D4 power trim gremlins!

[Geoffs]

Been following the D6 gremlins thread, thought I'd best not hijack.

Basically my power trim has stopped working (the hydraulic leg trim). The pump does not run when up or down buttons pressed.

Checked 50 amp circuit breaker on engine, ok.

Had an engineer along yesterday to check things out.

He checked trim buttons on control lever, theyappearto be functioning ok. Checked continuity with meter.

He checked relays on pump, these appear ok as he was able to energise them with a jump wire. The pump motor ran and leg lifted up and down.

Also checked plugs and sockets in circuits.

So both ends seem ok, but the in between bits are unknown. So thinking HCU/PCU.

engine and gear selection all function ok, although have had to recalibrate lever.

So for those who understand these things, am I likely to have an HCU/PCU problem that just effects power trim, when all other functions are ok.

With HCU at nearly £2,000 and PCU at nearly £4000, I may have to just live with non operational power trim.

 

[TommieDee]

Geoffs sorry to hear about your D4 gremlins. I'm the D6 gremlin victim.

Did your engineer plug in vodia to check if diagnostics pick up any fault?

I assume your EVC is not showing any faults?

I got a quote for my HCU of 500 plus vat (waiting to see if pre loaded with any software)
That was from coastalrides - might be worth shopping around.

It is crazy how many VP problems (particularly very odd peculiar and electronic problems) there are on this forum and how expensive their parts are.
What's the point in having a computer and a diagnostic system if it tells you nothing when you really need it. How can it be right that with an apparent world class manufacturer like VP you can have these gremlins and potentially have an engineer onboard for days trying to trace the problem.

Not good VOLVO PENTA - I hope you're listening and are willing to help out these unfortunate gremlin victims!

Best of luck getting yours sorted.

Tommiedee

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Been following the D6 gremlins thread, thought I'd best not hijack.

Basically my power trim has stopped working (the hydraulic leg trim). The pump does not run when up or down buttons pressed.

Checked 50 amp circuit breaker on engine, ok.

Had an engineer along yesterday to check things out.

He checked trim buttons on control lever, theyappearto be functioning ok. Checked continuity with meter.

He checked relays on pump, these appear ok as he was able to energise them with a jump wire. The pump motor ran and leg lifted up and down.

Also checked plugs and sockets in circuits.

So both ends seem ok, but the in between bits are unknown. So thinking HCU/PCU.

engine and gear selection all function ok, although have had to recalibrate lever.

So for those who understand these things, am I likely to have an HCU/PCU problem that just effects power trim, when all other functions are ok.

With HCU at nearly £2,000 and PCU at nearly £4000, I may have to just live with non operational power trim.

Did he check that the relay sockets were getting power on the coil circuit when the trim buttons were pressed? I had to rewire the sockets on one of mine because the loom tails had corroded.

 

[volvopaul]

Have you a trim reading ?

Do an auto configure , which system do you have , can you place into service mode to read codes

 

[Geoffs]

Thanks for all your helpful replies. This a quick test reply, as I wrote a long one but forum wouldn't let me post, said 'token had expired'.

Let's see what happens.

 

[Geoffs]

Geoffs sorry to hear about your D4 gremlins. I'm the D6 gremlin victim.

Did your engineer plug in vodia to check if diagnostics pick up any fault?

I assume your EVC is not showing any faults?

I got a quote for my HCU of 500 plus vat (waiting to see if pre loaded with any software)
That was from coastalrides - might be worth shopping around.

It is crazy how many VP problems (particularly very odd peculiar and electronic problems) there are on this forum and how expensive their parts are.
What's the point in having a computer and a diagnostic system if it tells you nothing when you really need it. How can it be right that with an apparent world class manufacturer like VP you can have these gremlins and potentially have an engineer onboard for days trying to trace the problem.

Not good VOLVO PENTA - I hope you're listening and are willing to help out these unfortunate gremlin victims!

Best of luck getting yours sorted.

Tommiedee

I've been following your thread, I think I've got problems!

I've not had a Vodia plugged in yet, but no codes shown in EVC.

Coastal rides always worth trying for expensive bits, but I'd worry about something like an HCU, when it comes to installing and commissioning.

I guess now D series are a few years old we are starting see these issues, mines done over 1000hrs now. But the potential costs are horrifying.

All the best with yours , hope sorted soon without too much pain.

 

[Geoffs]

Did he check that the relay sockets were getting power on the coil circuit when the trim buttons were pressed? I had to rewire the sockets on one of mine because the loom tails had corroded.

Thanks Jimmy, there's no power to coil sockets on relay base. Spades on relay were very green and were replaced together with a clean of base. No go though. Your comments about rewiring sockets could be relevant.

 

[Geoffs]

Have you a trim reading ?

Do an auto configure , which system do you have , can you place into service mode to read codes

Thanks for your reply, Paul.

Yes, I have trim reading, when we can force leg to move trim reading moves as well.

Not done an auto configure before, presumably that's as shown in section 12 of big buff installation sheet. I'll try that, have had to do control lever calibration before. This is interesting, as I did have this problem at the start of the season. An engineer came along and seemed to get it working by pressing a few buttons. Maybe he did an auto configure. I had to do control lever calibration afterwards.

Not sure which system I have, but dates back to 2006. Doesn't seem to be any flashing fault codes stored,I have been able to read in the past, when alarm generated.

Apart from no power trim, all VP stuff working well (touching wood and crossing figures!), although I have had to calibrate control lever a couple of times in the last two seasons.

 

[spannerman]

If your engineer had and understood Vodia he could plug in and read 'live data' which is one of its best functions as you can test the trim buttons and see if the trim circuit is working correctly. However he's proved that the pump works so it could be the PCU as this interprets commands from the helm and sends them to the respective components, i,e, trim, gear shift.
As others have said try an autoconfig first followed by power trim calibration, its all on the big buff sheet.
I have a friend with a D6 and his lower helm keeps dropping off line, a throttle calibration brings it alive again every time, it seems that some EVC components just check out without any reason from time to time.
Give me Smartcraft every time!

 

[Geoffs]

If your engineer had and understood Vodia he could plug in and read 'live data' which is one of its best functions as you can test the trim buttons and see if the trim circuit is working correctly. However he's proved that the pump works so it could be the PCU as this interprets commands from the helm and sends them to the respective components, i,e, trim, gear shift.
As others have said try an autoconfig first followed by power trim calibration, its all on the big buff sheet.
I have a friend with a D6 and his lower helm keeps dropping off line, a throttle calibration brings it alive again every time, it seems that some EVC components just check out without any reason from time to time.
Give me Smartcraft every time!

Thanks for your comments, I'll certainly do an autoconfig, and crossing every thing hoping it works. I'm going to the boat on Sunday, I live 90 miles away.

 

[Simon391088]

Hi,

I had a problem similar to this recently on my d4 where one of the power trims failed to work.

Put the ignition on on both engines.
Then try and use the trim and see if you can here the relay's clicking.
If you can then it's probably the white connector on the wire you can see between the relays and the pump. In my case I just had to push it together and it all started working again. The connectors were corroded. If that doesn't work you might need to replace the connectors.

If the relay doesn't click then there are either one or two red buttons on the engine (depending on which d4 block you have) which reset the fuse trip. Try pushing those in as they might have tripped.

Hope this helps,

Simon

 

[Geoffs]

Thanks for ideas. Relays not clicking but pump runs when contact closure simulated ( bridging with wire).

Circuit breaker on engine was first thing checked.

On boat this evening so will try auto configure as suggested by Volvopaul and spannerman .

 

[Geoffs]

Down on boat tonight. Just done an auto config.

Entered calibration mode did the auto config, all lights flashed as they were supposed to.

Tried power trim, NO GO! Boogar! I wonder what now.

It has been suggested to me that the EVC stuff is by passed for the power trim, and wire buttons directly to pump relays. Good idea or not?

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Down on boat tonight. Just done an auto config.

Entered calibration mode did the auto config, all lights flashed as they were supposed to.

Tried power trim, NO GO! Boogar! I wonder what now.

It has been suggested to me that the EVC stuff is by passed for the power trim, and wire buttons directly to pump relays. Good idea or not?

I mentioned before about corrosion in the loom immediately before the relay socket. The crude way to try and diagnose this is to get someone to hold the trim button at the helm in the up or down position, and then you go down to the power pack and basically just wiggle the wires to see if the pump springs into life.

 

[Geoffs]

I mentioned before about corrosion in the loom immediately before the relay socket. The crude way to try and diagnose this is to get someone to hold the trim button at the helm in the up or down position, and then you go down to the power pack and basically just wiggle the wires to see if the pump springs into life.

Thanks Jimmy, did try that. Maybe could be investigated a bit further. Perhaps clean with some contact cleaner and try a wiggle. Got to be something lack that I feel, wouldn't have thought an HCU/PCU fault would just affect power trim.but what do I know!

Thanks again for your thoughts.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Thanks Jimmy, did try that. Maybe could be investigated a bit further. Perhaps clean with some contact cleaner and try a wiggle. Got to be something lack that I feel, wouldn't have thought an HCU/PCU fault would just affect power trim.but what do I know!

Thanks again for your thoughts.

If your installation is similar to that of my D6's, then you might be able to trace the loom backwards to a connector. Maybe expose that connector and get a meter on it, again while the trim button is being held down at the helm?

 

[Geoffs]

If your installation is similar to that of my D6's, then you might be able to trace the loom backwards to a connector. Maybe expose that connector and get a meter on it, again while the trim button is being held down at the helm?

I keep saying it, but thanks for your ideas.

Been down in engine bay this morning, looking at suggested connector. Appears clean not corroded, wiggled but no go haven't been able trace loom back, all a bit crowded.

Got to the stage now where I think I needed a Vodia plugging in.been to see local VP dealer and they are coming down on 16th. Hope to learn more then.

 

[spannerman]

Have you checked there is 12v on the red wires at the relays and Earth on the black wires. Then if someone presses UP trim there should be 12v on the blue wires and 12v on the green if Down is pressed. The blue and green come from the PCU, if there is no signal then the problem is btween the PCU and the trim panel, a Vodia will help diagnose the fault.

 

[Geoffs]

Have you checked there is 12v on the red wires at the relays and Earth on the black wires. Then if someone presses UP trim there should be 12v on the blue wires and 12v on the green if Down is pressed. The blue and green come from the PCU, if there is no signal then the problem is btween the PCU and the trim panel, a Vodia will help diagnose the fault.

Don't think we tried looking for 12v as didn't know what colour wires to look for. As I said we did apply 12v to relays, pump ran and could move leg up and down, hence the suggestion of by passing EVC and operating relays direct from switches.

My engineer not too au fait with EVC, so now getting Volvo engineer with Vodia to meet me on 16th. It'll cost a bit but has to be done.

 

[beejay190]

I understand that there is a standard charge for a Vodia diagnosis. Do you know how much it is, VAT inclusive ?