Raw water capacity of Volvo MD11C

RECESS

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Dec 20, 2003
1,509
Catalina 27 . St. Mary's Georgia
Plan on doing a flush of my raw water system this weekend using Barnacle Buster and a circulation pump in a bucket. Has anyone done this on a similar size engine and know about how much fluid it will take in the closed loop?
 
Jan 25, 2011
2,439
S2 11.0A Anacortes, WA
I have a FWC MD 17C (one more cylinder) and it takes a little over 2qts in the fresh water side. Not sure what you mean by raw water in a closed loop....
 

Johnb

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Jan 22, 2008
1,505
Hunter 37-cutter Richmond CA
Cold you be a little more explicit? Will your engine be running? Are you going to flush water into the exhaust manifold and flood the engine?

If you are just planning to run the engine whilst drawing "raw" water from a bucket you will be OK but also probably do no good, especially in the area of the heat exchanger and mixing elbow.
 

RECESS

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Dec 20, 2003
1,509
Catalina 27 . St. Mary's Georgia
Close the inlet on the raw water inlet. Pull the impeller and thermostat. Pull the hose off where it comes from the inlet strainer to the engine. This is where the bilge pump in the bucket will push the cleaner into the engine. I will pull the hose after the exhaust elbow and this will be the return line to the bucket. Creating a closed loop through the engine and exhaust manifold.
 

Johnb

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Jan 22, 2008
1,505
Hunter 37-cutter Richmond CA
To be honest I don't know if that is going to achieve much. I have had to scrape out the water passage in the exhaust manifold, replace the mixing elbow and overhaul the heat exchanger at various times and just feel like the kind of crud that had to be removed just would not respond to flushing, but what the heck, it is worth a try.

For grins I have attached before and after pictures of the heat exchanger and also the mixing elbow showing the piece that dropped out with zero warning. The mixing elbow was surprisingly unclogged.

Good luck and please let us know how it works. Doubt the volume will be anywhere near 4 gallons.
 

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Jan 25, 2011
2,439
S2 11.0A Anacortes, WA
Im assuming this is a raw water cooled engine? For all that trouble, you could pull the manifold and take it to a machine shop and tank it. Not expensive and need a few gaskets. You can also inspect the cylinder jackets.
 

RECESS

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Dec 20, 2003
1,509
Catalina 27 . St. Mary's Georgia
Heh

It is a Volvo. You would think every replacement part was made out of gold.
 
Jan 25, 2011
2,439
S2 11.0A Anacortes, WA
Contrary to popular belief, not really. Try Marine Parts Express and French Creek Marina for some gasket prices. One hazard of pulling manifold is you might not like what u see and decide to go farther. Which really isnt a big deal either as long as the engine is worth it..i rebuilt my 17 couple yrs ago and had it down to exposed pistons in half day.
 

RECESS

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Dec 20, 2003
1,509
Catalina 27 . St. Mary's Georgia
I have wanted to flush the system for a while. My engine seems to be always at 175 to 180. On the trip from Hudson to Clearwater she ran around 170 doing 6 knots. The next day I was moving the boat 4.5 knots to keep her at 180. I found out why when prepping for the flush.

Flushing the system now.
 

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