Soot on the transom

[Bobby D]

I know this has been discussed in the past however trying to get a feel for is this normal? Don’t know where to start with (new to me) Volvo Penta 5.7 GSi / SX package. Starts up no problem and runs real good but man when I’m done for the day the transom has black soot everywhere.
Not complaining and apologize to the guys who are working very hard now on their boats and wish they had my problem. Bottom line looking for advise or suggestions on developing a troubleshooting plan to correct the problem or buy more spray cleaner and live with it.

[fogducker III]

I know this has been discussed in the past however trying to get a feel for is this normal? Don’t know where to start with (new to me) Volvo Penta 5.7 GSi / SX package. Starts up no problem and runs real good but man when I’m done for the day the transom has black soot everywhere.
Not complaining and apologize to the guys who are working very hard now on their boats and wish they had my problem. Bottom line looking for advise or suggestions on developing a troubleshooting plan to correct the problem or buy more spray cleaner and live with it.

How much is "alot"?

It is normal to have "some" ...best way I have found to remove it is the Mr.Clean Magic erasers.......cheap and easy...:wink:

[RedDog]

How much is "alot"?

It is normal to have "some" ...best way I have found to remove it is the Mr.Clean Magic erasers.......cheap and easy...:wink:

ditto on the Magic Erasers - just recently discovered this trick myself

Soot is normal unless you REALLY have a lot. Post a picture so we can judge if it is normal

[Bobby D]

Good suggestion I'll take a picture and go from there.

[fasttrucker]

How many hours on the motor?Sounds like your fuel is not burning completely,may need a simple valve job.

[Carl C]

It's normal. A fresh coat of wax on the transom after every time you wash it makes it very easy to wash off. Use vinegar on the exh tips.

[Planetwarmer]

I don't know if I would use a magic eraser on a painted surface. They leave tiny scratches. I used one to clean a plastic lens, and it scuffed the surface with tiny scratches which made the lens hazy. The lens was very clean, and the eraser was new.

[Phil S]

If it is a whole lot of soot, you may be running too rich. On a fuel injected set-up, I don't know how that is adjusted, but I feel certain someone here does. You may want to pull a couple of spark plugs to see how they look. That should tell you if you're running rich.

Phil S.

[Cuda]

Rich is better than too lean.

[DonziJon]

ANY soot means running RICH. Doesn't matter whether it's Fuel Injection or Carb. Soot is running RICH. I have never seen soot on the transom of my stock 350 SBC Minx. ...with 600+ hours. Then again I rarely run it hard.

Alternative: Rings are passing oil. :nilly:

[rtgogo]

EFI or carb setup?

[MOP]

Don't get your shorts in a knot just yet soot is pretty normal, when I work on a sooty transom boat the first thing I do is to pull the spark plugs. If the plugs are dirty then I go into finding the cause, if the plugs look good then just get used to cleaning it off. Here is a handy chart to read the plugs, anywhere between #10 #16 is good on a marine engine going any leaner can cause problems due to the load they work under! Chart: http://www.dansmc.com/Spark_Plugs/Spark_Plugs_catalog.html

[Cuda]

Problems with running too lean can cause detonation, and melted pistons.

It like with the outboards, I run double the oil in them. Spark plugs are cheap.

[jimishooch]

spray nine works for me.

[Bobby D]

Engine has 140 hours on it and has always been maintained. Andy never abused it and the plugs have about a season and half on them. I understand some soot is normal however my old ski sporter with a 351 HM had some but nothing like I am seeing now. I have no experience with EFI of TBI execution and everything else that goes with it so will pull a plug and go from there.
Thanks,
Bob

[BUIZILLA]

how can I help?

[Bobby D]

Buizilla,
Shoot me a PM with a phone number I can call you on. That way I can introduce myself to you and get the discussion going. Bottom line I was OK with the old Ford but not so much with the new EFI stuff.
Bob

[VetteLT193]

It's normal. A fresh coat of wax on the transom after every time you wash it makes it very easy to wash off. Use vinegar on the exh tips.

I used to do this until I found out that waxing attracts the soot. Now I don't wax the transom and I have a whole lot less soot.

[DonziJon]

Years ago I used a fuel additive in my Ariel Square 4, marketed by Harley Davidson which claimed to be a "Lead Substitute". It turned my perfectly burning (light tan) spark plugs to Sooty Black. I never used the Lead Substitute again.

[jimishooch]

Engine has 140 hours on it and has always been maintained. Andy never abused it and the plugs have about a season and half on them. I understand some soot is normal however my old ski sporter with a 351 HM had some but nothing like I am seeing now. I have no experience with EFI of TBI execution and everything else that goes with it so will pull a plug and go from there.
Thanks,
Bob

higher octane gas = more soot. my hp500's were factory built for regular unleaded. when i went to premium, for supposedly better performance, the soot problem got worse so back to regular. the carbs were setup idle rich from the factory and is the nature of the beast on my particular application and only soots at idle.
my 350 carb minx soots a little but wipes right off.
good luck
jim

[Cuda]

higher octane gas = more soot. my hp500's were factory built for regular unleaded. when i went to premium, for supposedly better performance, the soot problem got worse so back to regular. the carbs were setup idle rich from the factory and is the nature of the beast on my particular application and only soots at idle.
my 350 carb minx soots a little but wipes right off.
good luck
jim
You actually get less performance from higher octane gas. Higher octane just means it's harder to fire, which you would want on a high compression engine. Higher octane makes it harder to detonate under compression.

[kcatucci]

Simply put, the octane rating of the fuel reflects the ability of the
unburnt end gases to resist spontaneous autoignition under the engine test
conditions used. If autoignition occurs, it results in an extremely rapid
pressure rise, as both the desired spark-initiated flame front, and the
undesired autoignited end gas flames are expanding. The combined pressure
peak arrives slightly ahead of the normal operating pressure peak, leading
to a loss of power and eventual overheating. The end gas pressure waves are
superimposed on the main pressure wave, leading to a sawtooth pattern of
pressure oscillations that create the "knocking" sound.


Read more http://www.faqs.org/faqs/autos/gasoline-faq/part3 (http://www.faqs.org/faqs/autos/gasoline-faq/part3/#ixzz0oOHARNaM)

[Cuda]

Simply put, the octane rating of the fuel reflects the ability of the
unburnt end gases to resist spontaneous autoignition under the engine test
conditions used. If autoignition occurs, it results in an extremely rapid
pressure rise, as both the desired spark-initiated flame front, and the
undesired autoignited end gas flames are expanding. The combined pressure
peak arrives slightly ahead of the normal operating pressure peak, leading
to a loss of power and eventual overheating. The end gas pressure waves are
superimposed on the main pressure wave, leading to a sawtooth pattern of
pressure oscillations that create the "knocking" sound.


Read more http://www.faqs.org/faqs/autos/gasoline-faq/part3 (http://www.faqs.org/faqs/autos/gasoline-faq/part3/#ixzz0oOHARNaM)

What he said. :)

[Bobby D]

Update and share what I learned so far about my Volvo Penta 5.7 GSI

Thanks to Jim (Buizilla) and his trouble shooting suggestions my motor is running much better now that I’ve replaced the plugs. The plugs were much older than I thought and in need of replacement. I still have some soot but far less than before and better overall performance.

The following is information I found on Volvo Penta parts bulletin P-00-0 3 02 that describes how to identify a Volvo gas engine. I was very surprised to find out it’s a Ford and not a GM.

Charcoal Engines
These engines were built during the joint venture with OMC and were
painted a dark charcoal color. They were usually named by long character
strings that contain two numbers followed by a series of letters.

The character string starts with two numbers, which are the displacement in liters.

• Next is a letter that indicates who made the base engine.
G=GM, F=Ford

• After that, one or two letters that note the fuel system and/or output.
L=limited, S=superior, X=exceptional, i or I=fuel injected (no I means carburetted)

• Then one letter for the steering system.
P=power steering, M=manual,
X=Exact steering, I=inboard

The next two letters are the most important for finding parts. These are
random letter pairs called model designators that indicate the years of
production for the engine. All parts information for these engines is based
on these letter codes.

Model Designators
letter years of
code production

MD 1993-1994
HU 1994-1995
NC 1995-1996
LK 1996-1997
BY 1997-1998
WT 1998-1999
EF 1999-2000

• The next letter is also random and is
used for version control.

My Motor reads as follows:
57FCPBYC=

5.7L, F=Ford, C=?? (Will look at this again could be an S ), P= power steering, BY=model designator 1997-1998, C=service code for version control

[CaribouLou]

5.7 Ford?



And for getting the soot off, I use 3M cleaner wax

[Ratliff240]

I had the same problem on in my 18 which had a 5.7 PCM motor in it. I changed my plugs and 95% of my soot problems went away. being very familiar with 2-stroke motors this was the first place i looked. If you have a bad plug it may still be firing just not firing well... just my 2 cents but i would start with the easy/cheap things first