What to do after an engine got waterlocked?

[colonel]

Volvo Penta d2-75 got water inside cylinders after sailing in rough seas.
Doesn't crack. Water in oil.

I removed injectors and it does crank.

What's the best to do to recover the engine?



I think the minimum procedure would to remove injectors, crank for few seconds, assemble them back. Then replace milky oil with new.



Is it enough?



The main problem is that I'm somewhere in the middle between the US east coast and Bermuda. This was the start of my Trans Atlantic to Azores.

[Striker]

Get engine running ASAP. Multiple oil changes.

[Mickeyrouse]

It’s worked for me. Just don’t let the water sit too long, and don’t wait after purging the water from the cylinders. If injectors are reluctant to come out, you can do the same thing and probably easier by removing the glow plugs. Just anything to reduce cylinder compression and purge the water. I actually like glow plug removal because the fuel will begin quickly lubricating the cylinders if you keep the injectors in. Just be prepared for a fuel-water spray in your engine compartment, but that will happen either way. You may need to change crankcase oil a couple times.

[donradcliffe]

Back about 10 years when we had SSB nets, I was on passage from Hawaii to Santa Cruz when a boat in front of me came on the radio with a similar problem. He cranked the water out of the cylinders and then got the engine to fire for a few minutes at idle. He then changed the oil and let the engine warm up well under load to get the remaining moisture out. He wanted to change the oil again, and I told him I had 1.5 gallons he could have if he wanted to wait and rendevous with me. He decided to keep going to San Francisco.

[Lee Jerry]

Another thing to look out for is bent piston rod(s).

[Paradox111]

The high pressure pump is metal cylinder to metal piston, and uses engine oil for lubrication, you may want to check it. Multiple oil changes.

[Mickeyrouse]

Originally Posted by Lee Jerry

Another thing to look out for is bent piston rod(s).

Either they are or they aren’t. Mid-Atlantic is not the place to re-build. If they’re bent a catastrophic knocking would have already appeared.

[malbert73]

Big thing is that no engine should flood with a properly designed exhaust - so you need to figure out how to prevent it from happening again on your passage…

[colonel]

UPDATE. Cranked w/o injectors for few seconds, changed oil 1 time and it runs fine now. Control panel was beeping for 20 seconds due to low oil pressure.

I didn't have any more oil. Will changed 3 times more when I get to Bermuda in 2 days.


The question is should I use the engine as normal before I change the oil few more times?


I pumped out quite a lot of water/oil mixture. The engine has only 7l of oil and I changed it just before the passage. I pumped out around 18l or the mixture!

[colonel]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

Back about 10 years when we had SSB nets,

These days we have Starlinks. Thanks to Saint Elon.

[mvweebles]

Originally Posted by colonel

UPDATE. Cranked w/o injectors for few seconds, changed oil 1 time and it runs fine now. Control panel was beeping for 20 seconds due to low oil pressure.

I didn't have any more oil. Will changed 3 times more when I get to Bermuda in 2 days.


The question is should I use the engine as normal before I change the oil few more times?


I pumped out quite a lot of water/oil mixture. The engine has only 7l of oil and I changed it just before the passage. I pumped out around 18l or the mixture!

I wouldn't use the engine under load until oil is changed at least a few times. Some light use for maneuvering would be okay. If it will be more than a couple weeks, may want to run engine up to temp every week or so to prevent any surface rust from forming.

[Lee Jerry]

Originally Posted by Mickeyrouse

Either they are or they aren’t. Mid-Atlantic is not the place to re-build. If they’re bent a catastrophic knocking would have already appeared.

Agree with the first part. Obviously. But the problem won't appear until the engine is run (not just cranked), which hadn't been done at the time. Now it seems it is OK in that regard.

[Lee Jerry]

Originally Posted by colonel

The question is should I use the engine as normal before I change the oil few more times?

Agree with mvweebles. Minimal usage until next oil change and low loading until then. But you do want some use. Then increase interval between oil changes, based on condition of oil and oil pressure (hopefully near normal soon). This may mean only one change in Bermuda, but take oil for more. And just to state the obvious, you are changing the filter(s) too, right?

[colonel]

UPDATE #2.
The engine is running. But sounds not normal and vibrates. RPM seems to be OK. Oil in saildrive is not clear, probably water was pushed into it somehow.

So I thinks the problem is bigger then I initially hoped.

[Mickeyrouse]

Change the oil until it is no longer cloudy or gummy.