Newbie on the forum

[FlyingDutchman]

Hi all,

I am new here on the forum.
I am from the Netherlands, so I would like to apologize for any flaws and deviations in English spelling and grammar.

I do have one question:
The engine in my boat is the Volvo Penta MD 22.
The boat is 10 years old, but we bought it in August so it is relatively new to us.
Is the fuel system self bleeding?

The user manual describes the bleeding procedure, but the nuts on the injectors have never been touched with a wrench and I assume that the fuel filters have been changed before.
I saw on the internet that the Perkins M60, which is basically the same engine has a self bleeding fuel system.

Any experience here?

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[ccscott49]

You shouldnt need to bleed the injectors of any engine, unless work has been done on the injector pump or the injectors themselves, these are very high pressure connections and should be left alone, especially as you are not sure. The rest can be bled if neccessary. Not sure if your engine is self bleeding, but I'm sure somebody else will know. By the way, welcome to the forum, new folks always welcome!! I'm working offshore Holland right now!

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[Robin]

We had an MD22 as a sailboat auxiliary and yes it does have a self bleeding system like the Perkins (which it is). The only critiscm I had was the oil consumption, it used almost nothing whilst used in short periods but over a long run it could burn 0.8L in 24hrs. We had the engine from new, Volvo said the oil usage was normal and other owners confirmed it. The camshaft belt is important, check it regularly via the small inspection cover (front of engine) and I believe it should be changed regularly at 2000hrs but check this with your dealer. Despite the oil usage this was a very good reliable engine and very smooth running.

<hr width=100% size=1><font size=1>Sermons from my pulpit are with tongue firmly in cheek and come with no warranty!</font size=1>

 

[hlb]

Not sure about yours, but my Volvo 41's are not self bleeding and are very difficult to bleed, especialy when the tank is low. Engine has to be in the right position before the lift pump will work. The easy way is to fill the filters before you put them back on, then loosen a couple of injectors and spin the engine. This will have it going again in no time, though it might spray a bit of diesel about.

Deviations in English are quite normal here and spelling is optional. Welcome anyway.

<hr width=100% size=1> No one can force me to come here. I'm a volunteer!!.

Haydn

 

[FlyingDutchman]

Thanks a lot for your reply!
Do you fill the fuel filters with fuel before mounting them or is the self blleding system so good that you don't have to mess around with fuel?
We bought the boat in Friesland in the northern part of the Netherlands and took it to the vicinity of Amsterdam in 3 days. In total we put some 45 hours on the clock.
Before we left Friesland I topped up the oil. The oil consumption after 45 hours motoring was next to nothing. I must add, that the boat is only 7.2 meters long and has a weight of 2,000 kgs. The engine is a bit big for this boat so at cruising speed the engine runs at 1,800 rpm. I was surprised about the fuel consumption: Calculated over the 45 hrs I found an average consumption of 1,4 liter per hour!
The engine now has 680 hrs on it and I did check the timing belt: It looks a bit shiny on the outside and it seems a bit loose: I could easily turn it over more than 90 degrees with two fingers. I think after 10 years it might be better to replace it but this seems a complicated matter if I read the workshop manual...

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[Ships_Cat]

The MD22 should self prime its fuel filter, plus any primary one, after changing them even if there is a lift from the fuel tank (fuel tank below engine level). There is no need to manually fill the filters with diesel, just crank the engine.

John

<hr width=100% size=1>I am the cat but I am only 6.

 

[jfm]

timing belt

I'd check the timing belt. If you can twist 90deg it sounds loose. However, you might have been twisting it against a spring-loaded tensioner device, in which case it seems more ok.

Changing the belt should be easy. Removing stuff to get access might be more difficult

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[Robin]

The fuel consumption relates directly to the HP actually used, I forget the figure but you could calculate the HP used from the fuel used, it isn't engine specific either I think at least for a non-turbo. On our 10.14m, 6,800kg displacement sailboat that engine at 1,800rpm gave 6kts at just under 2.5lts per hour.

It might be a good idea to change the cam belt since it is 10yrs old, if you go to the Reader to Reader PBO forum on this site and do a search for MD22 cambelt or variations on that (look back 3 months) there was a post from a Volvo engineer telling how to do it, it didn't sound too bad but.....

No need to fill the fuel filters before restarting, just spin it over with the 'stop' on for a bit first to get the oil circulated as well as fill the filter.

The oil consumption seems to be related to when the engine is really hot, 24 hrs in 8 x 3hr trips would use none, 24hrs in one go would use 0.8L. The engine is a marinised Austin Montego diesel so maybe it needs more cooling over the sump (like it would get in a car) than it gets ion a confined boat engineroom. We had the MD22L which is 50HP, they did an MD22 which was 60HP (I think) by running at higher revs and I think that version also had an oil cooler as standard. There was also a turbo version (?HP)which definitely had an oil coooler.

<hr width=100% size=1><font size=1>Sermons from my pulpit are with tongue firmly in cheek and come with no warranty!</font size=1>

 

[FlyingDutchman]

Thanks Robin,
That is a lot of information!
On our journey from Friesland we did 8-9 hours a day continuous motoring and no oil consumption.
I find it just hard to imagine that such a relatively big engine uses so little fuel!
I will have a look on the other thread on the change of the cambelt.
I found from the internet, that the engine was designed an produced by Perkins and that it was used for stationary purposes, tractors, and even in some Austin and Rover cars as well as taxis.
The marinised version was sold as the Perkins M series in various versions including one with the turbo. Painted green they were sold as Volvo Penta. Mine even has a plate on it saying "built by Perkins"!

Cheers,
Jan

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[FlyingDutchman]

Found the thread on the changing of the cambelt!
Lots of useful information. Maybe I can ask Spannerman a couple of detailed questions.

Cheers,
Jan

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[Robin]

More information then! The Perkins version was called the Prima over here and had a Hurth gearbox whereas the Volvo version has a Volvo gearbox. The electrics were also different, Volvo uses a Bosch alternator and a different instrument panel. The Volvo gearbox on ours could be selected to run either a lefthand or righthanded prop, we switched ours when we installed the engine merely to keep the prop kick the same as we had been used to on the original engine but we still needed a new prop because of the size difference though.

Have fun with your new boat!

<hr width=100% size=1><font size=1>Sermons from my pulpit are with tongue firmly in cheek and come with no warranty!</font size=1>

 

[Robin]

Try sending Spannerman a PM (personal message), click on his name on the post to get his profile, then click on send a PM, if you see a little flashing flag on the forum header then you have received PM reply.

<hr width=100% size=1><font size=1>Sermons from my pulpit are with tongue firmly in cheek and come with no warranty!</font size=1>

 

[PaulF]

Hi there and welcome. I bow to the other comments re your engine bleeding requirements, just wanted to add the figure Robin was thinking about, I suspect was that a diesel develops approx 20hp per gallon/hour used. Recalculate for Litres if you wish! This figure works within a few percent, and is regardless of whether turbocharged or not.

As your engine is only running at relatively low speed, because of the propellor law it will be pretty economical, enjoy your new boat.

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