volvo penta d1-30f won't restart when hot

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voilange

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Hello,

I have some touble with my D1-30F engine since a few moment, when the motor is hot, I can't restart it, the electronic switches off before the engine starts.

I open the black box but I can't see any component which could be have some trouble on the MDI Power bord. The command is made only with electronical parts, without any relay.

Is anyone has already seen something like this ?

Soory, it might be not on the right forum
 
Does the engine turn over and spin the same when you try to start the hot engine as it does when cold?
The earth (from battery negative) cable could be corroded near or at where it connects to the engine. Electrical resistance increases with temperature and a hot engine, heating the connection may be enough to slow the starter motor or give a big voltage drop to stop the electronics working. You could check this with a voltage drop test between the engine and battery when starting.
 
Thank you for your answer.

When the engine is cold, there is no problem, the engine starts as usual.
But when it is hot the MDI module goes off before the engine starts.

I'll verify the state of the battery ans the different connectors.
I didn't think about that because I can start the engine if I use a direct connection (for example with a screwdriver between to shunt directly from the + to the start wire).
 
Volvo had a major issue with their control boxes over, roughly, first six months of 2017. The boxes are used on the whole engine range and it must have been serious as they ran our of replacement boxes. I'd guess the problem was for engines installed or delivered late 2016.

When this fault occurred the engines would not start at all - unless you used the screwdriver trick (which many owners would not be aware of) - so it became a potential safety issue.

I believe there are no user servicing parts in the control box and replacements are not cheap.

There was a thread or 2 on YBW and some on user groups.

Replacements in Oz were under warranty.

Pending further advise - I can only suggest making a Google search for' Volvo D series control box failures' or something similar or more applicable. You might then have sufficient background to contact your boatbuilder or Volvo agent.

Good luck

Jonathan
 
Thanks to all,

Neeves: my engine is quite old (2012) so the problem is not the one you explain

macd: No the engine doesn't move at all. When I push the start button the electics switches off immediatly.

No Regrets: I don't think about a mechanical problem, because, when I start the engine (with a emergency fix) it works fine, without any power limitation.

I create an emergency starter with a relay, a power flyback diode and a push button to start the engine, with a more convenient way than the screwdriver
 
I've got a copy of the electrical workshop manual for the D series engines and if you send me a private message with your email address I'll send you a copy - I've just tried to send you a private message with it as an attachment but I can't find how to attach anything to the PM.
To me your problem seems to be caused by an electrical contact expanding with the engine heat and as it gets hot it breaks contact. Have you tried seeing how warm the engine compartment gets before it stops restarting? This will tell you if it's an expansion problem.
I had a problem with my rpm guage not working but leaping back into life if you lightly touched the multi plug. I traced it to being a loose wire in the plug connection to the rpm sender, but this wire was in the same wiring loom as all the multiplug wires.
Mike
 
I can confirm that the D1-30 is very sensitive to voltage drop when starting. I had an almost identical problem when my engine was new, albeit when cold, with the electronics aborting the start cycle almost immediately that the start button was pressed. After the engineers that did the installation really gave up after fitting a new starter motor and trying various other solutions, we finally cured the fault ourselves by fitting much beefier cables from the engine to the battery. The starter motor on the previous engine, a Volvo 2030 had a much lower draw on current, hence the previous cables were adequate. Therefore I would definitely follow up on the suggestions that heat from a hot engine is causing a poor connection and the consequential voltage drop is causing the problem.
 
So I do some test yesterday.

One note, the engine and the boat were build in 2012 and it is a new problem.

I take the volatge between the MDI + and the alternator -.
My voltmeter goes down from 14V to 13.7V.
I don't have a scope with memory, so I cacn't mesure the lower point... But I think that with this voltage, it is not a problem :(

I try to change a component in the MDI. It seems to be heated (a double shottky diode)... But it doesn't change anything..


richardbrennan: Sorry, I'm not sure to have well understood your answer. What cables do you change ?
 
I can fix the problem, it is the temperature sensor which is broken.

When I disconnect it, the engine starts again. There is an error on the panel but the engine is starting.

I change it very soon
 
Excellent post Voilange as it started with a problem and you kindly posted the solution as well.
These D series Volvo's with the electronic control/starter are a pain. I know from experience, after buying my 2nd hand boat it all worked perfectly for the delivery cruise, but after that it suddenly wouldn't start, it went through the electronic start process but just closed down before you pressed the actual starter button. Othe threads on here suggested insufficient voltage and I replaced the starter battery, and bingo it started first time. I subsequently had all the cables between battery and starter and alternator beefed up to the next size and no subsequent problems.
 
macd said:
The OP seems fairly savvy and may have considered this. When he writes that "the electronic switches off before the engine starts", a clue may lie in whether the switch-off was close to instantaneous, or allowed the engine to grind over for a while.
Click to expand...

You're right, I only read the first post, apologies!

Engine Earth would be the next port of call, as was also suggested, but that wouldn't have done it either looking above... :encouragement:
 
I basically changed the same cables as Rafiki, namely those from the battery to the engine earth point and engine master switch/starter motor.
 
Bad news :(

I change the temperature sensor and... Nothing changes.... When too hot, arround 49°C the engine doesn't start... :disgust:

The voltage on the sensor is a little bit low 4.9 V in place of 5V....

Is anyone knows what is the resistance of the sensor when the motor is in alarm ?
 
I do some other tries with the sensor.
I use a heater to verify when the MDI box indicates an alarm or can't start the engine.

After 50°C the engine can't start and then arround 70-80°c, there us an alarm indicating that the engine is too hot which might arrive only arround 100°c

But I don't know what this means...
 
voilange said:
I do some other tries with the sensor.
I use a heater to verify when the MDI box indicates an alarm or can't start the engine.

After 50°C the engine can't start and then arround 70-80°c, there us an alarm indicating that the engine is too hot which might arrive only arround 100°c

But I don't know what this means...
Click to expand...

You may already have it, but there's a Volvo Penta electrical manual for your engine which gives fault-finding details for the MDI system. If you'd like a copy, PM me with your email address and I'll send you a PDF of it.
 
I had a very similar fault with the engine start going intermittent and the temperature alarm sounding prematurely. After much head-scratching and time wasting I solved the problem by remaking the connection to the alternator negative. This also provides the negative power connection to the MDI.

Two recent threads on MDI problems are here and here
 
Last edited:
I hope you have sorted the problem by now we had exactly the same fault and finally traced it to the temp sensor on the motor , if disconnected the engine will start when hot . A new sensor has fixed the problem .there are several posts on the Hanse owners blog that may help
 
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