Volvo Engine hours LCD on a D2-40

[Ian_Edwards]

The engine hour meter and fault display has failed on our D2-40, the display is “black” i.e. all the pixels are on, the display got harder and harder to read over the last few weeks and now there is no contrast at all.
The unit is a EVC keyless, version with rev counter and LCD hour run, plus 4 buttons to control to control :
on/off,
start/preheat,
stop ,
and illumination/alarm cancel.
It’s about 3 ½ years old and the engine seems to work OK without the display, we get the normal sequence of “beeps” when the engine is switched on the 10second pre-heat is started.
I’ve searched the forum for info’ on the LCD incorporated into the Taco’ of Volvo Penta engines and can find lots of useful info’ on how to change earlier LCD’s, including a very useful step by step picture guide. But nothing for the later version, which is graphics display and shows symbols for the pre-heater and fault conditions in addition to the number of engine hours run.
The engine hours seem to be logged by the EVC unit on the engine, not the display, deduced form the fact that the engine hours reset to zero when the EVC unit was replaced under guarantee when there was less than 100hrs on the engine.
I guess the first step is to take the unit out and dry it out with hot air from the Webasto heater, to see if that brings it back to life.
Anyone else had the same problem?
I’d like to try some DIY solution before I pay VP for an expensive spare, which will probably fail in the same way in a couple of year’s time.

 

[Icarus39]

It may well be a standard LCD unit - have a look inside the unit and then look on some websites like RS or Farnell components to see if they have an equivalent ?

 

[LittleSister]

The engine hour meter and fault display has failed. . . the later version, which is graphics display and shows symbols for the pre-heater and fault conditions in addition to the number of engine hours run.

Does it have a fault code for display not working? ;-)

 

[aluijten]

Unbelievable, one should have thought Volvo/VDO would have learned a lesson with the old tachometer.

Somehow I think VDO is too plain stupid to use LCDs in instruments. In my car I have an instrument panel made by VDO as well and there the LCD gives me a headache as well.
I've used old Korean cars with still functioning LCDs, but VDO can't manage even the simplest LCD.

BTW my hour counter is busted as well as you may have guessed

 

[MoodySabre]

Putting them in the airing cupboard seems to be a popular fix. Is the air from your Webasto dry air?

 

[Ian_Edwards]

Cost of VP Spares

I've just looked up the retail price on the web, it's an astonishing €573.66 inc Vat for Part number 21509650 – Tachometer Kit Black from:

http://www.marinepartseurope.com/en/volvo-penta-explodedview-7746500-30-21457.aspx

No doubt I can buy it cheaper somewhere, but it makes me even more determined to have a go at repairing it.

 

[MoodySabre]

If it's just the hours meter then fit a new one like this.

 

[Bosun Higgs]

If it's just the hours meter then fit a new one like this.

I used one of these and it works really well. Got mine on Ebay and it was half the RS price but looks identical.

 

[LittleSister]

Hours meter replacement

There was a cheapo replacement for the hours meter (only) explained in by Dick Holness in Sailing Today June 2007 pages 138 to 140. This used a £15 replacement LCD hours meter from RS Components - part number 185-7087.

Don't know if ST do copies of old articles. Wiring was very simple (4 wires -
1) positive (to show display),
2) negative (return),
3) positive only on when engine running (to count up hours), and
4) (labelled R) (probably not required for these purposes) momentary positive to zero the unit.

They connected it to a battery at home for some days before installation to run the hours up to the previous count.

 

[Ian_Edwards]

Unfortunately, it’s not a simple counter, it’s a graphics display driven (I think) by NMEA2000 from the engine control unit. That doesn’t rule out the possibility of second sourcing a display from RS or ebay, but I don’t want to take it apart just yet, unless I’m sure I can fix it. The boat is on the West Coast of Scotland and I want to do some more sailing and bring it back to Peterhead for the winter. If I “knaker” the unit by taking it apart I may not be able to start the engine, which would force me into buying a new one.
I’ll try the Webasto hot air route next time I’m over on the boat; the air has a lower relative humidity than the ambient air, simply because it’s much hotter, which should help dry it out, it worked on a mobile phone which got dropped in the sea earlier this year.

 

[Ruffles]

No doubt I can buy it cheaper somewhere, ...

I bet you can't. VP's business model is to source slightly modified components from their suppliers and to triple the price. e.g. raw water pump and taco with hour meter.