Volvo Penta 290DPE leg trim pump

Momac

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The trim pump on one of my 290dpe leg trim pumps is faulty (attached to kad32 Engine) . I know the fault is not the rams leaking as this has been investigated when the boat was lifted out in April. There is no loss of fluid and no water in the fluid.
The fault is the leg droops under gravity and also under power . It’s not a major issue . If I just leave both legs on fully down the boat goes okay. The electrical motor works okay but there must be an internal fault with one or more of the hydraulic valves.

A new genuine VP trim pump is £400+VAT while an aftermarket pump from Repower is £200+VAT.
Would I be wasting my money buying the half price Repower pump rather than the genuine Volvo Penta item ?
http://repowermarine.com/index.php/...ump-assembly-for-volvo-penta-sterndrives.html
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The fault is not air in the system.
Earlier in the year when the boat was ashore the hoses were clamped and the leg stayed up so it's snot the ram seals.
One valve was replaced but it was waste of money as it made no improvement.
 
The fault is not air in the system.
Earlier in the year when the boat was ashore the hoses were clamped and the leg stayed up so it's snot the ram seals.
One valve was replaced but it was waste of money as it made no improvement.

If the oil is old you could try changing that and see if it makes a difference before getting a new pump, a local mechanic told me when I mentioned I had a similar issue however it would very slowly drop.
 
New oil was used when the valve was replaced in April, with no improvement.
The leg does drop slowly and can be raised but clearly there is a fault.
 
The fault is not air in the system.
Earlier in the year when the boat was ashore the hoses were clamped and the leg stayed up so it's snot the ram seals.
One valve was replaced but it was waste of money as it made no improvement.

Hi Martyn , I'm afraid I can't agree with you on that test , I'd say 99% if the trim pump is ok I've valves seating then it's got to be the Rams bypassing oil internally, the weight of the drive is very little compared to the weight of the boat being pushed through the water as the weight is on the Rams.
Try driving the boat through the water on the good engine, then do it with the bad drive and watch the trim gauge

Have you swapped the trim pumps, that's the easiest option.?
 
The leg droops slowly under gravity with the boat in the water and also with the boat ashore. It droops under power gradually but can be raised back up.With the hoses clamped there was no droop after leaving the leg raised and left overnight.
One valve in the trim pump replaced but obviously not the faulty one as there was no improvement.
Swapping the trim pumps over to see if the fault moves with the pump is a good suggestion which may well be my next move. But not while the summer is here.
 
Have you swapped the trim pumps, that's the easiest option.?

Today I did just that .




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The removed pump assembly. There is nothing wrong with the electric motor or the reservoir.


The pump for the starboard engine is not quite so accessible (sorry for the bad focus). *One screw dropped into the bilge took quite an effort to recover.


But I got there in the end and now have the two pumps swapped over .


Testing the trim shows the fault has moved with the pump. So it confirms with no doubt the pump is at fault and not the rams.
I don't think the pumps can be repaired , unless any of you good people have any suggestions.
So I think a complete new pump and motor assembly seems to be the way forwards.
 
Sorry to drag an old thread back to the top, but MartynG, a what did you do in the end? Can the pump be overhauled? Did you buy a cheaper aftermarket pump? Thanks
 
I haven't done anything more yet but plan to have this sorted over the winter.
I intend to follow the option of an aftermarket replacement of the complete pump body/motor /reservoir . A shame really as externally the original looks as good as new.
 
Thanks for the update. I haven't looked closely at one yet, but find it hard to believe that they are not serviceable. Have you studied it closely to see if it comes apart?
 
No I haven't tried taking it apart.but people who know a lot more than me have tried and failed.
 
@Momac Did you replace the pump with a OEM or aftermarket at the end and did you source them from repower marine? I am having the very same issue and wonder what are my options. thanks

 
@Momac Did you replace the pump with a OEM or aftermarket at the end and did you source them from repower marine? I am having the very same issue and wonder what are my options. thanks

Yes I obtained a pump from re power. The pump came with adaptors to fit the existing existing pipework but no instructions which was confusing. Also the mounting bolts were a different thread. Otherwise its still working which must be 7 years or so .
 
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