Tamd60b oil pressure problem

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Hi to all those out there with knowledge of the tamd60b engines, looking back on this forum the boat I have just purchased has a oil pressure issue on the port engine at 1500 rpm and I found a thread dating back to 2011 under tamd60b oil pressure puzzle, well I now have the puzzle to solve as I never found the answer by reading through the previous thread, so I am now looking for some new input to fix this problem once and for all,
So far I have run the boat for a 14 hour sea journey to my home port and only run the port engine until I noticed this oil pressure problem then shut it down until I can fix it,
HELP IS NEEDED thanks in advance cliff
 
Is this Low oil pressure or No oil pressure. If some how much and where measured ?

Is it OK until warm ?

Have the filters been changed ? Are they bypass filters ?

Is this gauge pressure or alarm pressure. These engines have two senders ?
 
She runs fine and on our first trip out, we did an hours run at 1200 rpm happily never missed a beat, oil pressure etc perfect. Rather smokey when started but cleared as we left the mouth to open water

The seems to have plenty of get up and go, jumps out the water when you squeeze her for more, however at 1800 rpm the oil pressure disappears on the port engine, literally to zero. Throttle back and it will regain a little pressure but not enough. Stop engine and restart immediately and she is fine again, as long as you don't go past 1800 rep. This also seems to be when the turbos come in. She was fully serviced prior to going into the water. We have checked with mechanical gauges to rule out a faulty gauge aswell as try a new relief valve but to no avail.

As I say, you can cruise sub 1800 all day and would never know of an issue and it's exactly 1800 every time
It has a low oil warning light which comes on when the pressure drops and a oil pressure gauge
New oil filters
The only thing I haven't tried yet is a oil flush as unsure if there is any sludge in the sump as on the exact moment the oil pressure drops you can here a noise like putting your hand over a vacuum cleaner when turned on, like a suction blockage?
Do you know if the spring on the oil pump are known to fail?
The down side is to this boat is the engine can not be lifted out of the boat at all as there's no way out, but could rig some sort of lifting tackle up to raise the engine up to get the sump off but this is the very last resort as it will be a mission and a half
Kind regards
Cliff
 
I would be looking at the Turbo oil seals, but suggest you try Volvopaul of this parish.

I note you have just bought the boat but have found an old thread that refers to the same defect on this very boat. Was this problem disclosed when you were buying ?
 
It was not disclosed to me from the previous owner and the boat was on the hard standing so never tested it in the water so never got a sea trial until I paid for her, when I put her in the water everything ran well and no signs of OP problem until I took her to sea on the route home me then I found the problem, but paid for her as is, where is, so started digging and found exactly what you found on the thread so it's not like the owner was not aware of the problem, but not what I needed really, I would have still paid for it even if he had told me of the problem, but it's nice when there honest
I will look at the turbo seals tomorrow if I get round to it, going to stick a camera in the sump tomorrow to see if there is anything that looks suspect
I will give volvopaul a message
Thanks for your help it's much appreciated
 
I would stick a gauge straight into a sensor hole and read it manually so you know the exact pressure it is running at.

If you have a good pressure you can eliminate it and check to see what your system is reading, if it is low then suspect the sensor itself or wiring if electronic first as they do wear and don't forget all the wiring connections.
From there I would check things such as the flow restrictors to the turbo and general gumming in the engine as its not uncommon for some dodgy people to chuck the snake oil products into the oil to increase oil pressure to make a sale and where you use such products gums them up and they can actually move as most are pressed in these days.

Check the oil pressure relief valve as it can have a weak spring or if snake oil products have been used it can build up on the seats so it never properly closes.
 
Many thanks I will try the easy tasks first like you said, any idea where the pressure relief valve is located, is it in the sump?
As only have a parts catalogue with a break down of the engines part numbers but can't seem to find a pressure relief valve on the list?
Going to get the workshop manual if I can locate one
Many thanks
 
Would anyone on the forum happen to have a workshop manual for the TAMD60b on here, kind of hard to find as I have now discovered
 
The other thing to check is that the engine has enough oil in. It does sound like the engine is starved of oil once it starts to rev.

That may seem a bit obvious, but if you're checking the dipstick level, are you sure it's the right dipstick? It may have been replaced in the past for whatever reason. Swap dipsticks to be sure.
Last resort, drain & refill by measuring the correct quantity.
 
Thanks guys for your input I will check all that you have sugested and let you know the outcome
It's nice to have some good info before i start
Many thanks
 
That was my thoughts I will be investigating and hope I can find something, it looks like this problem has been around for a while as previous threads talk about this exact boat back in 2012 so nobody has put it right so far, but I will not be beaten I hope
Many thanks volvopaul for your input as superheat6k recommended your the man for this info
 
I flushed and drained the oil yesterday which was fairly dirty but I have seen much worse, then added some more fresh oil just to give it a extra clean through and run it then empty the sump again, then I removed both oil fillers and to discover that it had after market none matching pair of filters on her, one was a crossland 619 and the other was a MANN W950/1, so much for the just serviced before I got it haha, so there's a problem, would having a odd pair of filters on the engine cause a issue? I am replacing them with the genuine Volvo penta filters but have not tried to run it as I am waiting to stick the snap on camera in the sump plug hole to see if I can see the strainer for blockages and any sludging etc if it looks clean I will be running her and fingers crossed it will be ok, any advice on them filters that was on?
 
Both meet OE standards and should be OK unless they were just wiped over to make them look clean and as if they had been replaced, when they hadn't, one little trick you can use is to get some stiff wire and bend the end over and put it carefully into the sump drain hole and scrape the bottom of the sump and see how much accumulated dirt sits on the bottom of the sump to ascertain the condition of the engine and how it has (or not) been maintained.
 
Worth while letting the filter drain on some layers of tissue for a few days, then take a hacksaw to remove the screw on end to allows a close examination of the filter element inside.

However, these should be bypass filters that will open to let the oil pass if they become too blocked. But, it is the specific revs and turbo cut in point that suggests something else is at play here.

Have you tried revving above the noted problem RPM level in neutral (with the engine fully warmed up) to see if the same thing happens with no load on the engine. If it is an oil flow issue, e.g. blocked filter or pickup pipe this will not be affected by the engine power, just the revs, but with no power just revs the turbo will have little effect as the turbo boost power comes from the higher power load (higher mass air / fuel flow) on the engine, so if it is OK in neutral at high revs, but not OK under high load in gear and similar high revs then I would definitely be looking to remove the turbo. If the problem does occur in neutral then a blockage somewhere.

If you can affix a turbo boost gauge to the inlet manifold this might also help pinpoint just when the problem occurs if it is turbo related.
 
It does it with no load, out of gear just by taking it to 1500 rpm, going to inspect more today as I have been waiting for a camera to look inside the sump before I refill with oil, but I am also going to take a look at the pressure relief valve as it has had a new one according to the last owner but it was also ment to have had new filters and they couldn't even put a matching pair on so I am investigating the PR valve today too,
Thanks for keeping the good advice coming as I am lost without all your help
Kind regards
 
Does anyone know where the pressure relief valve is located on the tamd60b as I have know idea where its location is, and help is greatly appreciated as I don't want to unbolt bits that don't need Un bolting
Many thanks
 
Found the pressure relief valve and removed it to find that was not seating correctly and was a gap where it seals so a new one is on its way and have a good feeling that this has been the problem all along as the previous thread back in 2012 said it had been replaced, but I can tell you this much it has never been replaced so it's best to check everything rather than reading about what previous owners have supposed to have done ?
 
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