again pulled plugs and found water in the passenger side cylinders. Hoping i just didn't get it all out last night, i ran again on the fake lake. after 5 min of run time shut it down and pulled the plug again to check. Sure enough more water in cylinder #4 (passenger side back of boat).
Got to thinking of how it got in and came to the website here. Found the below thread in service and repair titled "boat motor cylinders filling with water" by walb0244.
Got to thinking and understanding how things work with the exhaust and decided to remove the passenger side riser and exhaust manifold (pretty simple removal). Did a water test on both and sure enough found a leak in the manifold right above the cylinder 4 position. Ordered a new manifold tonight and will install when it gets here. Total bill is around $400 for the manifold, gaskets, and a few oil changes to flush the water from the crankcase. Sucks but could have been worse so I'm grateful.
Mechanic was partially right by pointing me to the exhaust area instead of the starter. Not sure if his theory of the boat being sunk to deep and water rushing in is accurate but will always be in the back of my mind now. it may have caused the initial crack as we were trying to learn to surf saturday morning and our water temp is only 60. The slow speed, big wave offset to the damaged side and a lot of sudden stops may have pushed cold water up past my flappers and caused a stress crack, who knows.
Just wanted to thank everyone and express how great this forum is. I've learned so much and its my #1 resource for any issues with my boat. Great ideas also for misc mods.
Brett