2008 Volvo Penta D3 New Cylinder Head, Now with problems

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myultrasound

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Hello all..
I just Purchased a boat that was bought brand new in 2008, then left by it's original owners on it's trailer since then until a few weeks ago.
Boat is a Bayliner 255 with a single D3 190hp EVC Diesel with only 65 hours.
New fuel
New alternator
And then...
First trip in the boat & it jumped a tooth on the cam pulley and broke a valve spring, and also broke a piece off the cylinder head and scratched up a cam lobe.
Removed the broken head ( now junk) & inspected all cylinders, i found zero damage to them, looks absolutely brand new.
Anyway,
I completely replaced the cylinder head with a used one that came with cam shafts, springs & lifters from a 2009 Volvo XC90 185bhp car engine. Brand new head gasket fitted.

I fitted the new cylinder head, then put back the turbo, ancillaries, fuel pumps, pipes and injectors. Filled with new oil, fitted new fuel filters and belts..
Then, after a long time pumping, bleeding the fuel and cranking, it fired up!
But..
It's a little rough running, hunts on idle & a slight fuel slick at the stern.
At the dock the engine hits 4000rpm with a lovely turbo whoosh.
Performance test on the water: Poor, only hit 2100rpm

I did not keep a log of the injectors, in other words they never went back in the same place they came out, would this cause my problems?
Please help..

Kindest Regards,
Jon
 
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Are you saying you fitted the turbo, injectors and cams from the car engine? I would be very surprised if the car engine would use the same cams and turbo
 
I'm now starting to think that my problem is with the turbo.
The boat never hit more than 2000rpm before the head damaged, so I'm thinking this is a preexisting problem.

The turbo makes a very loud hissing sound and only boosts to 8psi..

Regards, Jon
 
The D3's suffer from sticking (variable vane) turbos if they are not spooled up once in a while by running the boat up onto the plane - boats kept on rivers are thus prone to this. If your boat has been kept on a trailer for an extended period, this could well be your problem. I'm not sure how you go about fixing it though, sorry!
 
Freeloader said:
The D3's suffer from sticking (variable vane) turbos if they are not spooled up once in a while by running the boat up onto the plane - boats kept on rivers are thus prone to this. If your boat has been kept on a trailer for an extended period, this could well be your problem. I'm not sure how you go about fixing it though, sorry!
Click to expand...

Christ, reminds me of my old BMW 3-series.

Best way to ensure there were no issues; drive her like you stole her.

Probably too late for OP, but for future reference....
 
Many D3 suffer from the problem that Freeloader says

But still. As for now you have a engine with the wrong cams, valves. valve seats and also perhaps injectors
This engine will not have a long life if you run it as it is. If you even get it running correct for say...
 
Freeloader said:
The D3's suffer from sticking (variable vane) turbos if they are not spooled up once in a while by running the boat up onto the plane - boats kept on rivers are thus prone to this. If your boat has been kept on a trailer for an extended period, this could well be your problem. I'm not sure how you go about fixing it though, sorry!
Click to expand...

Fairly easy fix if its access is good to remove the turbo.
 
myultrasound said:
I'm now starting to think that my problem is with the turbo.
The boat never hit more than 2000rpm before the head damaged, so I'm thinking this is a preexisting problem.

The turbo makes a very loud hissing sound and only boosts to 8psi..

Regards, Jon
Click to expand...

Just read this one, could be the vanes are stuck not allowing the VGT to do its job or thee could be an air leak .
 
Hi all...
The turbo is spinning, I can here it and the veins move with my finger, are you saying it's possible that some other component is damaged inside? Is it normal to have this loud hissing sound like a jet engine? These turbochargers are fitted to the Volvo S60, V70 and XC90 models, so I might just buy one and fit it to see if there's any difference.

I need to add.
The fuel slick aft is not from my boat but an old fishing boat moored across from me. Also, I found that the Racor fuel filter was causing an air leak in the system, I fixed that so now it starts fine, runs quiet with no smoke.
My problem is that I still can only reach 7 knots.

Also, the Valves are exactly the same as the VP ones, valve seats & lifters, all the same, as are the rocker arms.
The only difference are the camshafts. The reference number on the originals (intake & exhaust) match the Volvo S60 163bhp car. Very strange. I did ask a Volvo Penta engineer what I might be faced with by fitting the 185bhp cams, he said maybe you might have a slight power issue. But really, this much?

Every time I do a new thing I still only hit 2000rpm 7 knots..
When the head went, all kinds of buzzers and alarms went off, could EVC put the motor in a low power safe mode?

Regards, Jon
Regards
 
Last edited:
volvopaul said:
Just read this one, could be the vanes are stuck not allowing the VGT to do its job or thee could be an air leak .
Click to expand...

Hello,
I have noticed, on the back of the turbo, a lever which is pulled down when I start the engine.. Must work with air pressure? Is this what works the VGT?
What about the loud jet engine like hissing, is that normal?
Also, what is the best method to check for an air leak?
Sorry, another question.. What should I be boosting to?

Kind regards,
Jon
 
myultrasound said:
Hello,
I have noticed, on the back of the turbo, a lever which is pulled down when I start the engine.. Must work with air pressure? Is this what works the VGT?
What about the loud jet engine like hissing, is that normal?
Also, what is the best method to check for an air leak?
Sorry, another question.. What should I be boosting to?

Kind regards,
Jon
Click to expand...

They all sounds like a 1980s sierra cosworth when they boost up, the VGT is actioned by the vacuum pump , di you reconnnect the pipe ? Do you have any fault codes coming up ?
 
Hi,
No fault codes now, no.. Just one beep when I turn on the ignition. I do have an exclamation mark in the corner of the LCD screen, that's all.
I may have left a hose off somewhere, or not tightened up a jubilee clip. I will go over it Tuesday.
Paul, the different camshafts.. Could this be the reason for such lack of power? Bearing in mind I did have low power issues with the original camshafts in.
In any case, Tuesday I'll swap them over.. Strange that the original VP camshafts are used in the 163bhp S60 and not the 185bhp version.. Very confusing..
Regards,
Jon
 
Problem Solved...

I looked at the back of the engine & noticed I hadn't tightened up a clip on the intake pipe which connects to the charge cooler!
Now it works fine...
Thanks for the advice..
 
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