Volvo EVC engine data Question

[julians]

Does anyone know How I determine what version of EVC I have on my boat/engine?

I'd like to be able to see more engine data than the physical guages I have, and I understand that I might just be able to replace the existing tacho with a newer one that contains an LCD dot matrix display to display things like turbo pressure etc, but it depends on what version of EVC I have.

The engine is a D4 260A-B which was produced from 2004-2008 (according to the volvo website), the tacho currently has a simple segment LCD display that purely shows the engine hours.

Or alternatively does anyone know what other options I have in order to display the various engine data ?

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

I've got D6-350A-B's, with EVC B2, and my tacho's sound like yours. I'd contact your local dealer with your engine serial number and they should be able to give you the definitive answer.

I didn't think it was possible to change the tacho's in the way you've described, but I'd be happy to be corrected. If you were able to change the tacho's you'd also need an EVC rotary controller which I thought was only implemented with later versions of EVC.

Iirc there's an lcd gauge for the B2 version of EVC, but it is eye-wateringly expensive, maybe £1k or thereabouts.

 

[David2452]

You could buy a Volvo interface box if you have an N2K MFD and display all the engine data on that.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

You could buy a Volvo interface box if you have an N2K MFD and display all the engine data on that.

Doesn't that also require a relatively expensive EVC software update as well though?

 

[aquapower]

Doesn't that also require a relatively expensive EVC software update as well though?

Only if you want fuel data, can't see point in doing this just to show temp oil etc

 

[julians]

Looks like this is a non starter then , at least to do it for reasonable cost.

Its a shame (but no surprise) that volvo havent implemented the OBD II system that is standard on all cars manufactured after the late 90's, then you could just buy a £15 bluetooth OBDII adapter and a £3 app and display all the data you need on a smartphone.

Shows how much markup there is in the marine sector.

 

[David2452]

Doesn't that also require a relatively expensive EVC software update as well though?

Mine didn't, I fitted the interface, made my own Y lead and both the square VP digital display and Raymarine and Garmin MFDs worked straight away. VP did say I would need an upgrade but I figured all the raw data must be on the J1939 bus and just needed converting to N2K as the processing is all done by the MFD

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Mine didn't, I fitted the interface, made my own Y lead and both the square VP digital display and Raymarine and Garmin MFDs worked straight away. VP did say I would need an upgrade but I figured all the raw data must be on the J1939 bus and just needed converting to N2K as the processing is all done by the MFD

That's interesting - although you'd have to concede that you are a bit of a special case, with much more knowledge and experience than a regular end-user. Can you see the fuel data on your mfd's?

 

[David2452]

That's interesting - although you'd have to concede that you are a bit of a special case, with much more knowledge and experience than a regular end-user. Can you see the fuel data on your mfd's?

I can on the Garmin Jimmy, the Raymarine is an old classic so only capable of simple display regardless of input, the MFD capability is the most important thing, the Garmin for insance gives all sorts of fuel data including MPG over the ground.

 

[julians]

How much is the volvo Nmea2k interface box, and is there any way to determine if it will work without any form of software upgrade on an evc version B2?

 

[David2452]

How much is the volvo Nmea2k interface box, and is there any way to determine if it will work without any form of software upgrade on an evc version B2?

I paid £180 from USA but it was about 5 years ago, as for the software I am unsure, but don't feel too bad about that as even VP were wrong in my case, I do still believe the data must be on the bus and the software is only needed for the VP colour digital panel but please don't take that as an absolute.

 

[jrudge]

How much is the volvo Nmea2k interface box, and is there any way to determine if it will work without any form of software upgrade on an evc version B2?

They are about £200. I have one. Happy to lend it too you. If it works buy it for whatever a second hand one is worth if not send it back.

Jeremy

 

[julians]

They are about £200. I have one. Happy to lend it too you. If it works buy it for whatever a second hand one is worth if not send it back.

Jeremy

Hi jeremy,

Thanks for the very generous offer, Let me investigate what other bits I'm likely to need, and how easy/viable it looks to be to get to all the areas I need to get to on the boat and get back to you.

I'm guessing I'm going to need an MFD (looks like any decent'ish garmin chartplotter will do), some n2k backbone cable, 3 x n2k t pieces (one for power, one for the MFD, one for the volvo penta gateway), an N2k power cable, 2 x n2k drop cables and two n2k terminators.

I cant find much detailed info regarding the n2k gateway on the volvo website, so cant work out where it plugs in to or what cables it comes with, do you (or anyone else) know where it plugs in on the engine side of things and what it comes with.

Thanks

Julian

 

[Andyroonot]

There seems to be a little confusion over the software side of things, as there is software already in the EVC system, occasionally software UPDATES that fix known issues etc. and finally software UPGRADES that activate EVC features such as Trip Computer, Power Trim Assistant, Cruise Control etc.

For the NMEA 2K box to work, EVC B2 software/hardware is the minimum it will work on. Versions A & B1 are not suitable.

Fitting the interface with standard software installed, either old software or the latest available, will enable a suitable chart plotter to send/receive data to/from the engine. Fuel info will not be sent.

With the Trip Computer upgrade, this info will then also be sent, plus the EVC system will use the speed info coming back the other way from the GPS to calculate distance & time to empty. Without an NMEA 2K interface fitted, Trip Computer will not give a value for these last two parameters, and for EVC-C1 & above, (where the information can be scrolled through in the tacho screen), it will just display 3 dashes instead; the rest of the fuel info will still be shown. For B2, a 4" display would be required to view Trip Computer info if you don't have the NMEA interface, because as previously stated by someone, the tacho only displays hours.

In the back of my mind I seem to recall B2 may have had fuel info as standard but a quick check of the serial number(s) will confirm that if you wanted to send them over? David, I'd be interested to check your serial numbers as well, as if you have fuel info it would have been activated at some point, so it must be on your software already.

 

[julians]

There seems to be a little confusion over the software side of things, as there is software already in the EVC system, occasionally software UPDATES that fix known issues etc. and finally software UPGRADES that activate EVC features such as Trip Computer, Power Trim Assistant, Cruise Control etc.

For the NMEA 2K box to work, EVC B2 software/hardware is the minimum it will work on. Versions A & B1 are not suitable.

Fitting the interface with standard software installed, either old software or the latest available, will enable a suitable chart plotter to send/receive data to/from the engine. Fuel info will not be sent.

With the Trip Computer upgrade, this info will then also be sent, plus the EVC system will use the speed info coming back the other way from the GPS to calculate distance & time to empty. Without an NMEA 2K interface fitted, Trip Computer will not give a value for these last two parameters, and for EVC-C1 & above, (where the information can be scrolled through in the tacho screen), it will just display 3 dashes instead; the rest of the fuel info will still be shown. For B2, a 4" display would be required to view Trip Computer info if you don't have the NMEA interface, because as previously stated by someone, the tacho only displays hours.

In the back of my mind I seem to recall B2 may have had fuel info as standard but a quick check of the serial number(s) will confirm that if you wanted to send them over? David, I'd be interested to check your serial numbers as well, as if you have fuel info it would have been activated at some point, so it must be on your software already.

My engine serial no is 2004008252, would be grateful if you could give me any info regarding its capabilities out of the box.

 

[Andyroonot]

6 x software updates available to engine ECU & EVC system but no Trip Computer activated. So, NMEA box will send parameters such as oil pressure, coolant temp, rpm, hours, trim position etc to the MFD, and if the latter can display it then you'll see it on the screen.

 

[julians]

6 x software updates available to engine ECU & EVC system but no Trip Computer activated. So, NMEA box will send parameters such as oil pressure, coolant temp, rpm, hours, trim position etc to the MFD, and if the latter can display it then you'll see it on the screen.

Thanks good to know.

Now just need to work out if I can easily get to all the areas I need to in order to run the cabling etc. I presume the volvo penta nmea2k gateway box plugs into the large'ish black EVC box that in my case is mounted on the bulkhead in front of the engine? or There is another smaller black box with EVC stamped on it mounted inside the dashboard near to the throttle and evc control panel , does it plug in there?

 

[David2452]

David, I'd be interested to check your serial numbers as well, as if you have fuel info it would have been activated at some point, so it must be on your software already.

D4-225i-B-HS serial 2004005767, owned from new and never had the upgrade done as an add on certainly.
It is interesting that when installed with the old classic C series which was the first part of the operation all I got was revs, oil, coolant etc with no fuel info even on the VP 4" display I installed. As soon as I hooked up the Garmin to the N2K network everything began to display including MPG. Obviously not on the classic C which is not capable anyway and sends no information to the N2K network to allow the VP 4" display to work out MPG.

 

[Andyroonot]

David, no trip computer activated for your software either, so I'm at a loss as to how you have that info! Good news for you though I guess!

As for Julians question, the black box under the dash (the HCU) is where it plugs in, but you'll need a Multilink breakout cable to tee into the Multilink system. As it stands, you'll probably just have a single cable going from the HCU to the tacho. The breakout cable goes inline with that but provides an additional socket (coloured grey) to plug the NMEA interface into. That's it from the VP side, as you then have a NMEA 2k plug on the other side of the interface that goes into the backbone of the NMEA network, provided by the MFD manufacturer.

 

[David2452]

That's the rub, is this" fuel computer activated" thing the processor and driver for the VP colour fuel computer? because that will still not work on my boat.