Volvo Penta 2002

[GrahamV]

Hi folks. Newby here. My son has bought a yacht with a Volvo Penta 2002 engine. It doesn't start and whenever I talk to a professional all they can say is "bin it". That's all very well but I like to persevere with things until I am driven insane (maybe I'm there). My son spent all his money buying the boat and intends to save for a new engine but that may be a while off and so, if we can get a bit of life out of this one then it will make getting on and off the mooring a lot easier (and safer).

So far we've worked our way down the list of easier things and our current conclusion is that there is not enough compression. The head seems fine. We've had it off and lapped the valves and given it a good look over and it looks OK. The injectors seem to squirt ok and from the top, the cylinders and pistons don't appear to have any major damage. I put some oil in the cylinders and it fired just a bit on turnover but then went dead again, so I am guessing the problem might be the rings. Next step is the pull the pistons out and here is where I start asking questions of those with more experience than I have. The boat is an S & S 34 DEB33 variant and access to the engine is pretty good by yacht standards. I'm wondering if I can disconnect the engine from the gearbox, pull it forward a bit and roll it on its side. Then remove the sump/pan and pistons in that position. Has anybody done this and what unforeseen problems are likely to occur?

 

[eddystone]

I’m a total amateur but I think binning it would be best thing. Parts are very expensive or unobtainable so not worth overhauling unless a masochist

 

[rszemeti]

You might find it easier to pull it fully forward and lift it out of the boat to do the work ashore. The 2002 is a good marine engine, it probably just has stuck rings or glazed bores, maybe a light hone and new rings will bring it back to life?

It is absolutely possible to do it on the boat, but it is not a big engine, and overall, I think you will have better success lifting it out and doing the work at home.

Don't forget .. the 2002/2003 have cold start setting, .. you have to apply full throttle, then pull the stop cable to allow the fuel rack to slide to the "cold start" position ... then try and start it. You'd be amazed how many 2002/2003 owners do not reallise the cold start procedure for their engine!

 

[black mercury]

As rszemeti says you need to use the cold start procedure that he describes. If you are doing this then I would look for smoke out the exhaust while you are churning the engine over. If you have smoke there is fuel going in. Have you tried to start it using easy start? If not I would try that. If you suspect stuck rings I would try removing the injectors and putting some injector cleaner/engine flush/white spirit or some concoction down into the cylinders and leaving overnight. Spin engine over by hand before putting injectors back in and see if she will start. Also don't connect a water supply to the sea water pump if you are churning engine over, it will fill your exhaust and water will find its way into the cylinders. In other words try everything before dismantling the engine. It is possible to do it in the boat especially if you have to pay someone to crane it out, but use plenty of old plywood and cardboard around the inside of boat for protection.

 

[GrahamV]

You might find it easier to pull it fully forward and lift it out of the boat to do the work ashore. The 2002 is a good marine engine, it probably just has stuck rings or glazed bores, maybe a light hone and new rings will bring it back to life?

It is absolutely possible to do it on the boat, but it is not a big engine, and overall, I think you will have better success lifting it out and doing the work at home.

Don't forget .. the 2002/2003 have cold start setting, .. you have to apply full throttle, then pull the stop cable to allow the fuel rack to slide to the "cold start" position ... then try and start it. You'd be amazed how many 2002/2003 owners do not reallise the cold start procedure for their engine!

Thanks for the encouragement rzsemeti. I have been made aware of the cold start procedure and I have tried to use it. I can't hear the click that they talk about. How cold does it need to be? We are in Sydney, Australia and it sure isn't cold at the moment. Anyway I am feeling encouraged and tomorrow my son and I will make a start on dismantling the engine.

 

[GrahamV]

As rszemeti says you need to use the cold start procedure that he describes. If you are doing this then I would look for smoke out the exhaust while you are churning the engine over. If you have smoke there is fuel going in. Have you tried to start it using easy start? If not I would try that. If you suspect stuck rings I would try removing the injectors and putting some injector cleaner/engine flush/white spirit or some concoction down into the cylinders and leaving overnight. Spin engine over by hand before putting injectors back in and see if she will start. Also don't connect a water supply to the sea water pump if you are churning engine over, it will fill your exhaust and water will find its way into the cylinders. In other words try everything before dismantling the engine. It is possible to do it in the boat especially if you have to pay someone to crane it out, but use plenty of old plywood and cardboard around the inside of boat for protection.

Thanks for your help. This all sounds like good advice and perhaps we should try the white spirit before we start dismantling. We have had the water turned off since finding that whoever was trying to start the engine managed to do exactly as you said and there was water in the oil. A very sticky mess that took quite some cleaning. We disconnect the exhaust and observed fumes/smoke (not sure really what it was). We are pretty sure there is fuel going in. We did try using a product similar to Easy start. The ether gave me a flashback to my youth and broken arm. I'm keen to do the job in the boat. There is good access as the engine does not hide under the cockpit. I don't fancy trying to lift the engine into my dinghy to bring it ashore as we are on a swing mooring about a hundred metres from shore.

 

[GrahamV]

Over the years I have looked at forums like this and found them very helpful. One thing that does bug me is that often there is no conclusion to the situation presented. So I am promising to finish the job here and let you know what the outcome of our actions is and hopefully thanking all and sundry for the advice received. So we will see what unfolds over the weekend. Cheers.

 

[duncan99210]

Given you’re capable of thinking in terms of removing pistons, I’d suggest doing a compression check on the engine before going any further. Good compression figures would suggest that the rings are not a fault: poor figures would suggest that they need looking at.
Do try using the cold start procedure, it delivers extra fuel to the cylinders at startup and is meant to take the place of glow plugs. Also no bad idea to try easy start as it’ll prove if the engine will run or not before getting lost in stripping the engine.

 

[jwilson]

I thought the Volvo 2000 series cold start sequence was to set full throttle, pull out fully then push back stop handle and then turn key. I've never owned one but met and used quite a few, ranging from excellent to not good engines. Met one MD2002 with about 600 hours only that had bores glazed: bitch to start and once running created a serious smokescreen. Owner said "... but I never run it a high revs".

 

[pvb]

I thought the Volvo 2000 series cold start sequence was to set full throttle, pull out fully then push back stop handle and then turn key.

That's the correct way.

 

[GrahamV]

Given you’re capable of thinking in terms of removing pistons, I’d suggest doing a compression check on the engine before going any further. Good compression figures would suggest that the rings are not a fault: poor figures would suggest that they need looking at.
Do try using the cold start procedure, it delivers extra fuel to the cylinders at startup and is meant to take the place of glow plugs. Also no bad idea to try easy start as it’ll prove if the engine will run or not before getting lost in stripping the engine.

It'

I thought the Volvo 2000 series cold start sequence was to set full throttle, pull out fully then push back stop handle and then turn key. I've never owned one but met and used quite a few, ranging from excellent to not good engines. Met one MD2002 with about 600 hours only that had bores glazed: bitch to start and once running created a serious smokescreen. Owner said "... but I never run it a high revs".

Ok. The compression test requires a compression gauge I think and I don't have one at the moment. I concluded low compression after putting some oil in the cylinders and trying to start. It made encouraging noises for a few moments and then went back to no encouraging noises. From that i concluded that with some oil the compression was raised and we had some ignition. After the oil dissipated there was no ignition. Conclusion low compression. I know the valve gear is ok as is the head gasket so chances are it's the rings. But it could be something else. I'm not a diesel mechanic but I am willing to learn. I'll have another look at the cold start tomorrow. It's past my bedtime now.

 

[doug748]

...............One thing that does bug me is that often there is no conclusion to the situation presented. So I am promising to finish the job here and let you know what the outcome of our actions is .............

I agree so, great, look forward to that. I think the responses were positive as well, with an fair lack of the usual "advice" that ignores the original question and situation entirely. Usually saying - just mend it by buying a new one.
BTW, a very nice boat the Deb.

 

[Stemar]

In your situation, I'm not sure there is a right answer. Well, there is, it's to accept that the engine is old and many parts are no longer available, so bin it. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to be an option, at least for now.

So, what to do? Some penetrating oil in the cylinders sounds like a good start; it'll give the rings a chance to free up. Easy start to get it firing and, if you can persuade it to run, a good Italian tuneup. If not, new rings are still available, at least in the UK: Keypart. Be careful with the injector sleeves, as I don't believe they are, and it's easy to damage them removing injectors.

If all else fails, would an outboard on the back be possible until a "proper" engine can be sourced? 6-10 HP should push that boat along nicely to get in and out of harbour, though not up to slogging into a lumpy sea.

 

[38mess]

Hi rah

Hi folks. Newby here. My son has bought a yacht with a Volvo Penta 2002 engine. It doesn't start and whenever I talk to a professional all they can say is "bin it". That's all very well but I like to persevere with things until I am driven insane (maybe I'm there). My son spent all his money buying the boat and intends to save for a new engine but that may be a while off and so, if we can get a bit of life out of this one then it will make getting on and off the mooring a lot easier (and safer).

So far we've worked our way down the list of easier things and our current conclusion is that there is not enough compression. The head seems fine. We've had it off and lapped the valves and given it a good look over and it looks OK. The injectors seem to squirt ok and from the top, the cylinders and pistons don't appear to have any major damage. I put some oil in the cylinders and it fired just a bit on turnover but then went dead again, so I am guessing the problem might be the rings. Next step is the pull the pistons out and here is where I start asking questions of those with more experience than I have. The boat is an S & S 34 DEB33 variant and access to the engine is pretty good by yacht standards. I'm wondering if I can disconnect the engine from the gearbox, pull it forward a bit and roll it on its side. Then remove the sump/pan and pistons in that position. Has anybody done this and what unforeseen problems are likely to occur?

Hi. I used to have the 2001 version of this engine and it was always a nightmare to start from cold, but once warm it would fire up straight away.
I noticed in one of your later posts that water had got into the engine. Worst case scenario... could you have a bent con rod?
I know it's hot where you are but could you try a heat gun or blow torch around the air intake when turning the engine over? This was the only way I could get mine to fire up in the winter.

 

[kalanka]

I have the sister engine - the 2003. When I bought the boat 10 years ago it was very difficult to start. On advice from a diesel engine specialist (non-marine) I had a light skimming of the cylinder head done, the injectors cleaned and checked and also started to follow the start procedure outlined above. It still starts first time on almost every occasion.

If starting when very cold or after a winter lay-up I make sure there is plenty of power in the batteries, give it a double pull on the priming lever and then lift the decompression lever before pressing Start. When the engine turns over at a good speed drop the decompression lever........ and the engine starts.

I have confidence in the engine and although spares sometimes need a bit of searching to source, it is not much of a problem.

Hope you have a decomp lever on the 2002. Good luck!

 

[jwilson]

If it fired and ran briefly but maybe lumpily with oil in the cylinders are you sure diesel is getting to the injectors? As Kalanka says spinning with decompression levers open and then drop them once turning fast is a good option. I once had an ancient single-cyl diesel that was only startable that way - but it always worked even if you were hand cranking.

 

[bigwow]

I don't know where a decompression lever is on the 2002?

 

[pvb]

I don't know where a decompression lever is on the 2002?

It's on the front of the valve cover.

 

[bigwow]

I've had 2 for the last 25yrs and never noticed

 

[MoodySabre]

If it is slow to turn over the consider increasing the size of the lead from Battery to Starter. Try a voltage drop test.