Volvo Powered Hole in the Water...

I have a 1986 Bayliner Capri (20ft) that has a Volvo 2.4 inline 4, carbureted motor out of a 240 that may or may not have frozen its rotating assembly in place (bearings? rings?). I have been searching around and i can get a fuel injected motor out of a 240 sedan/coupe with ecu pretty inexpensively... does anyone know anything about these?

I think that keeping it running would be a lot easier...efficiency and power(?) should both be better? It does bolt straight up to my Volvo 275 stern drive... I assume I would just need to reuse the exhaust manifold and cooling hardware?

I would be leary of how the FI would deal with the corrosion inherent with waterbourne use.

Diesel boats used FI.. but usually high pressure mechanical systems

First off, see if you can get it unfrozen. I had a 20' Hialeah boat with a Volvo engine and drive that I got with a locked motor. Bartered an alarm system for motor repair at a marine place. He got the better deal, the boat was running like a top in 4 hours. I don't know what he did, but I had that boat for 4 years, never had another problem.

I guess I could try a breaker bar on the crank bolt, but I don't want to shear it off if it's really stuck... maybe I can just try spraying some break free type stuff in the cylinders and trying to rock it loose? I assume being on the gulf coast that I could bring it to a mechanic, but alas I am a very DIY kinda guy :)

thanks for the advice guys!

Autolex wrote: I assume I would just need to reuse the exhaust manifold and cooling hardware?

Don't forget the marine (spark-arrested) starter and alternator. Don't want to read about you going BOOM down there.

A lot of, if not just about all of the boat engines nowadays are EFI so I wouldn't worry overly much.

I have a 502 engine and outdrive that I could be persuaded to part with CHEAP, but I'm in Texas.

Put some ATF in the cylinders and see if that will help break it loose. Let it soak for several days and then try to move it with your breaker bar.

jeffmx5 wrote:

Autolex wrote: I assume I would just need to reuse the exhaust manifold and cooling hardware?

Don't forget the marine (spark-arrested) starter and alternator. Don't want to read about you going BOOM down there.

My old Grew had a 302 Ford in it. The starter was IDENTICAL to a early 70's Ford truck. No spark arresting of any sort.

In fact I replaced it with a rebuilt from Canadian Tire. looked it over extensively - No difference

jeffmx5 wrote:

Autolex wrote: I assume I would just need to reuse the exhaust manifold and cooling hardware?

Don't forget the marine (spark-arrested) starter and alternator. Don't want to read about you going BOOM down there.

Isn't the distributor on most boat motors somewhat different also to avoid similar sound effects?

In reply to BoxheadTim:

i think the air cleaner is replaced with a spark arrestor, and there might be some zincs in the cooling system to help with corrosion, but the thing that is supposed to keep you from going boom is running the bilge blower for a few minutes to remove any fuel vapor before you crank it up

yes.. going boom is bad. I would start the blower BEFORE fueling up. While most boat blowers are designed to suck in outside air, I would still not want to chance from fuel contaiminated air getting ignited

mad_machine wrote: yes.. going boom is bad. I would start the blower BEFORE fueling up. While most boat blowers are designed to suck in outside air, I would still not want to chance from fuel contaiminated air getting ignited

pretty much all the boats i've operated recommended running the blower for 5 minutes before starting, while running at no wake speeds or "about the same speed and direction as the wind", and while fueling.

the blower doesn't just pull in outside air, it pulls in one vent, blows out the other,

NGTD wrote: Put some ATF in the cylinders and see if that will help break it loose. Let it soak for several days and then try to move it with your breaker bar.

If you can find a place to put a prybar against the flywheel, you'll get a LOT better leverage than with the crank bolt. But yeah, ATF works wonders.

NGTD wrote: My old Grew had a 302 Ford in it. The starter was IDENTICAL to a early 70's Ford truck. No spark arresting of any sort. In fact I replaced it with a rebuilt from Canadian Tire. looked it over extensively - No difference

Did you buy it new? Could it have been replaced before you owned it? Anything electrical in the engine compartment needs to be spark arrested or sealed.

BoxheadTim wrote: Isn't the distributor on most boat motors somewhat different also to avoid similar sound effects?

Yup, anything electrical...

jeffmx5 wrote:

NGTD wrote: My old Grew had a 302 Ford in it. The starter was IDENTICAL to a early 70's Ford truck. No spark arresting of any sort. In fact I replaced it with a rebuilt from Canadian Tire. looked it over extensively - No difference

Did you buy it new? Could it have been replaced before you owned it? Anything electrical in the engine compartment needs to be spark arrested or sealed.

BoxheadTim wrote: Isn't the distributor on most boat motors somewhat different also to avoid similar sound effects?

Yup, anything electrical...

No I didn't buy it new - I was 6 years old when it was built.

Old starter said Mercruiser on it.