Problem with Volvo Penta 2003T

[aussi]

Hi All,

I've got an issue with my Penta, and was wondering whether someone can help.

Firstly, the history: It's a new boat (to me), 1991 with original Penta 2003T. Since taking ownership I've had the engine serviced, and it also had an overheating problem so the cooling system was overhauled which included a new oil cooler unit. It runs with a bit of white smoke, but not enough to worry me too much. I also had a problem with the engine stopping after some time running, which I put down to fuel contamination so I changed the fine filter which has solved the problem for now - I'm keeping plenty of filters on board and will also be cleaning the tank this winter.

Now, the problem: It happens when I run the engine for an hour or so to get out of the river (cold start), then go sailing for a few hours, then run the engine again (i.e. warm start). The second time, I get quite variable engine revs which lasts for some time. Also, I can't rev the engine above about 2000 RPM (full throttle gives about 2000 - 2200) during this period. It doesn't stop completely, but is certainly not able to give me full power. After about 30-40 minutes it seems to gradually recover, but I haven't been able to do extensive testing for longer than this because I'm always back on the mooring by then!

If anyone has any ideas and/or solutions, I would be very grateful.

Regards,
Austin.

 

[Bilgediver]

Hi All,

I've got an issue with my Penta, and was wondering whether someone can help.

Firstly, the history: It's a new boat (to me), 1991 with original Penta 2003T. Since taking ownership I've had the engine serviced, and it also had an overheating problem so the cooling system was overhauled which included a new oil cooler unit. It runs with a bit of white smoke, but not enough to worry me too much. I also had a problem with the engine stopping after some time running, which I put down to fuel contamination so I changed the fine filter which has solved the problem for now - I'm keeping plenty of filters on board and will also be cleaning the tank this winter.

Now, the problem: It happens when I run the engine for an hour or so to get out of the river (cold start), then go sailing for a few hours, then run the engine again (i.e. warm start). The second time, I get quite variable engine revs which lasts for some time. Also, I can't rev the engine above about 2000 RPM (full throttle gives about 2000 - 2200) during this period. It doesn't stop completely, but is certainly not able to give me full power. After about 30-40 minutes it seems to gradually recover, but I haven't been able to do extensive testing for longer than this because I'm always back on the mooring by then!

If anyone has any ideas and/or solutions, I would be very grateful.

Regards,
Austin.

Maybe still a strainer or filter in the fuel system that is gunged up. There could be a strainer on the pick up tube in the fuel tank and inside the cover of the lift pump. These are in addition to possibly a fuel filter on the engine and primary filter near the lift pump.

 

[macd]

Aussi: not related to your particular problem, and you may already be aware of it, but you migtht be interested in this about the spline issues on the earlier 2003 non-saildrive engines: http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?14988-VP-2003-spline-problem

 

[KellysEye]

Two options or could be both: dirt in the fuel, do you have a clear bowl on the bottom of the filter if so you can see the dirt. If you don't have a clear bowl it would be worth changing to a Racor. The other is a diesel leak letting air in, put talcum powder around the bleed screw, all fitting, where the bowl fits on the filter and on the drain at the bottom if it has one. If there is a leak you will see diesel in the talcum powder.

 

[Jcorstorphine]

Have a look at this thread as this was a problem with overheating on a 2003

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?362481-VP-2003-Overheating

 

[aussi]

Thank you everyone for your replies.

Maybe still a strainer or filter in the fuel system that is gunged up. There could be a strainer on the pick up tube in the fuel tank and inside the cover of the lift pump. These are in addition to possibly a fuel filter on the engine and primary filter near the lift pump.

That's interesting, I didn't know there could be a strainer in the lift pump so I'll check that. The primary and fine fuel filters both have brand new filters fitted.

Aussi: not related to your particular problem, and you may already be aware of it, but you migtht be interested in this about the spline issues on the earlier 2003 non-saildrive engines: http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?14988-VP-2003-spline-problem

Thanks for the heads-up macd. That's worrying, though my gearbox unit looks new (by that I mean it's a lot shinier than I would expect from an original!). I'll check the S/N on the engine.

Two options or could be both: dirt in the fuel, do you have a clear bowl on the bottom of the filter if so you can see the dirt. If you don't have a clear bowl it would be worth changing to a Racor. The other is a diesel leak letting air in, put talcum powder around the bleed screw, all fitting, where the bowl fits on the filter and on the drain at the bottom if it has one. If there is a leak you will see diesel in the talcum powder.

I have a clear bowl on the primary filter, but I thought this was just to trap water. Do you mean there are on-engine fine filters available with a clear bowl? I'll try your talcum powder trick to see whether air is getting in - thank you for the advice.

Have a look at this thread as this was a problem with overheating on a 2003

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?362481-VP-2003-Overheating

Thanks for the link Jcorstorphine, but the overheating was fully solved by the work I had done.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Thank you everyone for your replies.


That's interesting, I didn't know there could be a strainer in the lift pump so I'll check that. The primary and fine fuel filters both have brand new filters fitted.

There's certainly a gauze strainer in the fuel pump on a 2003; I'd imagine the 2003T is the same.

 

[pvb]

Fuel contamination could certainly be the cause of the symptoms you describe. Many Volvo-engined boats also use a Volvo-supplied fuel tank plate with a combined pick-up and return pipe. The pick-up pipe has a fine gauze filter at the end (see pic) which is susceptible to getting blocked by rubbish in the tank. Conceivably, this could happen after sailing for a while, as the boat's motion will stir up rubbish in the tank.

The fuel pump strainer is fairly coarse; as you've got a primary fuel filter it's highly unlikely that enough dirt has got through to block the pump strainer.

If you have a CAV filter with a glass bowl, you'll never see any dirt in the bowl because the fuel goes through the filter element first and any dirt is trapped in the element. The bowl is, as you correctly assumed, to trap any water.

I really wouldn't agree with sprinkling talcum powder all over your fuel system, it'll just make a horrible mess!

The 2003T is a bit smokey - mine is and all the others I've seen have been.

 

[scottie]

L

Hi All,

I've got an issue with my Penta, and was wondering whether someone can help.

Firstly, the history: It's a new boat (to me), 1991 with original Penta 2003T. Since taking ownership I've had the engine serviced, and it also had an overheating problem so the cooling system was overhauled which included a new oil cooler unit. It runs with a bit of white smoke, but not enough to worry me too much. I also had a problem with the engine stopping after some time running, which I put down to fuel contamination so I changed the fine filter which has solved the problem for now - I'm keeping plenty of filters on board and will also be cleaning the tank this winter.

Now, the problem: It happens when I run the engine for an hour or so to get out of the river (cold start), then go sailing for a few hours, then run the engine again (i.e. warm start). The second time, I get quite variable engine revs which lasts for some time. Also, I can't rev the engine above about 2000 RPM (full throttle gives about 2000 - 2200) during this period. It doesn't stop completely, but is certainly not able to give me full power. After about 30-40 minutes it seems to gradually recover, but I haven't been able to do extensive testing for longer than this because I'm always back on the mooring by then!

If anyone has any ideas and/or solutions, I would be very grateful.

Regards,
Austin.

full power should 3200 as I recall so without clouds of black smoke severe fuel shortage!

 

[macd]

That's worrying, though my gearbox unit looks new (by that I mean it's a lot shinier than I would expect from an original!). I'll check the S/N on the engine.

In that case it may be that an earlier owner had the failure, which would be good news for you since the gearbox is a frightening price. Perhaps worth checking the gearbox number, too. If the engine's had one of the fixes (there were aftermarket ones as well as a Volvo fix), it doesn't much matter what the engine number is.

 

[pvb]

In that case it may be that an earlier owner had the failure, which would be good news for you since the gearbox is a frightening price. Perhaps worth checking the gearbox number, too. If the engine's had one of the fixes (there were aftermarket ones as well as a Volvo fix), it doesn't much matter what the engine number is.

The gearboxes on these engines are painted in a shiny white gloss, and do tend to look younger than their years. If the engine serial number indicates an "at risk" engine, the only way to check if a mod has been carried out is to take the gearbox off, which isn't a 2 minute job. As I understand it, most of the spline failures occurred on fairly heavily-used charter boats.

 

[aussi]

Ok, the engine number is in the danger range, the gearbox is pictured, but doesn't tell us much (I'm not on the boat, this picture was from the survey) so it looks like I'm going to have to take the gearbox off at some point. Sigh!

Thanks for the info and image of the pick up pipe and gauze strainer, very useful. I'll take a closer look this weekend.

 

[scottie]

There's certainly a gauze strainer in the fuel pump on a 2003; I'd imagine the 2003T is the same.

Strainer is only in the older style fuel pump which has a removable lid with central bolt.

 

[vincik]

Hi,

I have an (old) MD2040, which for some time had a similar (but more consistent) problem, i.e. it would not run properly over 2500 revs. Had it checked by a volvo dealer without result, then by a local mechanic who found out it was running on 2 cylinders instead of 3. Problem was a blocked injector, easily resolved in the end, no big money. It looks like your problem is in the fuel line, this suggestion is just another possibility amongst everything mentioned above.
Hope you solve the problem.
Vincent

 

[aussi]

Aussi: not related to your particular problem, and you may already be aware of it, but you migtht be interested in this about the spline issues on the earlier 2003 non-saildrive engines: http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?14988-VP-2003-spline-problem

Just to follow up on this macd, thank you very much for the heads-up, I had the linkage checked and then replaced with a hex drive over winter, the engineer agreed that it is a known issue, and said here was some wear. So thank you for the alert - I took the opportunity to replace the dripless stern seal at the same time, as it was, er, dripping.

 

[aussi]

And the final followup on the original problem with the cause and solution (thank you to all who responded with advice):

It was a combination of 1) fuel contamination, 2) fuel hose blockage (caused by fuel contamination) and 3) fuel shutoff tap blockage (caused by fuel contamination). Emptying the tank exposed a lot of dead diesel bug residue, so it was completely cleaned and the fuel hose was also replaced. The tap was cleaned out too.

The engine now runs like a dream!