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Old 24-11-2014, 14:48   #1
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Volvo Penta 2040 Engine Problems

Tom has identified the problem as either leaking oil on one or burning oil. He vacuumed out a bunch of oil from the port engine compartment today. We're going down to North Palm Beach in the morning and he'll check it again when we arrive. I know I'm not putting this well, but can anyone tell us what he should be looking for?

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Old 24-11-2014, 16:18   #2
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Re: Volvo Penta 2040 Engine Problems

If there is oil in the compartment, then it appears to be leaking and not burning.

Several possibilities, but the easiest thing to do is to look around the engine while running and see where it is leaking from.

If it is leaking at a high rate, it is possible one of the freeze plugs let go. These are easily fixed. If you see oil pouring out a hole in the casting of the engine that seems to not be connected to anything, you can just put a bung in there for now to stop it. Later, you can get a new plug and press it in.

Next in line would be a rear seal, then a front seal, then an oil pan gasket or actual hole in oil pan.

If it is a small leak, it may be coming from the throttle lever seal on the injection pump. However, this leak should be very slow - it would have to leak for a long time to require vacuuming.

There are other possibilities, but you need to tell us the general area the oil is leaking from.

If it is burning oil, then you would see a lot of black exhaust smoke.

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Old 24-11-2014, 16:23   #3
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Re: Volvo Penta 2040 Engine Problems

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom and Maje View Post
Tom has identified the problem as either leaking oil on one or burning oil. He vacuumed out a bunch of oil from the port engine compartment today. We're going down to North Palm Beach in the morning and he'll check it again when we arrive. I know I'm not putting this well, but can anyone tell us what he should be looking for?

Maje
Stick with the leak idea. It is probably not going to be burning very much unless it sounds like a thrashing machine. If it's a sudden leak, look at hoses and fittings. Get greasy, stick your fingers in there.
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Old 24-11-2014, 16:51   #4
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Re: Volvo Penta 2040 Engine Problems

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom and Maje View Post
Tom has identified the problem as either leaking oil on one or burning oil. He vacuumed out a bunch of oil from the port engine compartment today. We're going down to North Palm Beach in the morning and he'll check it again when we arrive. I know I'm not putting this well, but can anyone tell us what he should be looking for?

Maje
He should be looking for oil where it shouldn't be. Running down from someplace on the engine, the filter, etc. Clean everything so the oil will be easier to spot.

If I had a serious oil loss problem I wouldn't be going too far before I found out and corrected the cause. Running the engine low or without oil could cause serious damage.
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Old 25-11-2014, 14:56   #5
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Re: Volvo Penta 2040 Engine Problems

Mark,

Tom cleaned everything before we left. He checked it shortly thereafter and there was a little bit around the throttle connections. He checked it 3 hours later and there was about 2 qt in the compartment.

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Old 25-11-2014, 14:59   #6
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Re: Volvo Penta 2040 Engine Problems

Usually, if you have a "burning oil" smell coming off an engine , you have either lubricating oil leaking from gaskets on the upper parts of the engine(valve-cover gasket?) and running onto/over the hot exhaust manifold,or perhaps a cracked or leaking oil-supply line to a remote mounted filter spraying oil onto the manifold (both potentially dangerous conditions!), Sounds like one or the other if you have oil puddling under the engine.
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Old 25-11-2014, 15:00   #7
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Re: Volvo Penta 2040 Engine Problems

I assume he has checked the oil and it's not gaining oil level and pumping it out somewhere?
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Old 25-11-2014, 15:06   #8
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Re: Volvo Penta 2040 Engine Problems

With that amount of oil in that short a period, it must be a leak of pressurized oil. Is there an engine-mounted oil pressure gauge that may have a cracked fitting or copper line connecting it to the engine block? Is there oil being forced out of the dipstick hole? That would indicate a serious engine problem like a holed piston, does the engine run as smoothly as always?
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Old 25-11-2014, 15:18   #9
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Re: Volvo Penta 2040 Engine Problems

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Mark,

Tom cleaned everything before we left. He checked it shortly thereafter and there was a little bit around the throttle connections. He checked it 3 hours later and there was about 2 qt in the compartment.

Maje
That's a very serious loss of oil. If you can't find and fix the leak I suggest shutting the engine down and not running it until repairs are made. You could do thousands of dollars in damage to the engine.

There can be a number of things causing this. If you can't fix it yourself, consider hiring a qualified mechanic.
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Old 25-11-2014, 15:22   #10
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Re: Volvo Penta 2040 Engine Problems

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With that amount of oil in that short a period, it must be a leak of pressurized oil. Is there an engine-mounted oil pressure gauge that may have a cracked fitting or copper line connecting it to the engine block? Is there oil being forced out of the dipstick hole? That would indicate a serious engine problem like a holed piston, does the engine run as smoothly as always?
It is not coming out of the dipstick or oil filter, and other than leaking oil, the engine runs well.

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Old 25-11-2014, 15:24   #11
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Re: Volvo Penta 2040 Engine Problems

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That's a very serious loss of oil. If you can't find and fix the leak I suggest shutting the engine down and not running it until repairs are made. You could do thousands of dollars in damage to the engine.

There can be a number of things causing this. If you can't fix it yourself, consider hiring a qualified mechanic.
Ron, we did hire a "qualified mechanic." We spent a great deal of money and he didn't fix a thing.

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Old 25-11-2014, 15:26   #12
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Re: Volvo Penta 2040 Engine Problems

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I assume he has checked the oil and it's not gaining oil level and pumping it out somewhere?
Cheechako, you assume correctly.

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Old 25-11-2014, 15:35   #13
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Re: Volvo Penta 2040 Engine Problems

Did you notice a corresponding drop in level on the dipstick? 2 quarts is a lot of oil to leak in a few hrs.

Clean the engine and engine compartment as well as you can and then inspect it very carefully. If it is truly leaking that much oil the area of the leak should be quite obvious. Placing some paper towels under the engine may help in locating the area of the leak. I wouldn't think it could be a freeze plug. I think a freeze plug would have drained your coolant, not your oil sump.
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Old 25-11-2014, 15:46   #14
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Re: Volvo Penta 2040 Engine Problems

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Ron, we did hire a "qualified mechanic." We spent a great deal of money and he didn't fix a thing.

Maje
He wasn't qualified then, was he?

You know you might get a couple dozen guesses on a web forum but that's all anyone can do - guess. To find the source, one has to be there and examine the engine. Look to see where the oil is coming from.
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Old 25-11-2014, 15:49   #15
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Re: Volvo Penta 2040 Engine Problems

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Did you notice a corresponding drop in level on the dipstick? 2 quarts is a lot of oil to leak in a few hrs.

Clean the engine and engine compartment as well as you can and then inspect it very carefully. If it is truly leaking that much oil the area of the leak should be quite obvious. Placing some paper towels under the engine may help in locating the area of the leak. I wouldn't think it could be a freeze plug. I think a freeze plug would have drained your coolant, not your oil sump.
He just checked the oil level and it's a quart low. So it was one quart low and not two quarts low.

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