Brand New Volvo D130 idles rough

[unbusted67]

Hey guys, I am in the very baby stages of running in a brand new Volvo D1-30. I've got a welder friend who made up mounts and aligned the engine but I am noticing an excessive amount of vibration when the engine idles.

It seems to be quite good at higher rpms and while in gear, but bumps around quite a bit idling in neutral at the recommended 850 rpm, and gets scary when it dips below that. Is this a common issue when breaking in an engine? Is there something wrong with the mounts? What am I missing?

Links to videos of the engine running below.

https://youtu.be/tdQ4QLDyxIQ

https://youtu.be/AP2sinPc2_Y

[skipperpete]

That really is a very lively engine at idle. I had a look at another youtube vid of the same engine and it idle much more smoothly.
The mounts don’t seem to look like Volvo mounts, more like US made “Bushings” mounts.
The amount of weight each mount carries is very important and is surprisingly difficult to get right. If one mount is carrying too much load , it sets up a diagonal where the other two mounts are lightly loaded and the engine can wobble along the strong diagonal ( like that annoying restaurant table with one short leg)..... the actual alignment has no effect on this until the engine is rotating the propeller shaft. I’m interested to know if those mounts were supplied by Volvo.
Are the engine beds vibrating or moving at all, its hard to tell in the video.
Pete.

[unbusted67]

Originally Posted by skipperpete

That really is a very lively engine at idle. I had a look at another youtube vid of the same engine and it idle much more smoothly.
The mounts don’t seem to look like Volvo mounts, more like US made “Bushings” mounts.
The amount of weight each mount carries is very important and is surprisingly difficult to get right. If one mount is carrying too much load , it sets up a diagonal where the other two mounts are lightly loaded and the engine can wobble along the strong diagonal ( like that annoying restaurant table with one short leg)..... the actual alignment has no effect on this until the engine is rotating the propeller shaft. I’m interested to know if those mounts were supplied by Volvo.
Are the engine beds vibrating or moving at all, its hard to tell in the video.
Pete.

I’m actually not sure and i was wondering the same thing. The aft mounts look to not be the ones from volvo

[DougR]

The D1-30 engine is not the smoothest engine ever devised by man, and in fact when it first came out, there was a change from the original metalastik mounts to the mounts which you have. That said:
- it seems like the front and rear mounts that you have are different. The front looks like a Volvo supplied and the rear doesn’t. Are you sure they are the ones supplied by VP. See the attached photo.....these were the prior supplied by VP, but they could have changed.

-Is the starboard front mount missing a retaining bolt......or not sitting on the engine bed 100%?
- The rear mounts seem to have non-factory engine brackets, perhaps quite elevated...could cause a bit of vibration.
- Also very important the mount balance, as described by SkipperPete.

One other thing.....it seems you have a flexible coupling, “drive saver” , installed and also a Federal flexible coupling behind that. I can’t see two flex couplings being necessary, and perhaps a problem down the road when they get a bit soft...

[Lepke]

The mounts are too soft and the higher the engine is up the motor mount stud, the more leverage it has to shake. I'd put a spacer below the motor mount so where the engine is bolted is slightly above the bottom of the stud.

[a64pilot]

Looks like a Diesel to me, but you need find a more secure way to mount the expansion tank.

[unbusted67]

Originally Posted by Lepke

The mounts are too soft and the higher the engine is up the motor mount stud, the more leverage it has to shake. I'd put a spacer below the motor mount so where the engine is bolted is slightly above the bottom of the stud.

This is an interesting take. Thanks. You know looking at this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZoFYpkdTI8

It looks like this guy's engines have the same vibration as mine but it would appear that the back of the engine is a bit better stabilized.

I just talked to the guy who sold me the engine who is a volvo dealer and mechanic and he saw no issue with the different aft mounts, but your point is duly noted about the height of the mount. Thank you.

[unbusted67]

Also this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZICas68mHo

minute 1:03 LOLZ. Shaky little motors aren't they!?

[Calcruiser]

Just a thought. Use a free "strobe" tachometer app for your phone and shine it one something attached to and edge of the flywheel and see if you are actually idling at 850 rpms or not.

[Sailmonkey]

It isles like our little kubota engine. Not the smoothest, but just like you describe, it smooths out as soon as it’s used.

[Newf1]

Originally Posted by DougR

The D1-30 engine is not the smoothest engine ever devised by man, and in fact when it first came out, there was a change from the original metalastik mounts to the mounts which you have. That said:
- it seems like the front and rear mounts that you have are different. The front looks like a Volvo supplied and the rear doesn’t. Are you sure they are the ones supplied by VP. See the attached photo.....these were the prior supplied by VP, but they could have changed.

-Is the starboard front mount missing a retaining bolt......or not sitting on the engine bed 100%?
- The rear mounts seem to have non-factory engine brackets, perhaps quite elevated...could cause a bit of vibration.
- Also very important the mount balance, as described by SkipperPete.

One other thing.....it seems you have a flexible coupling, “drive saver” , installed and also a Federal flexible coupling behind that. I can’t see two flex couplings being necessary, and perhaps a problem down the road when they get a bit soft...

I have the same engine in my 2014 21FT Ranger Tug and the 4 mounts are identical to those shown in your photo. I replaced mine at around 1400hrs due to cracking in the rubber and had considered trying another type of mount because of the excessive vibration in these but ended up with the same Volvo mounts.

90% of my engine hours are at idle speeds as I use the boat mostly for fishing (trolling). The new ones now have about 600hrs on them and are already showing signs of cracking.

The videos in the original post is very typical of how mine runs. Would a different mount, those where the rubber is in a more compressive mode, create a higher vibration through the hull? This style seems to be a "softer" setup where the rubber is in a shear/tension mode. (pulling down and away from the sides of the casting resulting in the tears/cracks in the rubber)

Also, how do you ensure you have equal loading on all 4 mounts? I understand why you would want this but not sure how you would measure to accomplish it. You could try to get close to equal thread distance for height adjustment on all 4 but this may not give you the coupling alignment you need.