Volvo penta d4 dead, stone cold dead.

[julians]

Earlier this year I had a starting problem where it would appear as if the battery was on the way out. Ie if I'd left it plugged into the charger and then start, it would fire up and start just fine, but if I left it for a day or so not plugged in to the shore power , it would be completely dead when you turned the key,no click, no flicker of life on the dash, no voltage on the dash volt meter - dead.

So we put a new battery on it and it seemed all fine,started fine after being left for a few days.

Now I've been away for a few weeks and it's is completely dead, nothing going on when you turn the key, no clicks, no volts etc, despite being plugged into shore power.

Now I'm guessing it'll be a dodgy connection at the starter battery master switch or on the ignition key mechanism.

But before I go pulling it all apart searching for corroded connections, has anyone seen similar on a vp d series engine?

This is ona 2007 vp d4 260.

 

[kashurst]

have you measured/tested the "new" battery and your battery charger?

 

[julians]

Battery charger is fine.

Haven't tested the battery, but it'll be my first port of call, but given its brand new it should be fine.

 

[Clancy Moped]

Edit: have you checked the shore power box that your plugged into....

 

[julians]

Are you leaving anything on by mistake, fridge? calorifier etc

No, it's all tuned off at the main switch.

It actually has two batteries, one for starting the engine and one for everything else, ie the fridge, pumps etc. The service side of the electrics are working fine, fridge runs etc.

It has an emergency start switch which connects the service battery to the starter motor, and even when I throw this switch, it's still dead. So I suspect ignition switch problem or similar.

 

[julians]

Edit: have you checked the shore power box that your plugged into....

Yep, the shore power is fine.

 

[stelican]

Do you have the red key type master switches as these are prone to not making good contacts as they age.

 

[julians]

Do you have the red key type master switches as these are prone to not making good contacts as they age.

Its got red key master switches for the service and emergency start switches, but the engine start master switch is a large heavy metal key thing, Ill see if I can find a photo of the sort.

 

[Portofino]

Can you use a volt meter on the new starter batt now ?Looking for 13 V +++
And on the starter motor +ve , ( use Earth or find its neg ) when some one attempt at the dash to turn the key and start ?

Read somewhere these batt isolator switches pack up , ver d gris = inc resistance etc .Even though you left it on and charger on not much got past it and not enough now with it supposedly turned to ON .

Hopefully the new bat is ok they can cope with a few discharges .Call this the first .

Even though it seemed to work last time …..you have checked those batt connections you loosened last time re new batt instal??

 

[julians]

Can you use a volt meter on the new starter batt now ?Looking for 13 V +++
And on the starter motor +ve , ( use Earth or find its neg ) when some one attempt at the dash to turn the key and start ?

Read somewhere these batt isolator switches pack up , ver d gris = inc resistance etc .Even though you left it on and charger on not much got past it and not enough now with it supposedly turned to ON .

Hopefully the new bat is ok they can cope with a few discharges .Call this the first .

Even though it seemed to work last time …..you have checked those batt connections you loosened last time re new batt instal??

Tomorrows job will be going round with a volt meter trying to find where to voltage disappears, I'm betting the isolator switch.

The connections to the new battery look clean and solid., as do the connections on the back of the isolator switch, I'm guessing that the isolator switch is corroding internally.

Can't find a photo of the isolator switch, but it's a large solid metal key, not the red plastic sort. Will take a photo tomorrow when I'm back at the boat.

Oh well - it was too rough for boating today anyway!

Hopefully will be easy to sort!

 

[stelican]

Are there any circuit breakers on engine that may need resetting.

 

[julians]

Are there any circuit breakers on engine that may need resetting.

The engine manual states that the engine is fitted with an automatic circuit breaker which will reset itself automatically, so I dobt think it's something I can manually reset if it's that,it should just reset itself when the thing causing the breaker to trip is resolved.

I'll look into this in more detail tomorrow though.

 

[lionelz]

silly mistake I had done once is I had accidentally activated the kill switch, if you have one check that

 

[Portofino]

silly mistake I had done once is I had accidentally activated the kill switch, if you have one check that

That just kills the engine only .This is “ stone dead “ no dash lights or gauges etc .So it’s a bit deeper .

 

[lionelz]

That just kills the engine only .This is “ stone dead “ no dash lights or gauges etc .So it’s a bit deeper .

My mistake then as I did not see that.?

 

[julians]

That just kills the engine only .This is “ stone dead “ no dash lights or gauges etc .So it’s a bit deeper .

Yeah completely* dead, no dash lights, no needle movement on the engine instruments , no clicking from the starter motor solonoid,its almost as if the battery isolator switch hasn't been turned on



* not quite completely dead, there is a faint clicking sound coming from somewhere on the engine when you turn the isolator switch on (note not when you turn the ignition switch on, just the isolator), so the isolator is passing some volts to something.

 

[Farmer Piles]

Battery charger is fine.

Haven't tested the battery, but it'll be my first port of call, but given its brand new it should be fine.

I bought a brand new high output battery and fitted it and still there were problems. Spent £500 on a mechanic trying to track down the issue. Turns out that the issue was a faulty brand new battery. It does happen, worth checking.

 

[julians]

I bought a brand new high output battery and fitted it and still there were problems. Spent £500 on a mechanic trying to track down the issue. Turns out that the issue was a faulty brand new battery. It does happen, worth checking.

Yep, how do you check a battery though, apart from buying another and seeing if it's fixed?

 

[Farmer Piles]

Easy way to check the isolator, had problems with one myself in the past, is to simply unbolt the positive from the back of it and bolt it onto the other terminal of the isolator with the other cable. Bypass the switch effectively and easily and easily removed if other problems appear.

 

[Farmer Piles]

Yep, how do you check a battery though, apart from buying another and seeing if it's fixed?

Swap the domestic battery for the engine one temporarily.