Volvo Penta MDI (Black Box) failures

[rayzickrick]

Originally Posted by SweareDeep

The part number from V-P for the replacement under the recall is 23231607.

However, at least from my experience in the US, while the blue box that V-P ships the MDI in is marked on the outside as 23231607, inside the box is part number 23195776, an earlier part number that is prone to failure.

I too can confirm this as my VP rep just sent me (2) 23195776 in a Blue parts box labeled 23231607. I told him thanks for sending two I'm sure I'll be needing both. Ray Z.

[Rufduck]

I am fighting the same foe.
Several people expressed sympathy for VP. Sorry, I don’t. My bigger question is, Who pays the labor cost for the replacement MDI boxes.
At 2550 hrs+/- my port engine MDI croaked. With mine, pressing the power button brought up the text on the lcd on tach. After the usual preheat interval...nothing on lcd. System totally dead. The Volvo tech is half hour away and spent time Troubleshooting eventually by switching the stbd MDI. Yup, MDI is dead. Nope not covered by recall. The MDI stores engine time, so he switched it back.
He installed new MDI PN 23231607...lasted well under 2 hours.
Call dealership and describe the new old problem.
Will send tech out to re-troubleshoot. Is this repair, new MDI covered by warranty? I went through a Certified Volvo service center so I believe that the part is but how about labor? Well...back step, back step.
I can simply buy a new 23231607 and install myself but that voids Volvo part warranty. I don’t blame the dealer for covering cost but I don’t want to pay for it.
Is this the best option? Have them throw in a new MDI and choke down another $200?
Only on a boat would this be tolerated.
Rufduck

[Challo]

After 5 MDIs (I paid for the labor and several of the units), we spent the off-season eliminating it. A perfectly good engine should not be limited by a piece of electronics.

S/V Challo

[Rufduck]

Hi Challo, pray tell, What did you do?
I now have zero confidence in the D1-30 MDI and Volvo‘s attempted correction.

For me the saga gets even better. The new MDI lasted less than 2 hours. The tech came back (another hour of travel) and checked it out. Before trying to start it, he fiddled with the fuse. Tried it and it fired right up. Again and again. Result...there is no problem. Well fiddle!
Okay, Labor Day weekend, nice weather, we are out of here. Prep boat, load boat, start boat to warm up engines. No problem. Shut down starboard engine, shut down port...won’t shut down. Use manual shut down. Try to duplicate the fault....unit is totally dead.
Call the tech on his day off. He will return Tuesday to diagnose (another hour travel). Order the part, return, 1+hour and install.
Considering a new hobby, rocketry, seems to have about the same success rate.

Cheers,

[yobird]

I'm also a victim of the MDI box failure. It has been replaced twice in the past 3 months with less than 10 hours each and now the Volvo manager will not replace it anymore pretending my boat has an electric issue.
How would you guys handle this situation?

[Rufduck]

Exactly what the local VP tech said. So, we took the faulty part and switched it over to the other engine, we are really “lucky” and have two. Took the old good box with 2600 hrs and installed on the “faulty” engine.
No problems with the old box but the new faulty one behaved erratically on the “good” engine.
Am curious. VP has issued up to 12 replacement part numbers for the MDI box. The latest is PN 23231607. Both of the replacement VP blue packaging is labeled 23231607 but the part inside is labeled 23195776. Per the VP parts list, it is the predecessor to 23231607. The VP tech’s explanation, 23231607 is the PN for a kit consisting of 23195776 and a page of literature.
That just doesn’t sound right.
I have already been billed $1300+ for part ($800)and labor for the first that lasted 1.4 hours. Am curious if I get another bill.
Will update when I do.
I know it’s a first world problem.
Cheers

[iGrf]

I came across this thread because I believe that any electronics aboard a sailing vessel will eventually break down and according to Murphy this will happen at the most inconvenient time and place.

That being said we have a D1-30B which was installed by the previous owner in 2008.
We purchased the boat 4 years ago with around 500 engine hours, now 850-ish.

As far as I know the MDI is still the original one and it hasn't let us down (yet).
I'm honestly quite please with the engine, it's starts every time and runs pretty quiet.

For what it's worth : I feel for those with issues and I hope they are sorted out fast and painless.

[redneckrob]

Originally Posted by iGrf

I came across this thread because I believe that any electronics aboard a sailing vessel will eventually break down and according to Murphy this will happen at the most inconvenient time and place.

That being said we have a D1-30B which was installed by the previous owner in 2008.
We purchased the boat 4 years ago with around 500 engine hours, now 850-ish.

As far as I know the MDI is still the original one and it hasn't let us down (yet).
I'm honestly quite please with the engine, it's starts every time and runs pretty quiet.

For what it's worth : I feel for those with issues and I hope they are sorted out fast and painless.

Whatever you do don't let those old MDI boxes go, they're gold (wanna trade your old MDI boxes, happy to give you two brand new ones!) I had 2011 engines that never had any MDI problems. Got two new D1-30s through the recall, which I'm not complaining about, but I've now had 4 boxes changed out in the course of a year. Same issue as everyone else, either won't start or won't shut down, wiggling the fuse sometimes fixes it for a couple more starts then it dies for good. Luckily still under warranty so far, but will be putting that 20 year old electrical engineering degree to work once they go out of warranty because I'm sure not gonna drop $800 every 3 months for a known defective piece of equipment.

[NaClyDog]

I was told the issues were now resolved in the new MDI boxes... is that not the case?

[redneckrob]

Originally Posted by NaClyDog

I was told the issues were now resolved in the new MDI boxes... is that not the case?

I had one replaced in March that had to be replaced in turn 3 weeks ago. The mechanic is as frustrated as we are since it's mostly warranty work that doesn't pay as well and customers are always pissed. He didn't seem to confident that it was fixed.

[NaClyDog]

Ugh, that doesn't bode well...


Thanks.

[CarinaPDX]

As I posted earlier you should consider mounting the MDI off the engine; this will reduce operating temperature and vibration. I have not yet done it but that is on the list. Apparently if you cut off the wrap on the cables there is enough cable length to allow mounting more than a foot away. Failure rates in electronics increase geometrically with temperature so even a modest change can make a large difference. Mounting the electronics directly to the block was never a smart move. Of course vibration can also cause problems, especially in electro-mechanical things like relays.

That said, it is possible to design and manufacture an MDI for this environment but it does require specific skills that apparently are missing here...

Greg

[redneckrob]

Originally Posted by CarinaPDX

As I posted earlier you should consider mounting the MDI off the engine; this will reduce operating temperature and vibration. I have not yet done it but that is on the list. Apparently if you cut off the wrap on the cables there is enough cable length to allow mounting more than a foot away. Failure rates in electronics increase geometrically with temperature so even a modest change can make a large difference. Mounting the electronics directly to the block was never a smart move. Of course vibration can also cause problems, especially in electro-mechanical things like relays.

That said, it is possible to design and manufacture an MDI for this environment but it does require specific skills that apparently are missing here...

Greg

The utterly inexplicable part of all this is that Volvo Penta did already design and build an MDI box that worked just fine for years in this exact application. It's as easy as simply going back to the original box design. There's absolutely no reason for them to have switched since the new boxes have no additional functionality and are either exactly the same or demonstrably worse in any aspect one could measure. The whole thing is simply baffling.

BTW as long as it's under warranty I don't want to void the warranty in hopes they see the light and go back to the original design before they do the last set of switches on my boxes. I have an alternate start button I can temporarily rig if needed and remove before the mechanic comes out. Once I'm out of warranty I'll probably move them off engine.

[CarinaPDX]

I once had a link to a French blogger's post on his long suffering with the MDI. He had documented every part number and as much as he could what changes were made. IIRC the first MDI used liquid electrolytic capacitors, which are not the best choice to say the least as they are not heat or vibration resistant. That doesn't mean that they will fail early but it does increase the probability. Apparently that was changed very early. From what I can tell there has never been a reliable MDI for the D2-40 (and D1-30) in spite of multiple re-designs. But that doesn't mean individual parts won't go the distance, just that there will be more failures in the population. If you have a good one then you are wise to keep it. If it fails and you don't have to exchange it I would open it up and try to repair it if possible (is it potted?). But moving it is a win no matter what and I doubt that it would affect the warranty; I am not suggesting splicing the cables, just moving them (and replacing the protective wrap).

Greg

[redneckrob]

Originally Posted by CarinaPDX

I once had a link to a French blogger's post on his long suffering with the MDI. He had documented every part number and as much as he could what changes were made. IIRC the first MDI used liquid electrolytic capacitors, which are not the best choice to say the least as they are not heat or vibration resistant. That doesn't mean that they will fail early but it does increase the probability. Apparently that was changed very early. From what I can tell there has never been a reliable MDI for the D2-40 (and D1-30) in spite of multiple re-designs. But that doesn't mean individual parts won't go the distance, just that there will be more failures in the population. If you have a good one then you are wise to keep it. If it fails and you don't have to exchange it I would open it up and try to repair it if possible (is it potted?). But moving it is a win no matter what and I doubt that it would affect the warranty; I am not suggesting splicing the cables, just moving them (and replacing the protective wrap).

Greg

I know they've made the D1-30 since at least 2008. The MDI box problems didn't really start until I think 2016ish? Before that they may have failed more than they should, but after that they've moved more and more into the realm of the ridiculous, i.e. 4 boxes in one year for me. I don't think anyone was seeing that in 2008, let alone multiple folks with the exact same set of issues and multiple failures of new boxes in a row. Maybe those electrolytic capacitors were better suited to this application if that's really all they changed (even though I agree in theory they aren't).