Volvo TAMD61A engine problems.

[captain tomas]

Hello to you all and wishing everyone stress free boating in 2016.

I have a problem with the stop solenoid on my Volvo TAMD 61A of 1988 vintage.
for a considerable time the original worked only about fifty per cent of shut downs
finally giving up completely .
A new Volvo unit is priced at £440 and I wonder if anyone has sourced and fitted a non Volvo unit,
if so perhaps you could give details.

 

[Montemar]

Why not take the stop solenoid apart, locate the precise fault and see if you can fix it. If the coil has burned out you could rewind it or get a coilwinder to do it. If the fault was intermittent then perhaps it was a dry joint. I would have a good poke around before chucking £440 at the problem. I know nothing about this device however but I have assumed it is not a sealed unit.

 

[VicS]

Hello to you all and wishing everyone stress free boating in 2016.

I have a problem with the stop solenoid on my Volvo TAMD 61A of 1988 vintage.
for a considerable time the original worked only about fifty per cent of shut downs
finally giving up completely .
A new Volvo unit is priced at £440 and I wonder if anyone has sourced and fitted a non Volvo unit,
if so perhaps you could give details.

Are you sure its the solenoid itself that's causing the trouble.

AFAIK its only a coil and not likely to suffer any intermittent fault, although not impossible.

have you checked for bad electrical connections, / operation of the relay that controls it etc.

Have you checked the solenoid coil for continuity / lack of continuity ?

Is power being supplied to the relay when the key is tuned to the stop position ? and is that applying power to the stop solenoid?
Use a test lamp ( bulb on a couple of leads) rather than a digital multimeter as they draw so little current they can give a normal reading through a bad connection.

I assume you have looked at the mechanical linkages ? and even checked that the solenoid is free mechanically

 

[scottie]

As an ExVP dealer it was a best seller always had them on the shelf nice little earner as they say

 

[Jcorstorphine]

Think you will find that the fuel solenoid on the Volvo TAMD61a is the same as used on the Perkins 2006, 3008 or 3012. In fact I wwonder if the TAMD61a is a Perkins base unit as I came across a service manual which stated TAMD61a (Perkins) but could be wrong.

If you cant get your unit working try Keypart else buy one from Ebay (China origin) for about £70. Also Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Holdwell-solenoid-TAMD61A-Perkins-1827650/dp/B00HVGOIYU

Volvo spares are a total rip off. Would never buy a boat with a Volvo engine as spent a fortune on spares trying to keep a Volvo engine running. Would have been cheaper to buy a new engine.

 

[Jegs]

Might be worth checking feed at & from ignition switch.

ATB,


John G

 

[Medskipper]

I have the same engines and purchased the boat 18 months ago, had the same problem because the boat had not been used much.
I sprayed them liberally with WD40 and worked them manually until they moved freely. Not had any problems since! Have you tried that?
good luck.

 

[sharpness]

Quick search on ebay gives (see link) :

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_f...RS0&_nkw=volvo+tamd61a+stop+solenoid&_sacat=0

But, as mentioned above, have you proven that it is the solenoid that has failed ? The issues i have had regarding the stop solenoid on mine have been wiring connections, in particular the inline fuse, the stop relay (located in the electrical box on top of front of the engine), the inline connectors, and the main connector block connected to the stop solenoid.

Apologies if teaching you to suck eggs, but simplest way to prove is to disconnect main plug near solenoid, have somone operate keyswitch as though your turning engine off, and use multimeter to see if you have 12v DC at this connector. If there is 12v, then apart from mechanical linkage issue, it'll be the solenoid itself. If no voltage, work your way along the system to find the suspect connection.
If you need the wiring diagram, PM me your e-mail address and i'll forward the relevant manual to you.

 

[rosssavage]

Two versions of this - the old one (good to fix) and new one (chuck it).

Both types have a high current pull in coil and a low current hold in coil. The old version has a mechanical switching arrangement under the removable black plastic cover. You can get a bit of sand paper between the contacts, give it a clean, and use liberal amounts of contact cleaner solvent to remove all the black dust and crud that accumulates under there.

If it's the new type, the plastic top is a moulded potting compound concealing a solid state switch. This cannot be serviced at all, as removing the potting compound destroys the solid state bits inside. DON'T be tempted to bypass the switching and hold in coil - the pull in coil will overload the wiring loom in about five seconds (the pull in only operates for a fraction of a second under normal operation).

There is a stop relay located in the electrical box at the front of the engine (behind the plate the multiplug connects to) and a continental style ceramic fuse in there too. The relay holder itself can fail (the Lucas style contacts bend outwards and get loose - this leads to a frustrating intermittent fault) after a few years, so you'll need to check that carefully (not easy to do unfortunately).

 

[mehei]

We had this problem some time ago.
Clean inline fuse connections,not easy to access however new fuse at 20p!!

 

[captain tomas]

Thank you all for the advice, however I Have checked out the whole circuit and established that the solenoid is at fault. Burned out due to overload.
As I suggested I want to fit an after market part and wonder if anyone else has taken this path?
My original solenoid is only fitted with two wires and the new ones have three, how would this be wired in?

 

[scottie]

As I recall they are susceptible to miss adjustment which can case the power to stay on and thus burn out
See if you can get the applicable service sheets or speak to Paul

 

[superheat6k]

Can you measure the current draw on the second engine (assuming you have two), from this the VA rating of the coil can be established (12 x current draw) and then it might be feasible to locate a suitable replacement solenoid.

I use lots of different solenoids on fridge systems and have had to substitute coils on numerous compressors etc. If you let me have the details and I will see if something will fit. Variables will be VA rating and bore diameter. As yours is two wire it will be a simple affair.

 

[aquapower]

My original solenoid is only fitted with two wires and the new ones have three, how would this be wired in?

New one is wired direct to power and comes with a loom, easy to swap and connect up, diagram supplied with it, there was a lot of these burnt out so they were modified. With early type ignition switch it was easy to leave solenoid powered up if not turning key to the off position.

 

[rosssavage]

Can you measure the current draw on the second engine (assuming you have two), from this the VA rating of the coil can be established (12 x current draw) and then it might be feasible to locate a suitable replacement solenoid.

I use lots of different solenoids on fridge systems and have had to substitute coils on numerous compressors etc. If you let me have the details and I will see if something will fit. Variables will be VA rating and bore diameter. As yours is two wire it will be a simple affair.

Careful with that - as I mentioned earlier, it has two coils. Pull in and hold in. If you measure the current with it energised, you're only measuring the hold in coil as the pull in is energised for a fraction of a second.

The wiring loom is NOT specced to run the pull in for more than a second, any longer and the wiring burns. Ask me how I know!!

 

[rosssavage]

Answering the OP's question - I have no experience of the non Volvo parts (I bit the bullet and bought a Volvo) but for c£70 it's probably worth a punt.

Assume the cheapo lasts two years, you'd have to buy six of them (12 years service) for the price of one Volvo unit.

Re three wire - one of the Ebay ones was a two wire I noticed. Three wire suggests the new solid state version - I'd avoid them, as you can't tinker with it. Get a two wire, and you have the option of servicing the contacts if it get iffy, whereas the three wire only goes in the bin if it starts playing up. Incidentally, the conversion to three wire is relatively simple on paper, but tapping into the wiring behind the wiring box cover plate is very tricky. (Access and lack of spare wire length)

 

[superheat6k]

Careful with that - as I mentioned earlier, it has two coils. Pull in and hold in. If you measure the current with it energised, you're only measuring the hold in coil as the pull in is energised for a fraction of a second.

The wiring loom is NOT specced to run the pull in for more than a second, any longer and the wiring burns. Ask me how I know!!

The OP mentioned his coil only has two connections, so not a double coil.

 

[rosssavage]

The OP mentioned his coil only has two connections, so not a double coil.

Please read my post #9. Two coils with either a mechanical or solid state switchover device in the black plastic cap. Energising the red wire activates the high current pull in coil. When the plunger reaches its full in position, it activates the switch which energises the hold in coil and cuts power to the pull in coil.

The three wire version is the solid state switch version - power (for electronics) earth and switched power to activate.

The two wire version is the older mechanically switched version - still has two coils though.

 

[superheat6k]

Please read my post #9. Two coils with either a mechanical or solid state switchover device in the black plastic cap. Energising the red wire activates the high current pull in coil. When the plunger reaches its full in position, it activates the switch which energises the hold in coil and cuts power to the pull in coil.

The three wire version is the solid state switch version - power (for electronics) earth and switched power to activate.

The two wire version is the older mechanically switched version - still has two coils though.

I assume then it returns negative via the casing. On my TAMD60C's the switches were insulated return, so I assumed the solenoid would have been the same.

I can testify to having left these in the on position a few times, mainly when SWMBO or someone else turned off the engines.

 

[rosssavage]

These are insulated return to - all the switching is done internally. For the two wire version, the wires are simply + and -. Apply 12v to the positive and it energises the pull in coil. At the top of its stroke, the plunger hits a changeover switch which cuts power to the pull in and applies power to the hold in.

The later solid state three wire version still does all the switching internally, but needs an additional permanent 12v feed for some reason. So you have permanent +, switched + and - wires. Needs the extra permanent 12v wire adding if using this version on an older engine built with the two wire version.

Sorry if I'm not explaining this too well, it makes sense when you take one apart

And I'm too embarrassed to mention the time I'd left my lower helm keys in the stop position overnight and couldn't work out why the engines wouldn't start from the upper helm the next day. I'd got as far as stripping fuel filters before I accidentally touched one of the stop solenoids to find it warm.......