Volvo shift actuator fault.

[Lynchygt3]

Hello guys, having trouble with my shift actuator on my 2016 Volvo penta D4 260 with DPH-C stern drive. 198 hours.

Fault is only when shifting into reverse, it does actually go into reverse but after 1 second the alarm goes off and it cuts the engine.

Fault on the screen reads…

Check shift actuator
MID 187
FMI 7
PSID 24
OCC 6

Visually watching the actuator and it seemed to move as it should, forward, neutral and reverse as soon a selected.

I have had the cable off and it was a little stiff at first, but the boat had sat in the water for 3 weeks untouched, so I put a funnel on the end of the cable and filled it with oil and worked the cable hundreds of times over a couple of hours, refitted the cable and the fault was exactly the same. Nothing at all changed.

I then removed the cable again and tried shifting with it disconnected, everything works perfectly with the cable disconnect, the actuator moves the same (as it should) with the cable on or off, but the fault only happens with the cable connected.

I have made sure the cable is adjusted perfectly, it’s definitely not stiff, there’s a little resistance as you put it in and out of gear by hand, but there’s got to be as you are moving the parts?

I have done a helm selector calibration followed by an automatic calibration, this made no difference.

with the cable connected I can quickly put it into reverse and back out without the alarm or fault happening, but it has to be within that 1 second, when selecting reverse and just waiting for the alarm to go off, the actuator does make the buzzing noise as it moves for a longer time than it does going into forward (about 1 second longer then the alarm goes off) but with the cable disconnect, the buzz noise going into forward or back is exactly the same amount of time.

So for some reason with the cable connected it is thinking there is too much resistance maybe? It’s definitely not stiff now but I wonder if it was and this has damaged the actuator over time? Or the actuator has just naturally worn out.

Our local and only Volvo penta dealer is very helpful but can’t come to the boat for 3 weeks or more…

I'm more than happy to buy and fit a new actuator if I’m confident this is the cause, what do you guys think?

My feelings are if it was an electronic fault outside of the actuator it wouldn’t be moving the actuator? Or is something seeing a wrong voltage return from the actuator when reverse is selected and flagging the fault, but why would the cable being disconnected stop this?

I am located in Newcastle UK north east.

Any guidance would be really appreciate,
Thank you
Kevin.

 

[Lynchygt3]

I see the actuator has a new part number too, does that imply they have improved them since 2016? And if so that must have been because they were a weak point?

 

[Lynchygt3]

Pic of screen attached.

 

[Lynchygt3]

Set up.

 

[luke collins]

Do you have 2 engines. Can you swap it over to see if the fault follows to rule out the cable/linkage sticking

 

[Lynchygt3]

Do you have 2 engines. Can you swap it over to see if the fault follows to rule out the cable/linkage sticking

Unfortunately not, just a single, it’s in a Jeanneau leader 8.

Thank you for the idea though
kevin.

 

[GrahamHR]

Unfortunately not, just a single, it’s in a Jeanneau leader 8.

Thank you for the idea though
kevin.

The original cables fitted by VP were not the best; they became stiff quite easily. First thing I'd change would be the shift cable, switch to a Teleflex TFXtreme one ( flexible multistrand wire core and PTFE sheath, rather the solid wire core and PE sheath of the original type). Not easy to fit a new cable on all boats though, it depends very much on access to the top of the inner transom shield!

 

[Lynchygt3]

The original cables fitted by VP were not the best; they became stiff quite easily. First thing I'd change would be the shift cable, switch to a Teleflex TFXtreme one ( flexible multistrand wire core and PTFE sheath, rather the solid wire core and PE sheath of the original type). Not easy to fit a new cable on all boats though, it depends very much on access to the top of the inner transom shield!

I’ve ordered a new shift actuator, I’m going to fit this and free off the cable by hand as much as possible again before fitting it, then straight to the hoist for a lift out, the cable doesn’t look difficult to change luckily, I’ll definitely look into the Teleflex one’s thanks.
I have heard Volvo have their own super slippery ones now too, but I’ll ask our local penta dealer what they think is best.
thank you.

 

[volvopaul]

Stiff , worn out shift cable placing high current draw on the motor , replace the shift cable with the Volvopenta exact model of cable .
Possibly not an easy task if engine bay is tight on space , many engine parts require removal to gain access to the shift cable tube .

 

[volvopaul]

Hello guys, having trouble with my shift actuator on my 2016 Volvo penta D4 260 with DPH-C stern drive. 198 hours.

Fault is only when shifting into reverse, it does actually go into reverse but after 1 second the alarm goes off and it cuts the engine.

Fault on the screen reads…

Check shift actuator
MID 187
FMI 7
PSID 24
OCC 6

Visually watching the actuator and it seemed to move as it should, forward, neutral and reverse as soon a selected.

I have had the cable off and it was a little stiff at first, but the boat had sat in the water for 3 weeks untouched, so I put a funnel on the end of the cable and filled it with oil and worked the cable hundreds of times over a couple of hours, refitted the cable and the fault was exactly the same. Nothing at all changed.

I then removed the cable again and tried shifting with it disconnected, everything works perfectly with the cable disconnect, the actuator moves the same (as it should) with the cable on or off, but the fault only happens with the cable connected.

I have made sure the cable is adjusted perfectly, it’s definitely not stiff, there’s a little resistance as you put it in and out of gear by hand, but there’s got to be as you are moving the parts?

I have done a helm selector calibration followed by an automatic calibration, this made no difference.

with the cable connected I can quickly put it into reverse and back out without the alarm or fault happening, but it has to be within that 1 second, when selecting reverse and just waiting for the alarm to go off, the actuator does make the buzzing noise as it moves for a longer time than it does going into forward (about 1 second longer then the alarm goes off) but with the cable disconnect, the buzz noise going into forward or back is exactly the same amount of time.

So for some reason with the cable connected it is thinking there is too much resistance maybe? It’s definitely not stiff now but I wonder if it was and this has damaged the actuator over time? Or the actuator has just naturally worn out.

Our local and only Volvo penta dealer is very helpful but can’t come to the boat for 3 weeks or more…

I'm more than happy to buy and fit a new actuator if I’m confident this is the cause, what do you guys think?

My feelings are if it was an electronic fault outside of the actuator it wouldn’t be moving the actuator? Or is something seeing a wrong voltage return from the actuator when reverse is selected and flagging the fault, but why would the cable being disconnected stop this?

I am located in Newcastle UK north east.

Any guidance would be really appreciate,
Thank you
Kevin.

Leon Davison is local to you and competent to do this job , google LMD Marine .

 

[Lynchygt3]

Leon Davison is local to you and competent to do this job , google LMD Marine .

Stiff , worn out shift cable placing high current draw on the motor , replace the shift cable with the Volvopenta exact model of cable .
Possibly not an easy task if engine bay is tight on space , many engine parts require removal to gain access to the shift cable tube .

I think I’ve seen the LMD Marine van at our marina before, I’ll definitely keep them in mind if needed, it was more the diagnostic using the Volvo computer I was after, not sure if they would have that? or if that’s an official penta dealer only thing?

I’m more than comfortable doing the mechanical work myself, luckily the cable and tube are not difficult to get to, it’s a bugger getting into my engine bay, but once I’m in there, the cable, actuator etc are all accessible.

I’ll report back if the new actuator works for future reference to anyone else, I’m going to do a load of maintenance jobs while it’s out on the hard that I was otherwise going to do when it came out for the winter. I was hoping it wouldn’t need to come back out until the winter…

Thanks.

 

[Nigbb]

I think I’ve seen the LMD Marine van at our marina before, I’ll definitely keep them in mind if needed, it was more the diagnostic using the Volvo computer I was after, not sure if they would have that? or if that’s an official penta dealer only thing?

I’m more than comfortable doing the mechanical work myself, luckily the cable and tube are not difficult to get to, it’s a bugger getting into my engine bay, but once I’m in there, the cable, actuator etc are all accessible.

I’ll report back if the new actuator works for future reference to anyone else, I’m going to do a load of maintenance jobs while it’s out on the hard that I was otherwise going to do when it came out for the winter. I was hoping it wouldn’t need to come back out until the winter…

Thanks.

I have the exact same problem, I do have twins and the problem is on stb, i did swap the actuators over and the problem is still on the stb side. Volvo Paul advise it would probably be the cable (as he has here) and I am convinced also that will be the fix.
Having twins I can easily work around until the winter and the boat is out of the water .

 

[Lynchygt3]

Right guys and anyone that might see this in future, the new actuator has fixed the problem and the boat is changing gear and running perfectly again.

Im still on the assumption that a sticky cable has caused the actuator to fail, so Before attaching the old cable to the new actuator I freed it off by hand the best I could so it didn’t put unnecessary strain on it.

The boat is coming out of the water on Friday so I can replace the cable and do other jobs and it won’t be used in the meantime, on Friday before I start the boat I will again work the old cable by hand to make sure it is as free as possible so the new actuator isn’t upset for the 2 min trip from my berth to the hoist.

What a relief!

The actuator has been updated now and has a new part number, it has more support for the moving parts etc, so hopefully a little more robust, the original one lasted 6 years for reference.

Thanks and Happy boating.

 

[Lynchygt3]

Old and new

 

[volvopaul]

I think I’ve seen the LMD Marine van at our marina before, I’ll definitely keep them in mind if needed, it was more the diagnostic using the Volvo computer I was after, not sure if they would have that? or if that’s an official penta dealer only thing?

I’m more than comfortable doing the mechanical work myself, luckily the cable and tube are not difficult to get to, it’s a bugger getting into my engine bay, but once I’m in there, the cable, actuator etc are all accessible.

I’ll report back if the new actuator works for future reference to anyone else, I’m going to do a load of maintenance jobs while it’s out on the hard that I was otherwise going to do when it came out for the winter. I was hoping it wouldn’t need to come back out until the winter…

Thanks.

You don’t need the vodia to tell you if it’s the shift cable , the fault code tells me that and years of experience changing the cable to rectify this fault . Be careful you don’t screw up your new actuator pushing the old cable .

 

[volvopaul]

I see the actuator has a new part number too, does that imply they have improved them since 2016? And if so that must have been because they were a weak point?

When volvo change a part number it’s usually because they have changed supplier, so it’s not necessary an improvement.

 

[Lynchygt3]

When volvo change a part number it’s usually because they have changed supplier, so it’s not necessary an improvement.

Ahh I see, There is a few changes on the new one, but as you said this may not be why they changed the part number. The central shaft that moves in and out is supported right to the end now, plus a couple of other small changes when they are side by side.

 

[Lynchygt3]

When volvo change a part number it’s usually because they have changed supplier, so it’s not necessary an improvement.

Paul hopefully you see this?, can I ask, are the actuators designed to pull the cable a mm or so just past the gearboxes full travel? Forward and back it takes up all the movement available and then just squeezes that extra mm or 2? Presumably to make 100% sure it is locked in gear?

if you remove the cable from the actuator when it is in either forward or reverse you cant then get the cable back on as the eye is that 1 or 2 mm short, you have to put it back into neutral and the cable eye then lines up perfectly again, I’ve adjusted it so that distance is perfectly the same in forward or reverse but it feels as if it’s just straining its self and I’m hoping the isn’t going to upset the new actuator?
it’s a brand new volvo cable and it’s as free as a bird. The cable is the correct length and has more travel to give than the actuator is using, it’s the gearbox travel that’s the limiting factor. But I’m assuming and hoping it is designed this way? as I said above to make sure it is locked in gear?

Hope you can help with some reassurance
Thank you
Kevin.

 

[Gryff1234]

looks like same things happened to me what cables did you fit in the end and what kind of job was it to do?