Volvo Penta Rebuild Woes - Any Ideas?

[cainiao]

A string of errors led to our Volvo Penta MD2040D overheating and fusing a piston ring. We thought we found a good mechanic in Miami to fix it, but they managed to break more things on it than they fixed. Yesterday they finally got it working and we thought that was the end of it. We happily motored out of the marina and crossed to Bimini today.

Unfortunately, about 3 hours into the trip, the low pressure warning alarm blipped on for a second and the gauge was also reading low (in the 15-20psi range). We immediately stopped the engine and went to investigate and we found 2 things: First, there was a diesel leak from somewhere around the injection pump area. Second, the oil level is reading way too high - about an inch past the 'full' notch. The fuel leak doesn't worry me too much - should (hopefully!) be easy to find and fix, but the oil was not reading as overfull when we left this morning, so that means something (diesel or coolant) is getting in there?

The work itself was a full engine rebuilt - they took it out of the boat, replaced all the main bearings, gaskets, piston sleeves+pistons, etc. The injectors were serviced as well. When they reinstalled the engine it wouldn't start because the injection pump wasn't delivering high pressure fuel - so that was taken out and rebuilt as well. That didn't fix the problem, because the problem was a broken spring on the internal stop lever linkage to provide fuel to the injection pump. In order to do that, they had to disassemble the whole throttle assembly and it was a pretty rushed job - and something went wrong that wasn't obvious at first.

So, my first question is this: what could be going wrong here?

My second question is this: who knows someone in the Bahamas who is competent/reliable/honest and can get it fixed? We can't return to florida because of sales tax reasons, and I don't even want to look at the guys who did the work ever again. It should probably be mentioned that we're a sail catamaran so we can get to Freeport or Nassau or wherever if we're smart and careful about it with one good engine and our sails.

[guyfromiowa]

Others will come along to help, I'm sure, but this will get you started.

This is a link to a .pdf of the Perkins Perama M30, the engine that your 2040 is based upon.


http://wilfredmacdonald.com/parts/perkins.pdf

Look at the 'fuel feed pump', also called the lift pump on 4-18.




You probably have one like the left image.

This pump has a diaphragm that is used to pump fuel from the fuel tank to the injection pump. When this diaphragm is punctured diesel fuel can be pumped into the crankcase of the engine. This will count for the 'over-full' level and when the lube oil is diluted by diesel fuel the viscosity is reduced. The diesel fuel 'thins out' the lube oil in the crankcase.

This engine is used in lots of shore-side applications, generators, pumps, forklifts, lots of places. Look for a place that sells Perkins industrial/agricultural parts.

Check for bearing damage by looking for any metal particles inside the 'can' of the oil filter. Take the filter off the engine and puncture the filter by driving a punch downward through the center opening where the filter screws on to the engine. Catch the oil the drains out of the filter in a shop towel. Any metal shards in the oil filter mean that you have damaged the bearings. No fragments? Fill the engine with new oil, put on the new filter and lift pump, go sailing.

Good luck

[donradcliffe]

You have diesel leaking into your engine oil. If the lift pump diaphragm is OK, then the most likely next candidate is a leaking seal on the injection pump. If it is the injection pump, you will need to have it shipped back to the US, or wait until somewhere like Puerto Rico or the USVI.

[DougR]

As mentioned by earlier posters, your engine is "making oil". It is either getting fuel, coolant or sea water into the oil. Coolant or sea water are readily apparent because the oil will be milky, but fuel will just dilute the oil and it won't have the milkshake appearance.

Most likely you have fuel dilution occurring, and as mentioned, this can come from a leak in the lift pump or the high pressure injection pump, as both can leak into the crankcase. If someone "rebuilt" the injection pump, that might be a fruitful place to look first. It's also possible to have fuel wash down from a bad injector, but that's unlikely if the engine is running well.

Your 2040 engine is based on the Perkins/ISM 103-15 series engine. This is in the same family as the Perkins M30, but the M30 displaces .95 liters and the 2040 displaces 1.5 liters.

DougR

[a64pilot]

Be very careful with fuel in the oil, besides the obvious lack of lubrication, the dilution can get so bad that the engine begins consuming it's oil supply as fuel and it will "run away" and the only way to stop it is to cut off the air supply.
A run away Diesel is a scary thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiBxwGQQ8Js

[guyfromiowa]

Originally Posted by DougR

As mentioned by earlier posters, your engine is "making oil". It is either getting fuel, coolant or sea water into the oil. Coolant or sea water are readily apparent because the oil will be milky, but fuel will just dilute the oil and it won't have the milkshake appearance.

Most likely you have fuel dilution occurring, and as mentioned, this can come from a leak in the lift pump or the high pressure injection pump, as both can leak into the crankcase. If someone "rebuilt" the injection pump, that might be a fruitful place to look first. It's also possible to have fuel wash down from a bad injector, but that's unlikely if the engine is running well.

Your 2040 engine is based on the Perkins/ISM 103-15 series engine. This is in the same family as the Perkins M30, but the M30 displaces .95 liters and the 2040 displaces 1.5 liters.

DougR

All true. I sent the link for the M30 because it was easy to find. Also true - if the return line from the injection pump is blocked or plugged the fuel that is supposed to be returned to the tank can cause a pressure build-up in the injection pump, causing the excess fuel to escape past the seal into the crankcase. Since there is another engine nearby this would be easy to compare.

[leftbrainstuff]

Originally Posted by guyfromiowa

Others will come along to help, I'm sure, but this will get you started.

This is a link to a .pdf of the Perkins Perama M30, the engine that your 2040 is based upon.


http://wilfredmacdonald.com/parts/perkins.pdf

Look at the 'fuel feed pump', also called the lift pump on 4-18.




You probably have one like the left image.

This pump has a diaphragm that is used to pump fuel from the fuel tank to the injection pump. When this diaphragm is punctured diesel fuel can be pumped into the crankcase of the engine. This will count for the 'over-full' level and when the lube oil is diluted by diesel fuel the viscosity is reduced. The diesel fuel 'thins out' the lube oil in the crankcase.

This engine is used in lots of shore-side applications, generators, pumps, forklifts, lots of places. Look for a place that sells Perkins industrial/agricultural parts.

Check for bearing damage by looking for any metal particles inside the 'can' of the oil filter. Take the filter off the engine and puncture the filter by driving a punch downward through the center opening where the filter screws on to the engine. Catch the oil the drains out of the filter in a shop towel. Any metal shards in the oil filter mean that you have damaged the bearings. No fragments? Fill the engine with new oil, put on the new filter and lift pump, go sailing.

Good luck

Good advice.

Sent from my SM-N900T using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[w1651]

If you have diesel in the oil you should be able to smell it. You know what diesel smells like already I am guessing. Also if water get's into it oil will become milky in color. Coolant should change it as well.
Sounds like a simple fix. Just change out the diaphram in the pump and get back to motoring if that is truly the only problem.

[Roniszoro]

For those of us living in Miami with Volvo engines, how about telling us who rebuilt yours so we can avoid them?

[Compass790]

Yep agree with all the other posts re lift pump diaphragm most likely cause. Reason your oil pressure alarm is going off is viscosity is dropping. You'll get accelerated engine wear obviously. Bet they charged you plenty to not fix it properly. Still I wasnt there as sometimes the mechanic gets a budget & doesnt have time for proper diagnosis but if it was a "just fix it basis" you should out the firm IMO

[TheThunderbird]

Originally Posted by Roniszoro

For those of us living in Miami with Volvo engines, how about telling us who rebuilt yours so we can avoid them?

An absolute must, morally.

I hope the "rules" in here (CF) may allow for it !!

Marine mechanics have a reputation for being the worst...in general, possibly because they happen to be there (positional advantage) and engines hardly walk inshore :-)

BTW, I may accept oil leaking thru gaskets, segments, dysfunctional O-rings, but NOT AT ALL thru the fuel pump itself.

It is an unacceptable flaw in the design which, as a mechanical.eng. myself, I wouldn't tolerate at all even in a cheap design.
It casts a very negative light on the once acclaimed perkins-volvo family (of tractors...)


No good... no good... no good at all

[guyfromiowa]

Two things to take note...
1. The original poster hasn't been back to tell us what he found. Maybe he's just out sailing around the Bahamas.
B. This is an idiotic design. A very common idiotic design that has failed in many applications. Why did they keep building pumps this way? They're cheap, easy to build and acceptably reliable. But, yes, they do fail sometimes. Frequently the failure leads to an external leak, occasionally to an internal leak of fuel into the crankcase and sometimes they leak both ways. I've been fixing engines for almost 50 years. Seen this failure on many brands and many models.

Guy

[Tellie]

Originally Posted by TheThunderbird

An absolute must, morally.

I hope the "rules" in here (CF) may allow for it !!

Marine mechanics have a reputation for being the worst...in general, possibly because they happen to be there (positional advantage) and engines hardly walk inshore :-)

BTW, I may accept oil leaking thru gaskets, segments, dysfunctional O-rings, but NOT AT ALL thru the fuel pump itself.

It is an unacceptable flaw in the design which, as a mechanical.eng. myself, I wouldn't tolerate at all even in a cheap design.
It casts a very negative light on the once acclaimed perkins-volvo family (of tractors...)




No good... no good... no good at all

I'm not sure the rules do allow it for good reason, and very careful CF moderation is important. There is always two sides to every story. While this is no implication at all towards the OP and his personal circumstance and experience, these things can go south faster than an anchor or gun thread.

[Roniszoro]

Originally Posted by Tellie

I'm not sure the rules do allow it for good reason, and very careful CF moderation is important. There is always two sides to every story. While this is no implication at all towards the OP and his personal circumstance and experience, these things can go south faster than an anchor or gun thread.

So the poor OP is stuck in Bimini, not know as the world's center for diesel mechanics, because of what he believes is a failure of an expensive repair/rebuild by a mechanic in Florida. He quite naturally turns to CF members for help as many of us have over the years. (Many of us also provide help when we can.) But if the OP does not give those of us who would have engine work done in Florida fair warning as to who did the work in what appears to be a less than competent manner, what is the morality of asking the questions? It would be: "I want help from you guys but I won't help you avoid my plight." Not the right thing to do.

Fortunately there was not physical danger to the OP and his crew as a result of his failed engine experience. But there certainly could have been had the engine failed while trying to get through one of the cuts to the Abacos from the East.

[HappyMdRSailor]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Be very careful with fuel in the oil, besides the obvious lack of lubrication, the dilution can get so bad that the engine begins consuming it's oil supply as fuel and it will "run away" and the only way to stop it is to cut off the air supply.
A run away Diesel is a scary thing.

a64,

Was hoping somebody mentioned this... Was going to be my first post before moving on to the solution...

Originally Posted by TheThunderbird

BTW, I may accept oil leaking thru gaskets, segments, dysfunctional O-rings, but NOT AT ALL thru the fuel pump itself.

It is an unacceptable flaw in the design which, as a mechanical.eng. myself, I wouldn't tolerate at all even in a cheap design.
It casts a very negative light on the once acclaimed perkins-volvo family (of tractors...)

TTB

See "B" below... My experience exactly... Not a perkins OR volvo thing...

Originally Posted by guyfromiowa

Two things to take note...
1. The original poster hasn't been back to tell us what he found. Maybe he's just out sailing around the Bahamas.
B. This is an idiotic design. A very common idiotic design that has failed in many applications. Why did they keep building pumps this way? They're cheap, easy to build and acceptably reliable. But, yes, they do fail sometimes. Frequently the failure leads to an external leak, occasionally to an internal leak of fuel into the crankcase and sometimes they leak both ways. I've been fixing engines for almost 50 years. Seen this failure on many brands and many models.

Guy

Hope 1 is true...

And unfortunatley "B" has been proven to be true... over and over and ...

Originally Posted by Tellie

I'm not sure the rules do allow it for good reason, and very careful CF moderation is important. There is always two sides to every story. While this is no implication at all towards the OP and his personal circumstance and experience, these things can go south faster than an anchor or gun thread.

Tellie... I thought the WM biz was doin' good? You moonlighting as a VP mech????