Volvo Penta 2002

[Beneteau381]

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?

I would do a compression test first. Parts are available from here www.parts4engines.com

 

[Beneteau381]

I would do a compression test first. Parts are available from here www.parts4engines.com

Volvo Penta 2001 2002 2003 parts

 

[GrahamV]

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.

Thanks Stemar. I'm getting lots of good suggestions. The outboard option is being considered. There's a wind vane steering structure on the transom that is in the way but it could be taken off for the moment. Our thinking is that even an old clunky motor that will at least start will help us on and off the mooring and maybe even keep us off the rocks should the wind and our senses totally fail us. Anyway we will go and fiddle with all these suggestions in mind and let you know what happens.

 

[Sandy]

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".

They only want to sell you a new engine.

With a bench and a bit of time you get this cracking wee engine running sweet as a nut, says a VP 2002 owner.

 

[Stingo]

Could you possibly offer the OP a bench?

 

[Sandy]

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.

Utter tosh!

You can buy a good second hand engine for spares that will see both of us out.

 

[Sandy]

Could you possibly offer the OP a bench?

If he is willing to pay rent and make sure all of my tools are returned.

 

[Frankklose]

The start of the VP 200x is always a problem if there is something wrong with the fuel supply. Take a 5 liter canister filled with diesel and put the fuel line and the return line into the canister. Shut off the water inlet (you dont want to float the engine). Put the decompession lever in decompress. Start the engine.After a few turns turn the decompression lever back. If the engine starts then you know that you have a problem with the fuel supply. The VP 2000 is trouble when there is a small air leak or fuel pump is old. Dont forget this engine is over 30 years old....I have also one of these biests (2003 Turbo...). I changed on mine also the fuel pump ( you are lucky you got the company parts4engines in the uk...). this company has a good business plan, they just stock the parts which usually break...and sell them for a decent price.
My engine stopped last year two miles away from the fuel station on the water......had the diesel pest, fuel line was blocked. After few hours used my spare canister....method described above. This got me into the next port....
The most common problem with this engine is fuel pump and starter motor.
Inside the starter motor is a gear box made with plastic gears and after a while the outer gear is worn out (helical gearbox).....
The engine is over 30 years old...
The previous owner of my Moody dropped a gasket into the internal cooling system and was milled into litte pieces by the water pump....took my two years to find out the reason why the engine always overheated...had the water system at a minimum 3 times apart. Put a hose connected to a dive bottle (200 bar) and blew the air into the cooling system....found the little pieces ...
VP doesnt care for customers they just got the left over parts of their 30 year old stock , the ones which didnt brake and try to sell them for a ridicules prices.

Excuse my English I am German.

 

[rszemeti]

We carry a spare lift pump for that reason; It has failed us before!

 

[GrahamV]

The start of the VP 200x is always a problem if there is something wrong with the fuel supply. Take a 5 liter canister filled with diesel and put the fuel line and the return line into the canister. Shut off the water inlet (you dont want to float the engine). Put the decompession lever in decompress. Start the engine.After a few turns turn the decompression lever back. If the engine starts then you know that you have a problem with the fuel supply. The VP 2000 is trouble when there is a small air leak or fuel pump is old. Dont forget this engine is over 30 years old....I have also one of these biests (2003 Turbo...). I changed on mine also the fuel pump ( you are lucky you got the company parts4engines in the uk...). this company has a good business plan, they just stock the parts which usually break...and sell them for a decent price.
My engine stopped last year two miles away from the fuel station on the water......had the diesel pest, fuel line was blocked. After few hours used my spare canister....method described above. This got me into the next port....
The most common problem with this engine is fuel pump and starter motor.
Inside the starter motor is a gear box made with plastic gears and after a while the outer gear is worn out (helical gearbox).....
The engine is over 30 years old...
The previous owner of my Moody dropped a gasket into the internal cooling system and was milled into litte pieces by the water pump....took my two years to find out the reason why the engine always overheated...had the water system at a minimum 3 times apart. Put a hose connected to a dive bottle (200 bar) and blew the air into the cooling system....found the little pieces ...
VP doesnt care for customers they just got the left over parts of their 30 year old stock , the ones which didnt brake and try to sell them for a ridicules prices.

Excuse my English I am German.

Perfect English Franklose. I understand completely. I am an Australian and we can mangle the English language as good as anybody. Many people tell me the 2000 series is a dud but some people have had a good experience. I understand that this engine is old and probably not really worth the trouble but my son is young and needs to learn about things. In fact I am old and need to learn about things too. I see that my starter motor is new and son I am hopeful that is one thing I don't need to worry about at this stage. It appears to have fuel pumping. I say this because when I take out the injectors everything is covered in diesel and also I get smoke/vapour when we try to start the engine with the exhaust disconnected. I am tempted to try your idea with the canister of diesel. I guess we can worry about the cooling system after we get the engine to run. I understand about VP and their ridiculous pricing for parts. I was quoted AUD 380 for the short fuel return line from the injectors to the fuel filter. A few phone calls and some odd bits sorted that out for about AUD30.

 

[GrahamV]

OK, so today we went out to the boat and tried a couple of things. It was hot and still is. Over 30c. Poured some more oil into the cylinders, we put the injectors back in and gave it a gasper of easy start and turned it over. It was encouraged but did not start. It might have fired but it's hard to tell. Filled the cabin with smoke/mist/vapour. Tried a few times and we got nothing. Took the injectors out (getting good at this) and poured a quantity on Shellite into the cylinders. I believe Shellite is our equivalent to white spirit. Anyway lots of hydrocarbons. Gave it a turnover by hand and then put some more in. Cabin stinks now so we played with a few other bits on deck and then went home. Tomorrow we will try it all again but we have an informal race to compete in and that might distract us. Also, I am picking up a compression gauge and will try that before we start dismantling.

 

[GrahamV]

Utter tosh!

You can buy a good second hand engine for spares that will see both of us out.

A good idea and if I see one for sale I will be tempted. Not too many VP 2002's about downunder I think. Don't worry I can probably muster a bench if it comes to that. It's all those fiddly peripheral things I am trying to keep in place by not taking the engine out of the boat but it might come to that yet.

 

[Frankklose]

Hope your fuel filter is filled with diesel and you have some pressure from the fuel pump, this beast will not start otherwise. Had twice the cylinder head off off and last time with the blocked fuel line it didn't want to start at all, the trick with the canister did it. The other idea is to use an electric fuel pump. Some how the fuel line needs to have pressure....Every time when I reassembled the engine it was difficult to start....After the breakdown on the water I took the tank out and cleaned it with a high pressure washer. The dirt which came out was unbelievable... . Used an electric fuel pump to restart it. Thereafter I exchanged the fuel pump back to a mechanical again. I had the electric one in front of the mechanical because I thought the pressure was not high enough.
When every thing is order the engine starts on the first tick...
Had the valves grinded and replaced one injector. No more black smoke out of the exhaust....engine runs fine now.

 

[owen-cox]

Ive got a VP2002 in my boat and have to say it starts absolutely on the button. It was rebuilt in 2007 and has been across the atlantic and all over the place since then. I don't even have to use the cold start on a freezing cold day. It just fires straight up. I suspect low compression on this one so fix that and it will be a spot on engine again. Their only weak point is the rubber seals for the water piping but if you use a new rubber every time you remove a pipe they work perfectly. I carry a bag of them. I worked for sunsail and we had two fleets of boats with them fitted and they just ran and ran. They like a good thrash at full throttle to keep the exhaust elbow clear. We never had that problem with charter boats!

 

[GrahamV]

Hope your fuel filter is filled with diesel and you have some pressure from the fuel pump, this beast will not start otherwise. Had twice the cylinder head off off and last time with the blocked fuel line it didn't want to start at all, the trick with the canister did it. The other idea is to use an electric fuel pump. Some how the fuel line needs to have pressure....Every time when I reassembled the engine it was difficult to start....After the breakdown on the water I took the tank out and cleaned it with a high pressure washer. The dirt which came out was unbelievable... . Used an electric fuel pump to restart it. Thereafter I exchanged the fuel pump back to a mechanical again. I had the electric one in front of the mechanical because I thought the pressure was not high enough.
When every thing is order the engine starts on the first tick...
Had the valves grinded and replaced one injector. No more black smoke out of the exhaust....engine runs fine now.

Thank you. I realise I shouldn't be over confident about the fuel delivery. We checked the fuel filter for content and there is a little bleed screw on the top. Manually operating the lift pump certainly filled the filter but I have no experience as to how quickly it should do this. With the high pressure lines off the injectors we turned the engine over by hand and fuel was delivered at each rotation. Again I don't know if the pressure is right. We sprayed a lot of easy start into the inlet manifold while trying to start the engine and nothing much happened so I assume the problem is probably something other than fuel. Of course we won't really know until the engine actually runs. We have ground the valves and the head and rocker gear look OK. I don't know at this stage how we could clean the fuel tank but at least there is a good filter in the line.

 

[pvb]

I have also one of these biests (2003 Turbo...).
The most common problem with this engine is fuel pump and starter motor.

I had a 2003T in my last boat; the engine did around 2500 hours in 24 years. During that time, I did replace the fuel pump, but the starter motor was the original one. The engine always started easily and ran well, although a little smoky.

There are two potential issues with the 2003T which you ought to check, as either of these can lead to sudden loss of all the engine oil. The first is the oil cooler, which is prone to corrosion of its alloy body, allowing oil to be pumped out. The cooler is hidden so it's not an obvious problem. The second is the external steel pipe which delivers oil to the turbo, if this rusts it can leak and the oil gets pumped out. I had both of those experiences! Fortunately, I spotted both before too much oil had been lost.

 

[GrahamV]

Ive got a VP2002 in my boat and have to say it starts absolutely on the button. It was rebuilt in 2007 and has been across the atlantic and all over the place since then. I don't even have to use the cold start on a freezing cold day. It just fires straight up. I suspect low compression on this one so fix that and it will be a spot on engine again. Their only weak point is the rubber seals for the water piping but if you use a new rubber every time you remove a pipe they work perfectly. I carry a bag of them. I worked for sunsail and we had two fleets of boats with them fitted and they just ran and ran. They like a good thrash at full throttle to keep the exhaust elbow clear. We never had that problem with charter boats!

Thanks Owen. That gives me some confidence. I guess I am just waiting to see if the engine will at least start before I start fixing up things like water leaks and seals. Tomorrow I hope to put a compression gauge on it. It's only a car type one but if it can't make 150-200 psi then I am sure we should go ahead and pull the pistons out. Luckily it's not costing us much at the moment apart from our time and skinned knuckles so there are no really hard decisions to make.

 

[GrahamV]

I had a 2003T in my last boat; the engine did around 2500 hours in 24 years. During that time, I did replace the fuel pump, but the starter motor was the original one. The engine always started easily and ran well, although a little smoky.

There are two potential issues with the 2003T which you ought to check, as either of these can lead to sudden loss of all the engine oil. The first is the oil cooler, which is prone to corrosion of its alloy body, allowing oil to be pumped out. The cooler is hidden so it's not an obvious problem. The second is the external steel pipe which delivers oil to the turbo, if this rusts it can leak and the oil gets pumped out. I had both of those experiences! Fortunately, I spotted both before too much oil had been lost.

Thanks pvb. Does the 2002 have an oil cooler? I wonder where it is. At least I don't need to worry about the turbo. I understand that in cars at least the turbo is very sensitive to the condition of the oil. I guess when you are lubricating something that gets that hot everything needs to be right. We have a nice (reasonably) clean bilge so I hope to spot oil leaks early.

 

[pvb]

Thanks pvb. Does the 2002 have an oil cooler? I wonder where it is. At least I don't need to worry about the turbo. I understand that in cars at least the turbo is very sensitive to the condition of the oil. I guess when you are lubricating something that gets that hot everything needs to be right. We have a nice (reasonably) clean bilge so I hope to spot oil leaks early.

No oil cooler on the 2002.

 

[Sandy]

Do you have copies of the workshop manuals? I have some PDF files if you want copies.