Engine Problems.....

[Zepph]

Boat type: Sigma 33
Engine: Volvo Penta 2002 (we believe)

We have recently purchased a Sigma 33 (fantastic to sail, apart from dead downwind), the engine was running smoothly for a week.

We then didn't use the boat for a week and when we came to start it nothing, engine seems to turn over fine batteries look okay however she doesn't start.

We presumed that we had run the engine dry, we filled it up with about 15L at which point no more fuel was going in.

We tried to start her again, no success at which point we had to call it a day.

Came back a week later, and went to check the fuel system fuel looked to have come out of the breather pipe which leads up to the deck.
We cleaned up the mess tightened the tubes and started again.

This is the point at which we decided to bleed the system, presuming air was the cause of our problems.
When we opened the bleed screw fuel came out of its own accord, we didn't touch the lift pump. I let the fuel run out for a minute or so before closing it off.

Could we have over pressurised the system somehow?
We haven't bled the injectors yet, however if fuel shouldn't be coming out of the bleed screw on top of the engine without turning the engine or pumping the lift pump i would like to address this first.

Thanks

 

[nevis768]

You haven't got the engine stop pulled out have you?

 

[stu9000]

My vp2002 had a problem with the stop lever. The spring that returned the arm on the engine side of the pull wire had got tired and was not fully returning after thr stop pull.

 

[Goldie]

Boat type: Sigma 33
Engine: Volvo Penta 2002 (we believe)

We have recently purchased a Sigma 33 (fantastic to sail, apart from dead downwind), the engine was running smoothly for a week.

We then didn't use the boat for a week and when we came to start it nothing, engine seems to turn over fine batteries look okay however she doesn't start.

We presumed that we had run the engine dry, we filled it up with about 15L at which point no more fuel was going in.

We tried to start her again, no success at which point we had to call it a day.

Came back a week later, and went to check the fuel system fuel looked to have come out of the breather pipe which leads up to the deck.
We cleaned up the mess tightened the tubes and started again.

This is the point at which we decided to bleed the system, presuming air was the cause of our problems.
When we opened the bleed screw fuel came out of its own accord, we didn't touch the lift pump. I let the fuel run out for a minute or so before closing it off.

Could we have over pressurised the system somehow?
We haven't bled the injectors yet, however if fuel shouldn't be coming out of the bleed screw on top of the engine without turning the engine or pumping the lift pump i would like to address this first.

Thanks

I once had a Volvo MD7 with worn piston rings. It wouldn’t start after not being used for a week or so (oil drained down the cylinders past the rings? I’m NOT a mechanic!) but in regular use, it would start fine. To get me to the end of the season and a re-build, I drained a little oil (still well above ‘Min’ on the dipstick) so that I could add a little oil from the top which seemed to work by sealing the rings and increasing the compression. Worth a try?

 

[Pye_End]

Hopefully the cooling water stopcock has been off whilst turning it over trying to get it going?

 

[BobnLesley]

I doubt anyone can give you an answer based on the information in your post; sorry. I would recommend that you get a qualified and competent mechanic to look at at it before you do any (more?) damage to the engine.

 

[NormanS]

There could be several reasons for non starting, but I have a possible explanation for the apparent fuel anomaly. You filled the tank until it was absolutely full. Possibly the temperature rose, the fuel expanded, causing it to come out the breather pipe onto the deck. That meant that the fuel level was well above the level of the bleed screw, which explains why it flowed out. No, you haven't over pressurised anything. As others have said, don't keep on cranking the engine without shutting off the inlet sea cock. There is a danger that you can pump so much water that it fills the exhaust system, and floods into the engine.

 

[Thrownaway]

If you did run out of fuel, based on personal experience with my VP2002, air will get into the line above the filter and you will need to bleed the injectors to get it restarted.

 

[Minerva]

my engine is a pig to bleed until I learnt to crack off two out of the four injector fuel lines. That should allow any air to be purged and the engine sound like it wants to start. Once it sounds encouraging tighten them back up again and try starting again. Works best if you can have one person on the key and another by the fuel lines to check diesel is spurting out.

 

[Tranona]

Sounds like you are not following the start instructions properly. You need to pull out the stop lever to set the the fuel pump to deliver a ricj mixture to start. Once the engine fires the enrichment leever returns to its "run" position automatically. They are poor starters when it is cold so need a lot of cranking. As suggested turn the water off while cranking if it does not start straight away. Before trying again you need to go through the same procedure. When it runs turn the water back on.

Google Volvo 2002 start procedure for plenty of advice including youtubes explaining it all.

 

[Stemar]

Are you using the correct cold start procedure? This is critical, especially in cold weather.

Set 3/4 throttle - in cold weather, my 2003 would want full throttle

Pull out stop control & push it back in

Start - it will take a bit of churning, especially in cold weather, but mine always went eventually, even with ice on the deck. The churning is no bad thing, because it gets the oil pressure up before it fires

Immediately reduce throttle to a fast idle - around 10-1200 rpm - for a couple of minutes before reducing further.

 

[Snowgoose-1]

Are you using the correct cold start procedure? This is critical, especially in cold weather.

Set 3/4 throttle - in cold weather, my 2003 would want full throttle

Pull out stop control & push it back in

Start - it will take a bit of churning, especially in cold weather, but mine always went eventually, even with ice on the deck. The churning is no bad thing, because it gets the oil pressure up before it fires

Immediately reduce throttle to a fast idle - around 10-1200 rpm - for a couple of minutes before reducing further.

Agree with all of the above.
Also, I have used a heat gun in very cold weather down the air intake for a few minutes prior to starting.

 

[Zepph]

You haven't got the engine stop pulled out have you?

I alwatys pull it out and push it back in as part of the cold start procedure and double checked its connected properly.

 

[PCUK]

Is smoke coming out of the exhaust? If not it is a fuel problem.

 

[Zepph]

Interesting about shutting off the inlet seacock, nothing about this was mentioned in my diesel engine course. Will try and start the engine with the injectors backed off 1 at a time and inlet seacock shutoff initially. Thanks

 

[stu9000]

Interesting about shutting off the inlet seacock, nothing about this was mentioned in my diesel engine course. Will try and start the engine with the injectors backed off 1 at a time and inlet seacock shutoff initially. Thanks

Ive heard this said a number of times. I didnt use to do it, but now do (when i remember). Repeated cranking without it actually firing up can apparently cause waterlocking and lead to serious engine damage. Others more qualified than I can attest to the likelihood of waterlocking.

 

[stu9000]

Just skimmed through this thread again. I have an old vp2002 in my Westerly. Various small issues over the years but touch wood we keep the gremlins at bay.

Just because engine is turning does not mean it it turning fast enough. Is the starter battery fully charged. Try bridging to the leisure batteriesto give it more juice. My Vp was quite sensitive to cranking speed.

If you put 15L of fuel in, it seems unlikely to be full to overflowing or empty. You said it ran fine for a week previously. Symptoms of engine running out of fuel is misfire and reduced revs. I think you would have noticed. Can you use a dipstick to measure how much fuel is in the tank. Mine has a 160L tank. The bottom 60L is a sump to catch crud so don't assume you have fuel just because the bottom of the stick is wet. It is just possible you were running out as you stepped off the boat. If you have run out of fuel you could bleed the system to the engine, not just the filter. The port side pipes are easier to get to on my boat, so i start there and often dont bother with the other side. Eyeball the pipes that go from filter to engine. nuts loosen off completely so you can see pipe end. You should see drips of fuel when cranking. If no drips there is a problem upstream. Filter or fuel pump maybe.

The next thing I would look at is the stop lever and cable. Check lever is fully returned when T pushed down.

 

[NormanS]

Just skimmed through this thread again. I have an old vp2002 in my Westerly. Various small issues over the years but touch wood we keep the gremlins at bay.

Just because engine is turning does not mean it it turning fast enough. Is the starter battery fully charged. Try bridging to the leisure batteriesto give it more juice. My Vp was quite sensitive to cranking speed.

If you put 15L of fuel in, it seems unlikely to be full to overflowing or empty. You said it ran fine for a week previously. Symptoms of engine running out of fuel is misfire and reduced revs. I think you would have noticed. Can you use a dipstick to measure how much fuel is in the tank. Mine has a 160L tank. The bottom 60L is a sump to catch crud so don't assume you have fuel just because the bottom of the stick is wet. It is just possible you were running out as you stepped off the boat. If you have run out of fuel you could bleed the system to the engine, not just the filter. The port side pipes are easier to get to on my boat, so i start there and often dont bother with the other side. Eyeball the pipes that go from filter to engine. nuts loosen off completely so you can see pipe end. You should see drips of fuel when cranking. If no drips there is a problem upstream. Filter or fuel pump maybe.

The next thing I would look at is the stop lever and cable. Check lever is fully returned when T pushed down.

When you "skimmed" through the thread, you must have missed the bit where he said that fuel was coming out of the breather pipe onto the deck.

 

[Refueler]

Just skimmed through this thread again. I have an old vp2002 in my Westerly. Various small issues over the years but touch wood we keep the gremlins at bay.

Just because engine is turning does not mean it it turning fast enough. Is the starter battery fully charged. Try bridging to the leisure batteriesto give it more juice. My Vp was quite sensitive to cranking speed.

If you put 15L of fuel in, it seems unlikely to be full to overflowing or empty. You said it ran fine for a week previously. Symptoms of engine running out of fuel is misfire and reduced revs. I think you would have noticed. Can you use a dipstick to measure how much fuel is in the tank. Mine has a 160L tank. The bottom 60L is a sump to catch crud so don't assume you have fuel just because the bottom of the stick is wet. It is just possible you were running out as you stepped off the boat. If you have run out of fuel you could bleed the system to the engine, not just the filter. The port side pipes are easier to get to on my boat, so i start there and often dont bother with the other side. Eyeball the pipes that go from filter to engine. nuts loosen off completely so you can see pipe end. You should see drips of fuel when cranking. If no drips there is a problem upstream. Filter or fuel pump maybe.

The next thing I would look at is the stop lever and cable. Check lever is fully returned when T pushed down.

Go back ... as I read it - he put 15L in on TOP of whatever was in the tank ... so it may have filled to absolute max ..

 

[Stemar]

Just because engine is turning does not mean it it turning fast enough. Is the starter battery fully charged. Try bridging to the leisure batteriesto give it more juice. My Vp was quite sensitive to cranking speed.

Another good point. A thorough clean of all the contacts from the battery to the starter and back could make a big difference. The earth connection on the engine is a common source of problems, as it tends to get forgotten.