Tuning Volvo Penta 2003

[Swizzle Stick]

Originally Posted by BlackHeron

I've pulled the injectors twice on my 2003t. Had no issues. Simple job. I wonder how many of the people who repeat this stuff here have actually ever DONE it, or are just repeating what they have "heard" on the internets.

Cruisers Forum never disappoints.

Thanks BlackHeron.

I'm not sure if there is anything wrong with my injectors yet but I tend to grapple with the contradiction between "if it ain't broke don't fix it" versus "take it apart and have a look - you know you want to".

I'm comfortable enough taking stuff apart but I'm not keen to have bits break in the process - particularly if replacement parts are stupidly expensive and/or difficult to get hold of.

Do you know if anyone has documented the injector removal process for those of us who haven't been brave enough (or crazy enough) to give it a go?

[olaf hart]

Originally Posted by BlackHeron

I've pulled the injectors twice on my 2003t. Had no issues. Simple job. I wonder how many of the people who repeat this stuff here have actually ever DONE it, or are just repeating what they have "heard" on the internets.

Cruisers Forum never disappoints.

Glad you got away with it, any suggestions for other 2003 owners on how to do it safely?

The RAN guy on YouTube replaced his, he removed the head and using special tools.

IIRC the Volvo manual warns you about them, if you move them you get cooling water leaks and they have to be replaced.

Every engine has its quirks, like losing the spacers under the 2003 rocker cover bolts down inside the block.

[sandy stone]

Originally Posted by olaf hart

Every engine has its quirks, like losing the spacers under the 2003 rocker cover bolts down inside the block.

Yes, I recently had the head off my 2003, and when I recognized that possibility it gave me the cold sweats.

Anyway, I took the head off because one of the injectors started leaking compression where it seated on its copper sleeve. The only hard part was getting all the injectors out, one was really stuck. I eventually stumbled on a product called CRC Freeze-Off that actually did what it advertised, and unstuck things. FWIW, I really wailed on that injector, and the sleeve never budged. The exhaust elbow was actually pretty clean, and I don't have any reason to think it was ever pulled. As far as somebody fabricating a new one, I doubt it, it's a fairly complicated casting. And Volvo refers to the air cleaner as a "silencer", and I think that's all it's intended to be.

My engine smoked some, especially under heavy load or on cool humid days. I've only had it back together for a couple of days, so not able to test it under a variety of conditions, but the smoke seems to have abated. I think reconditioning the injectors and replacing the valve stem seals helped a lot.

So, as far as a tuneup, if you're really brave you could pull the injectors and have them serviced, just be ready to pull the head if things go wrong. My experience - $800 to recondition the head, including pulling & replacing the copper sleeves; $300+ to rebuild the injectors, $500+ for parts. My labor pulling and replacing the head. You can try the Italian tuneup thing, but I wouldn't expect much. Or you could just live with a little smoke like I did for most of a decade.

Did I mention what an interesting combustion chamber configuration this engine has?

[Swizzle Stick]

Well......as I just described in a post on my other thread about injection pumps..... I just went down to the boat and replaced the three 60c copper washers in the injection pumps that I was too lazy to replace yesterday (item 9 in the attached photo).

- The engine now idles, accelerates and runs much more smoothly. It feels like a different engine!
- There is almost no unburnt fuel or smoke coming out the exhaust - hot or cold.
- The spent cooling water coming out of the tail pipe feels about 20 degC hotter than it was before I changed the washers.

Clearly the fuel pressure delivered to the injectors has now increased significantly and the engine is loving it. It seems I've eliminated an internal fuel bypass around the worn out washers inside the injection pumps. Thanks to Compass790 for telling me those washers are relatively soft and malleable. I now know why VP calls the washers "gaskets".

I'm not so interested in taking the injectors out for a look any more.

Boy am I stoked! In the past two days I've fixed an annoying smelly fuel leak from the injection pump nozzles and made my engine run significantly better for the princely sum of about $30 worth of parts.

Thanks to all who helped me out!

[Compass790]

Good news,
I didn't actually think you would be that lucky to find the copper washers would be the problem. Glad you posted back the results. Doubt an injection shop would have let you get away with 1 hrs labour & a set of copper washers.
The torque setting was 28-32 ft-lb on our Bosch pump delivery v/v holder FYI although it's too late :-)

[Swizzle Stick]

Originally Posted by Compass790

Good news,
I didn't actually think you would be that lucky to find the copper washers would be the problem. Glad you posted back the results. Doubt an injection shop would have let you get away with 1 hrs labour & a set of copper washers.
The torque setting was 28-32 ft-lb on our Bosch pump delivery v/v holder FYI although it's too late :-)

All's well that ends well.

I just tightened them up to "a little bloke with limited arm strength pulling on a 19mm ring spanner from an awkward angle."

Seriously though, the nozzles seemed to seat positively. They turned reasonably easily until they stopped dead and didn't want to go much further - even with some force. I reckoned that was enough.

[Compass790]

Originally Posted by Swizzle Stick

All's well that ends well.

I just tightened them up to "a little bloke with limited arm strength pulling on a 19mm ring spanner from an awkward angle."

Seriously though, the nozzles seemed to seat positively. They turned reasonably easily until they stopped dead and didn't want to go much further - even with some force. I reckoned that was enough.

Well clearly it worked
I expected you would have to do the injectors as well to cure the white smoke as that is more common.
In a way you were "lucky" that your delivery v/v holders were leaking so that made your attention go to the IP.
Must admit I never torqued our IP delivery v/v holder either

Bet it feels a lot better not leaving a smoke trail

[Marathon1150]

We also have a VP 2003 in one of our boats. The OP description is identical to our experience - a lot of vibration, white smoke, sheen on the water. Many thanks for the various maintenance pointers that are not in the manual.

The strange starting ritual recommended by Volvo seems to work and the engine usually starts after a couple of cranks when it is cold. Oil pressure is usually a needle width above 40 when warm.

Our other boat has a Perkins 4.108. Starts pretty much just by thinking about starting it and is so smooth it is hard to know that it is running. But it has other issues.

[Marathon1150]

Originally Posted by Swizzle Stick

Well......as I just described in a post on my other thread about injection pumps..... I just went down to the boat and replaced the three 60c copper washers in the injection pumps that I was too lazy to replace yesterday (item 9 in the attached photo).

- The engine now idles, accelerates and runs much more smoothly. It feels like a different engine!
- There is almost no unburnt fuel or smoke coming out the exhaust - hot or cold.
- The spent cooling water coming out of the tail pipe feels about 20 degC hotter than it was before I changed the washers.

Clearly the fuel pressure delivered to the injectors has now increased significantly and the engine is loving it. It seems I've eliminated an internal fuel bypass around the worn out washers inside the injection pumps. Thanks to Compass790 for telling me those washers are relatively soft and malleable. I now know why VP calls the washers "gaskets".

I'm not so interested in taking the injectors out for a look any more.

Boy am I stoked! In the past two days I've fixed an annoying smelly fuel leak from the injection pump nozzles and made my engine run significantly better for the princely sum of about $30 worth of parts.

Thanks to all who helped me out!

Excellent news all around. I hope that you will give us an update in a week or so to confirm that all is well. I am inspired to try the same thing on our 2003.

[Swizzle Stick]

Originally Posted by Marathon1150

We also have a VP 2003 in one of our boats. The OP description is identical to our experience - a lot of vibration, white smoke, sheen on the water. Many thanks for the various maintenance pointers that are not in the manual.

The strange starting ritual recommended by Volvo seems to work and the engine usually starts after a couple of cranks when it is cold. Oil pressure is usually a needle width above 40 when warm.

Our other boat has a Perkins 4.108. Starts pretty much just by thinking about starting it and is so smooth it is hard to know that it is running. But it has other issues.

Hi Marathon1150.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest you might well be able to get your VP2003 going much better by doing what I did and replacing three washers that cost less than a dollar each.

While fixing a smelly fuel leak from my injection pumps, it occurred to me that I might also have an internal pressure loss pathway inside my injection pumps. There is some more background to this issue in my other thread about injection pumps. There are also photos of how I fixed it.

If you follow the evidence for your engine (and mine):

Rough running.
Could be due to slightly different fuel flows to each cylinder at constant throttle opening. Consistent with different levels of bypass occurring in the three HP pumps.

White smoke and sheen on the water.
Consistent with unburnt fuel. If your cylinder compression is good, unburnt fuel is likely to be consistent with poor or uneven fuel atomisation. This suggests a problem with one or both of the following components:

- the injectors and/or
- the HP fuel pumps

The job of the injectors is to create a high velocity spray of fuel. Note that pressure is converted to velocity at the injector and the injector produces a back pressure (proportional to the square of the exit velocity) in the HP fuel delivery line.

The pump has two jobs:
1. To deliver the desired flow of fuel to the injectors; and
2. To overcome the back pressure generated by the pipework (small) and injectors (large) when delivering the desired amount of fuel to the injectors.

So, anything that reduces the ability of the pump to deliver the desired amount of fuel to the injectors against the back pressure generated by the injectors (eg. internal bypassing occurring in the pump) will reduce the fuel spray velocity.

Also, anything that increases the size and/or number of holes in the injectors (eg. corrosion holes) will reduce the fuel spray velocity. A 2mm hole will produce one quarter of the exit velocity of a 1mm hole (and one sixteenth of the back pressure).

So, I suggest you have a good look at the pumps first, because by all accounts it will be much cheaper and easier than fiddling with the injectors.

Despite the crazy replacement price for the VP pumps, they look to be pretty simple and robust devices. Have a look at the photo of the exploded drawing posted on the other thread. Essentially, if the plunger is pumping up and down, and HP fuel can't find its way out of the HP chamber anywhere other than through the discharge pipe, the pump will work as intended.

Hopefully you'll find you have the same HP to LP leakage path as I did and you'll be able to fix it for next to nothing.

Good luck!

[Swizzle Stick]

Originally Posted by Pete7

So this is probably a 30 plus year old engine, ours is 32


I ditched the VP air filter and stuck a K&N filter on because I couldn't face trying to clean the VP one with diesel.



Pete

Hi Pete7.

You mentioned you replaced the standard air filter. Can you please post some details of this new filter? Does it replace the existing filter casing completely or go inside the existing casing?

Thanks.

[BlackHeron]

The 2000-series doesn't have a filter, just a plastic maze airbox. The crankcase ventilation rebreather hose supplies plenty of oil mist to keep the interior oiled to attract dust.

[Willing31]

I pulled all three injectors on (one of) my 2003, with No issues. Take your time and use an Injector puling cemical, freeze-off or similar. I reaseated the oppersleve with a 17x17 reaseater tool from ebay, just dip the tip in grease, so nothing goes i to the cylinder and grind away until you get a clean Seat in the bottom.

Now, my 2003 got too much diesel from one of the fip's (high rev, could'nt stop with stop handle, had to choke it by holding hand over air inlet), so i pulled them and recon one of them was installed wrong, since the engine ran fine afterwards. I didnt do anything else, but I probably gonna change theese washers/gaskets, just to be shure. Thanks for sharing👍

[Marathon1150]

Originally Posted by Swizzle Stick

Hi Marathon1150.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest you might well be able to get your VP2003 going much better by doing what I did and replacing three washers that cost less than a dollar each.

While fixing a smelly fuel leak from my injection pumps, it occurred to me that I might also have an internal pressure loss pathway inside my injection pumps. There is some more background to this issue in my other thread about injection pumps. There are also photos of how I fixed it.

If you follow the evidence for your engine (and mine):

Rough running.
Could be due to slightly different fuel flows to each cylinder at constant throttle opening. Consistent with different levels of bypass occurring in the three HP pumps.

White smoke and sheen on the water.
Consistent with unburnt fuel. If your cylinder compression is good, unburnt fuel is likely to be consistent with poor or uneven fuel atomisation. This suggests a problem with one or both of the following components:

- the injectors and/or
- the HP fuel pumps

The job of the injectors is to create a high velocity spray of fuel. Note that pressure is converted to velocity at the injector and the injector produces a back pressure (proportional to the square of the exit velocity) in the HP fuel delivery line.

The pump has two jobs:
1. To deliver the desired flow of fuel to the injectors; and
2. To overcome the back pressure generated by the pipework (small) and injectors (large) when delivering the desired amount of fuel to the injectors.

So, anything that reduces the ability of the pump to deliver the desired amount of fuel to the injectors against the back pressure generated by the injectors (eg. internal bypassing occurring in the pump) will reduce the fuel spray velocity.

Also, anything that increases the size and/or number of holes in the injectors (eg. corrosion holes) will reduce the fuel spray velocity. A 2mm hole will produce one quarter of the exit velocity of a 1mm hole (and one sixteenth of the back pressure).

So, I suggest you have a good look at the pumps first, because by all accounts it will be much cheaper and easier than fiddling with the injectors.

Despite the crazy replacement price for the VP pumps, they look to be pretty simple and robust devices. Have a look at the photo of the exploded drawing posted on the other thread. Essentially, if the plunger is pumping up and down, and HP fuel can't find its way out of the HP chamber anywhere other than through the discharge pipe, the pump will work as intended.

Hopefully you'll find you have the same HP to LP leakage path as I did and you'll be able to fix it for next to nothing.

Good luck!

Somehow I missed this super helpful reply! Many thanks for the details and I will give your detailed explanation a try. The cost looks perfect!

I found an invoice on board that indicates the previous owner had the injectors out and serviced about 4 years ago. From previous experience on a different boat, if the servicing was done correctly (the shop that did it has a good reputation), they should still be fine. Thus, I can eliminate one of the items that you note can contribute to white smoke. So we are down to one.

Thank you again and apologies for not noting the reply so many months ago.