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Seized VP 5.0GL - Options/Insights

Don't know about the Valvoline, "it's a one size fits all" no idea if it will cause problems.

Engine oil, your engine used 30w full synthetic when new. Volvo quit making it and now recommends Volvo Penta 10W-40 4-Stroke Synthetic Engine Oil. If you want to keep using the 30w, Sierra SAE30 4-Stroke Synthetic Marine Oil is available.
I try and stay away from auto oil, It has additives that aren't needed for your engine, is designed to protect engines that operate very different from your engine and doesn't have the additives that your engine needs.
Not sure why you want to flush it? But if you do I recommend a NMMA rated oil only.

You can use any oil you want, it's your boat. So much depends on how you use the boat as to what's best. Will auto stuff work? Ya probably. Will it work as good as a marine rated oil? Probably not.
 
I have used Mercruiser's 25/40 conventional oil and their syn blend oil, both hold up well to marine use, I did several oil analyses on my 4.3 and they do stay in grade well. I don't know if the same would be true of Chevron 15/40 or Delo 15/40 which also a lot of people use because it's a good deal less expensive. The Merc oil is easy to find if a bit pricey and it's gotten a lot pricier in recent years. Another option I might try out if I get tired of Merc's pricing is Valvoline VR-1 20/50, I suspect this oil will also stay in grade well.
I would for sure use the Volvo gear oil in the SX drive, I think cone clutch drives are particular about the drive lube used, more so than a dog clutch is.
I had good luck using the Mercruiser High Performance gear lube (bluish-green stuff) in my old dog clutch Cobra drive. The OMC stuff is hard to find nowadays, I've been using the Merc stuff for 20+ years with no problems, but use the Volvo oil in the SX.
 
Conventional Merc 25/40 is $42, the Syn Blend is $58, whereas the Valvoline VR-1 25/50 is $29
Note also that the Merc oil is even more if you buy it with the Merc label vs the Quicksilver label, but AFAIK it is the same product.
Merc's top oil the 25/50 syn blend is $72! This has gone up about $20 over the past 4 years or so.
 
Today I sucked the oil out from the engine, first couple of pumps were water then changed to oil. I removed the oil filter from the block, had a mixture of water and oil in the filter also.

Filled it with some cheap 15W-40 heavy duty diesel oil, put a new filter on. Sprayed some fogging oil into the spark plugs holes.

Put all new ac-delco plugs in the engine with the proper gap.

Before reinstalling the plug wires I cranked the engine over with the starter.

Then I plugged the plug wires into the spark plugs.

It took several times of cranking the engine to get it to stat and run. I’m guessing it just needed to be primed since it had been sitting for a few weeks.

The engine now starts on the first crank and seems to be running ok. Oil pressure at idle fluctuates between 25-40 according to the oil gauge near the steering wheel.

While the engine is running and warmed up, I see a drip coming from the raw water pump. There is a drip of water about every 10 seconds coming from the bottom side of the water pump. I assume this is not normal?

Does a impeller replacement fix this or would it need a new raw water pump?

Other question, how to I determine if the bellows are leaking when it is connected to the hose using muffs?
 
For future reference, after putting something in the cylinders - crank it over before installing spark plugs. Less chance for damage.

Correct, the sea water pump shouldn't drip. Impeller won't help leaking. Volvo doesn't sell the parts to repair - just the complete pump. Do an internet search for "rebuilding Volvo sea water pump" if you want to attempt repairs.

U-joint bellows are inspected visually from the back of the boat or better yet, pull the drive after the boat has been in the lake. Running on the hose won't tell you anything about the bellows.
 
Each season the drive should be pulled at the end and all of that inspected (bellows, gimble, u-joints, input shaft seal).
I also tilt the drive up and look in the folds of the bellows, if you see small cracks forming it is time to change them because that means the rubber is getting stiff. I have found the ones for my OMC Cobra last at least 10 years before you see cracks forming and this is with OEM parts.
 
Today I did another oil flush by sucking the oil I put in yesterday and putting new oil in. Replaced the filter again. Ran it for 20 mins. Sucked that oil out and replaced with 25W-40 Lucas 4 stroke synthetic oil and a VP OEM oil filter.

I replaced the fuel/water separator filter with a WIX filter.

I removed all of the new spark plugs while the engine was warm. I preformed a compression test on all cylinders. With all of the spark plugs removed, each cylinder on the starboard side (or left side of engine if looking at it from the front of the engine) read 184 PSI. Each cylinder on the port side (or right side of engine if looking at it from the front of the engine) read 188 PSI.

Per the VP manual and the SELOC manual for this engine, 75% of the highest reading is 141 PSI. All of the cylinders read higher than that. Is it fair to assume that the compression is good on this engine and head gaskets have not been damaged or any valves/rings/seals have not been damaged?

After compression test, I put all the spark plugs back in and re-torqued them, put a small amount of dialectic grease inside the plug boots and put the wires back on.

Engine fired up normally, I let it come up to operating temp (175 on the temp gauge) and let it run with the muffs on for another 15-20 mins. All seemed normal except for the raw water pump dripping.

So, the question is now, how did water get ingested into the engine?

I don't see any cracks or rust marks on the exhaust manifolds. I don't see any cracks on the elbows or rubber that connects the manifold to the elbows.

Currently, I am waiting on the 75W-90 Volvo Penta gear oil for the drive to be delivered so I can drain the old fluid out and put new in. If the bellows are leaking/bad, would that allow water to be ingested into the engine?

If there is a seal or ring that is leaking water into the drive unit, could that be ingested into the engine somehow?

Im struggling to figure out how water got ingested in the engine. Something doesn't add up from what the "mechanics" said about the engine being seized and them not able to turn it over and it needing a new engine.
 
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