More Volvo turbo problems

[Glyn-2008]

I have one of the turbo's on my twin TAMD 60B engines getting much hotter than the other one. There is noticable disscolouration of the paint and I am unable to put my hand on it after a hours running unlike the port engine. If the bearings were damaged would it not be very noisey? Could it be the cooling as I've noticed that a pipe coming into (or out of) the rear of it has a slight kink but I am not sure if that is the cooling pipe feed or even how it is cooled (either by freshwater, raw water or oil). The engine does not appear to lack power although both engines have a habit of smoking.

 

[volvopaul]

I have one of the turbo's on my twin TAMD 60B engines getting much hotter than the other one. There is noticable disscolouration of the paint and I am unable to put my hand on it after a hours running unlike the port engine. If the bearings were damaged would it not be very noisey? Could it be the cooling as I've noticed that a pipe coming into (or out of) the rear of it has a slight kink but I am not sure if that is the cooling pipe feed or even how it is cooled (either by freshwater, raw water or oil). The engine does not appear to lack power although both engines have a habit of smoking.

I'd say you have an exhaust pipe restriction causing exhaust gas overheat which will cause gas to rise in temp tracking temp back towards the engine mainframe.

As this reply will go to the top for now I'd much rather answer and help other boat owners with there serious problems than answer the **** replies to j webbs posts on wash from motor boats, hey enough said I'm off for my dinner!!

 

[Glyn-2008]

I'd say you have an exhaust pipe restriction causing exhaust gas overheat which will cause gas to rise in temp tracking temp back towards the engine mainframe.

As this reply will go to the top for now I'd much rather answer and help other boat owners with there serious problems than answer the **** replies to j webbs posts on wash from motor boats, hey enough said I'm off for my dinner!!

Thanks Paul,
I'll try to check that out at the weekend. Complete exhaust pipe was new less than a year ago though. I did have some trouble with the gearbox oil cooler very recently and so fitted a new bowman unit which the raw water goes through prior to exiting into the exhaust elbow by the Turbo. The Bowman unit has a similar body diameter and 1 1/4" cooling pipe input / outputs as the original. The body of the new cooler is about the same temp as the one on the other engine and similar amounts of raw water appear to be blasting out of the exhaust pipes. However, I am sure this problem was there prior to the replacement cooler as I noticed the colour of the turbo when I was changing it which is why I did the hand test the next time we used the boat..

 

[Jim@sea]

Why dont you have them swapped round. That way if its the Turbo it will effect the other engine, and if it still the same its the engine not the turbo.

 

[superheat6k]

Your turbo charger will be cooled by the fresh water system. The fact it is getting very hot compared with the other suggest the cooling system may be airlocked.

My TAMD60C's have fresh water coolant vents at the turbo charger - if your 60B's have these have you checked it is not simply airlocked.

Also check the air filter is clean as lack of combustion air will send the exhaust temp up.

When you find the cause please follow up on the forum.

 

[Glyn-2008]

Your turbo charger will be cooled by the fresh water system. The fact it is getting very hot compared with the other suggest the cooling system may be airlocked.

My TAMD60C's have fresh water coolant vents at the turbo charger - if your 60B's have these have you checked it is not simply airlocked.

Also check the air filter is clean as lack of combustion air will send the exhaust temp up.

When you find the cause please follow up on the forum.

Thanks Superheat and other members who have commented .
I did consider swapping the turbos between the two engines but was trying to short circuit the process a little so that I did not disturb the gaskets etc. I will try to see if the water system is airlocked but having investigated further the pipe that seems to exit from the engine that is connected on to the back of the turbo unit has a definite kink due to the banjo joint not being straight and so the pipe is trapped against the side of the elbow a little causing the pipe to collapse just a little on the induced bend. I can cure this simply by loosening the nut half a turn and making the exit straight. I'm not sure if this carries the cooling fluid but will investigate further this week. I will keep the thread updated on my findings.

 

[Glyn-2008]

Hi again,
I forgot to mention that the air filter was replaced less than 30 running hours ago and so is unlikely to be the problem. Also the engine does not appear to have a lack of power in comparison to the other which may occur if this was the case. The engine temperature, when running, is the same as the other engine (within a degree or two).

 

[Glyn-2008]

Your turbo charger will be cooled by the fresh water system. The fact it is getting very hot compared with the other suggest the cooling system may be airlocked.

My TAMD60C's have fresh water coolant vents at the turbo charger - if your 60B's have these have you checked it is not simply airlocked.

Also check the air filter is clean as lack of combustion air will send the exhaust temp up.

When you find the cause please follow up on the forum.

I checked the small tap at the top of the turbo unit after running the engine for a very short time (not enough to get it overheating as I was in the marina) and then shutting it down. There was a hissing noise as the trapped air was released from the water jacket around the turbo. This may suggest that there was an airlock. I will have a chance to check this fully tomorrow when I can take the boat out. Many thanks Superheat, you may have put your finger on the problem with your airlock suggestion. If not I will report again.

 

[superheat6k]

Unfortunately this won't resolve my (expensive !) problem with a perforated heat exchanger insert, but hopefully I may have got something right !

A final confirmation would be great.

 

[kashurst]

re- air coming out. next time you go to the boat - open the valve up with the engine cold and running until you get a few seconds of good coolant flow coming out. repeat again a few days/weeks later to make sure you have all the air out. You may have a very slight coolant leak somewhere hence the air building up.

 

[superheat6k]

I am interested to note the problem here may be a simple airlock, and note that this may recur as more air gathers. VP recommend the coolant level be 50mm below the pressure cap, and this does not provide much head level above the turbo, so I am surpised this does not self purge more effectively.

My turbo charger vents are very difficult to get at, courtesy of Fairline (one of the few failings of the Turbo 36 is poor engine servcie access) so I will be making a special effort to check these, especially as I have had to completely drain my stbd to fix the leaking plate heat exchanger, and do not fancy the cost of a new turbocharger after the exorbitant cost VP want for a simple plate heat exchanger. I am sure the Turbocharger will be equally not cheap !!!

 

[Glyn-2008]

re- air coming out. next time you go to the boat - open the valve up with the engine cold and running until you get a few seconds of good coolant flow coming out. repeat again a few days/weeks later to make sure you have all the air out. You may have a very slight coolant leak somewhere hence the air building up.

Thanks for that information, I will do as you say. I dont think there is a coolant leak as the reservior has remained at a constant level. Incidentaly, it would appear that the top of the turbo is actually a centimetre or so higher than the top of the filler cap which cant help the situation. The airlock suggestion seems more likely as the engine was stripped and rebuilt fairly recently. I imagine that I should have tried to do this when first adding the coolant and running it for the first time (28 engine hours ago). I only noticed that something was amiss when I saw the disscolouration of the paint on the turbo body. We have not run the engine for any single period exceeding 2 hours since just doing short hops. I just hope we have not done any damage.

 

[Glyn-2008]

I am interested to note the problem here may be a simple airlock, and note that this may recur as more air gathers. VP recommend the coolant level be 50mm below the pressure cap, and this does not provide much head level above the turbo, so I am surpised this does not self purge more effectively.

My turbo charger vents are very difficult to get at, courtesy of Fairline (one of the few failings of the Turbo 36 is poor engine servcie access) so I will be making a special effort to check these, especially as I have had to completely drain my stbd to fix the leaking plate heat exchanger, and do not fancy the cost of a new turbocharger after the exorbitant cost VP want for a simple plate heat exchanger. I am sure the Turbocharger will be equally not cheap !!!

I have often admired the Turbo 36 and the internal layout is as good as I have seen in anything in this size of boat. Another plus is that they do seem to retain their value more than most of the boats of this type or at least the asking price is reassuringly high. But I have heard, several times, that working on the engines can be difficult. A friend of mine has owned one and still complains about removing one of the exhaust elbows 2 years after he sold the boat. Sadly, we cant just close the engine hatches and forget about whats underneath on a boat unlike the diesel engine in my car which I have not looked at for a very long time..

 

[superheat6k]

I myself have just discovered some quite bad surface rusting to one of the gearboxes, where around 1 - 2 mm of the casting has converted to rust, and I am hoping this is not enough to penetrate. Again this is due to the poor access. Sorting this out is one of my less looked forward to Winter tasks.

Earlier this year I decided to replace the seawater pump impellors and the access to the stbd can only be described with expletives. This simple job took six hours on the mooring, and would have been nigh impossible at sea.

I have improved this for next time by using extended head screws, but even so pushing in a tight new impeller with at best 3 fingers is not easy, and I have developed a trick with a jubilee clip to squeeze the lobes down to allow this to enter the housing.

Having said that, I am now getting used to finding routes all around both engines, and the limited access is the compromise for a massive after cabin (bedroom), which we simply adore.

If you can put up with the older styling and like plenty of space then the Turbo 36 is well worth a look, and mine is at the bottom of its depreciation curve, and even the extra maintenance expenditures pale into insignificance when I look at the plumetting value of my pal's 2 year old V42, and he has suffered more trouble with his almost new boat over a similar period than I have with my 26 year old.