How to clean the water intake in a volvo saildrive

[Astolfo]

I have a Volvo 130 saildrive and I am getting steam on my exhaust, replaced the exhaust elbow, water pump">raw water pump, check for good vacuum on the raw water filter. That did not fix the issue and still have a little steam at full load that goes away when I bypass the water intake from the saildrive and run it though the raw water filter and directly to a bucket that I keep full with fresh water.

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How do I clean the water inlet part that the diver can't reach without getting the boat out of the water?

TIA
Astolfo

[NoTies]

If it's biological growth then pressurised hot water (as hot as possible) backflushed through the inlet valve should do the trick. If it's cacium scale you will need to use some muriatic acid.

[Astolfo]

Originally Posted by NoTies

If it's biological growth then pressurised hot water (as hot as possible) backflushed through the inlet valve should do the trick. If it's cacium scale you will need to use some muriatic acid.

I am sorry if it is a stupid question but how do you pressurize hot water without spending thousands of $?

[NoTies]

A drill pump should do the trick

[tpkas]

There's a bit about this on the Fountaine Pajot Mahe 36 thread.

You can clear the intake from the engine compartment and is fairly easy.

Turn the drive leg seacock off.
Remove the hose from the drive leg to the water strainer.
BEFORE OPENING THE SEACOCK make sure the seacock is above the waterline. If not, make an extension using some tube or hose vertically from the seacock to above the waterline. Then you can open the seacock and using a piece of stiff rod (even a straightened coat hanger will do) insert it down through the seacock into the leg. Move it up and down fairly vigorously to dislodge any growth which should then fall to the bottom of the leg. If the inlet holes on the leg are clear of growth then most of the dislodged growth will hopefully fall out of the leg through these holes. When finished I also blow out the intake as hard as I can with a few big lung fulls of air. Reassembly is the reverse and I prime the raw water strainer ( making sure it's lid is well sealed) before opening the drive leg seacock.

Make sure your diver knows that there are inlet holes on each side of the leg AND another one right at the very bottom of the leg too. You may have to repeat this process a couple of times to clear the growth adequately but it has been very successful for me.

Good luck.

[Slowtack]

Mine is a 120 saildrive but I think the construction is similar. Rodding down from the seacock position will not clear the water channel below the gasket level as there is a plate at that level that has an offset. I clear mine by connecting a stirrup type dinghy pump to the seacock and pushing air down through it.

[Thumbs Up]

I use a piece of threaded rod to clear the holes in the leg whenever I scrub the bottom. Anything small enough to get sucked up through those holes should end up in your raw water strainer.

[Wanderlust]

I had a surprising blockage in my Yanmar SD20 intake. I had been motoring for maybe 15 minutes when the exhaust note changed and only a trickle of water came out.

Pulling things apart I found a small fish caught at the intake valve. With long nosed pliers I managed to get most of it out, but the head remained elusive so I did my best to mash it into small pieces (the boat was still in the water so I didn't want to remove the valve).

Surprising how a fish with head too large to get past the valve got in there in the first place. This is a photo of the tail section.

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by Wanderlust

I had a surprising blockage in my Yanmar SD20 intake. I had been motoring for maybe 15 minutes when the exhaust note changed and only a trickle of water came out.

Pulling things apart I found a small fish caught at the intake valve. With long nosed pliers I managed to get most of it out, but the head remained elusive so I did my best to mash it into small pieces (the boat was still in the water so I didn't want to remove the valve).

Surprising how a fish with head too large to get past the valve got in there in the first place. This is a photo of the tail section.

Had the same thing happen with my water maker. I have a strainer over the inlet and the boat was sitting for a 9 months at the dock. When I started up the pump it sucked in a fish barely small enough to get thru the hose. The only thing I can figure is that when the fish was a baby it went thru the inlet strainer and lived & grew in there to a size that it couldn't get out any more, until I came along.

[mark maulden]

Forget the saildrive passage and connect the input strainer directly to a thru hull. The SD does not need water going up the passage. Mine is a 110


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