Volvo Penta 2003 help revs down, white smoke and longer to start

[Pickard Corsair]

Could anyone point me in the right direction on this new problem,

I have a Volvo Penta 2003 fresh water cooled, when I bought the boat about 3 years ago the engine was very dieselly externally but started well and no smoke, I had refurbed injectors and fuel pumps professionally fitted this June and all fuel lines/ connectors checked/ replaced which made the engine dry as a bone and running well (although it seemed to take slightly longer to to start).

It was running well for a while but I noticed back at the start of August the full range of revs wasn't there, I would normally cruise around 2250 which it still had but I eventually noticed there were no revs after that and going beyond the throttle leaver point for 2250 added no further revs and started to cause white smoke to come out of the exhaust (not steam as far as I can tell).

No overheating.

Checking the engine when moored up revealed a lot of blowby from the first injector, I had that professionally re-seated/ washered which stopped all blowby and mist from the engine but has not made any difference to the decreased revs and white smoke when throttle deployed beyond the rev limit (i.e. pushed to full throttle with no extra revs developing).

I motored from Conwy to Caernarfon the other week for most of the day at cruising revs 2250 which were maintained and without excessive smoke but the extra power is missing and pushing it causes excessive smoke. Starting seems to take a lot longer originally the engine would start almost instantly the second day of a cruise, now its taking multiple 10 second bursts to get it going.

I have taken a dip underneath to check for fouling and cannot seek anything suspect other than slime and I had the exhaust elbow changed for a brand new one two years ago.

Apologies for long post I have tried to include all the clues/ symptoms I am aware of.

Cheers

 

[Nina Lucia]

We have similar problem with 2003T, I tough it might be air in the fuel lines or fuel problem as it takes too long to start, so we cleaned bottom of the fuel tank and replaced all fuel filters and fuel lines to the engine but no improvement when staring. Next thing is we will check is exhaust, if that looks bad, we might go for stainless still one.

 

[Stemar]

White smoke and poor starting sounds to me like incompletely burnt fuel, probably an injector or pump issue. I'd start off by pulling the injectors and having them checked.

If you have to pull the pumps, don't get them mixed up. The height, set by washers under them is important.

 

[B27]

Always check the silly things which are cheap to fix.
Is enough air getting into the engine?
It could be worth trying some new clean fuel?
Valve clearances?




The failure to rev could be injector timing if the system has been disturbed.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

It is worth checking the exhaust elbow; the water injection nozzle can easily get blocked, and the exhaust is constricted. It's a fairly straightforward job to dismantle it, but take care when reassembling it to seat the water pipes carefully BEFORE tightening up the yokes that hold them in place!

 

[scottie]

You say you have rewashered the injectors there should be zero washers in the sleeves

 

[AntarcticPilot]

You say you have rewashered the injectors there should be zero washers in the sleeves

That's right; there's a copper sleeve that requires a special tool (according to Volvo) to remove or replace; I gather that replacing it is tricky and that spares are scarce. Not from my own knowledge, but others have stated that existing sleeves can be annealed for reuse by heating them to red heat and allowing them to cool. There should not be any washers; that will mess up the spray pattern.

I've been fortunate that the copper sleeves on mine have remained in place when checking injectors, but I gather that it can be a major PITA if they get dislodged and have to be reseated.

 

[Pickard Corsair]

You say you have rewashered the injectors there should be zero washers in the sleeves

True, the washer was added as a temporary fix to reseat/ seal the injector and prevent blow by which did work rather than investigate the sleeve at that stage of the season. However the loss of revs and white smoke was there before and after the re seating/ washering

 

[scottie]

that is a bodge not a cure
the injector seats require reseating

 

[Pickard Corsair]

that is a bodge not a cure
the injector seats require reseating

I prefer the term "temporary fix"! I was advised at the time that to cure the blow by I would need to replace the copper sleave but the availability for that work to be undertaken was a long way off so resealing with the washer (by a boat yard mechanic ) enabled the boat to be used for the rest of the season rather than calling it a day in August, that aside are you of the view reseating/ reseating with a new copper sleeve will cure the rev drop off and white smoke issue?

Frustrating as I had all the injectors and pumps refitted at the start of the season so thought I was ahead on injector issues.

 

[scottie]

I prefer the term "temporary fix"! I was advised at the time that to cure the blow by I would need to replace the copper sleave but the availability for that work to be undertaken was a long way off so resealing with the washer (by a boat yard mechanic ) enabled the boat to be used for the rest of the season rather than calling it a day in August, that aside are you of the view reseating/ reseating with a new copper sleeve will cure the rev drop off and white smoke issue?

Frustrating as I had all the injectors and pumps refitted at the start of the season so thought I was ahead on injector issues.

Certainly more likiy than adding washers

 

[QBhoy]

Since the injector issue (which perhaps I read as the injector only being re seated and not having the injectors overhauled and pop tested), did you change the oil at all ? The quality and condition of the oil is of paramount importance to the compression on an engine like that. Hope that helps….but I can only imagine that you should likely get the injectors some attention. The white smoke could very likely be unburnt fuel. All the best.