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Old 09-17-2020, 03:13 PM   #1
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Overheat problem Volvo Penta TAMD41B

Hi folks! I'm new here, and looking for advice.


I have a '91 8-meter Cooper Yachts Prowler with a single TAMD41-B turbo diesel engine & VP 260 DuoProp leg. The entire boat & power unit only has 860 hours on it since new.


It's been running beautifully - fast and smooth, but due to circumstances/marital breakup/'COVID-19, etc., I haven't been able to use the boat since last fall. At that time, I was getting 27-28 kts out of her, with 21.5 kts at a comfortable cruise speed.


Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. I had her hauled out, power washed, changed the zincs, and took her for a spin. VERY fast acceleration up t 27.5 kts (about 3700 RPM), and suddenly noticed the engine temp soaring, and the overheat alarm sounded. I brought her down to idle, and the temp fairly quickly reduced to a proper running temperature. Any attempt to go above 1800 RPM sent the temp climbing.


It was definitely overheating, as the heat exchanger was very hot on the outside (never got much beyond comfortably warm to the touch before, but now it was too hot to touch). Once it had cooled a bit I cracked open the fill cap & coolant instantly boiled up & out. It was absolutely clear, with lots of antifreeze in it, with no signs of corrosion, rust, etc.


The first thing I did was to change the raw water impeller. $100 for the part (I'm in Canada, so parts cost are roughly double what they are in the US). The one I took out was perfect (except for the damage I did to it removing it), and the new one made zero difference to the temp problem.


Over the past few days, I removed the oil cooler (it was spotless inside, and the tubes were clear) and the heat exchanger. There was a fair bit of crud (oyster shell attachments, bits of mussel shells, etc.) and about 10 of the 106 tubes were either fully or partially blocked. It's fully clean now (rodded, used vinegar & water solution several times, etc.).


I just spoke to a mechanic, and he says next to tear apart the aftercooler (due to space issues, a VERY difficult part to service without engine removal in my boat).



I have yet to find a "cooling circuit diagram" for the TAMD41 series engines. It APPEARS the aftercooler is inline BEFORE the heat exchanger, but I can't tell.


Thanks to COVID-19 issues, I'm desperate financially & hoping to figure out a way to get the boat running without spending much more to fix this problem. Right now it's costing $60 +tax per day just to have it sitting on the hard, and the list of gaskets/seals/O-rings just to reassemble the cooler & exchanger run to hundreds of dollars.


If anyone has any sage advice on where to go next, I'd appreciate it!


- Mike
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Old 09-17-2020, 03:18 PM   #2
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Have you checked the seawater intake path clear? Screen, through hull, seacock or valve, intake hose and strainer. Ensure the intake hose is not collapsing.

Might be obvious, but you didn't mention it.
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Old 09-17-2020, 03:22 PM   #3
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Does your system suck up sea water through the drive leg, or does it pull from a through hull fitting? In either case the suction path can get fouled while sitting. Sounds like the boat sat in the water since last fall.

A good way to tell if the sea water flow is restricted is to get engine under a load and check the temp of the water going into the exhaust mixer (exit from heat exchanger). Normal for that to be about 10-20F above sea temp. Much above that and not enough sea water flow.
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Old 09-17-2020, 03:23 PM   #4
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Thanks! It's hard to check that, as it's a hard pipe from the leg straight to the raw water pump, with only about a 4" piece of hose in the middle to allow for engine movement.



I do know that lots of water is running through the raw water strainer at idle (I discovered that when I started to unscrew the top of the strainer housing - a LOT of water comes out at idle!!). As it's a leg, there doesn't appear to be anything inline between the leg & the raw water pump except the hard pipe, and there are no through-hulls, hoses, etc.
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Old 09-17-2020, 03:24 PM   #5
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Well, sounds like you have done the basics. I am not familiar with your particular engine but the aftercooler/intercooler would be the next logical step in my mind. However I would defer to someone like Ski who is a real engine mechanic. Unfortunately with Volvo parts sometimes take forever to get and are certainly very dear. I was talking to my mechanic and he unsolicited said that he doesn’t like working on Volvos because of those very issues. I have not been a Volvo fan since we had twin duo props in a boat back in the 90s. Even though they were the current year we had a very hard time getting parts for them. The dealer would rob parts from new stock boats to get mine back up. So hopefully someone like Ski will chime in and give you some good advice on which way to go. Good luck and I hope you get it fixed.

Edit, Ski beat me to it, I am a slow typist...
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Old 09-17-2020, 03:29 PM   #6
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Thanks, Ski! In this case, the raw water comes directly through the leg via a hard line to the raw water pump.


I didn't check the temp going into the exhaust, but that makes sense. I'm assuming it was quite a bit higher than that, although I don't know. Unfortunately it costs me about $450 just to put it back in the water & haul it out again each time I want to test it! Wish there was a way to run the engine up when the boat's on the hard, but I can't see a way to do that....
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Old 09-17-2020, 03:32 PM   #7
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Get a big plastic garbage can and put the drive into it and fill it with water. Keep the hose running as it may need water as it runs and splashes out of the garbage can. Or put a set of muffs on the intake holes in the lower unit.
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Old 09-17-2020, 04:32 PM   #8
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Check the thermostat.
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Old 09-17-2020, 04:40 PM   #9
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My 26-footer was powered by a Volvo KAD44P with 290 DPE sterndrive. In the course of 3-4 months cruising the Inside Passage each summer, later in those summers it would run fine at 7 knots, but when I revved it up to go on plane the temp would sometimes rise more than desirable.

Took me a while to figure it out, but it had been accumulating barnacles inside the sterndrive's water intake slots. I found I could reach down from the swim step and knock them loose with a bent coat hanger, and voila no more overheating at higher power levels. If you have not yet checked those intakes, you might want to take a close look.
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Old 09-22-2020, 11:58 PM   #10
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Take a look through my tome below. There are a more than a few things to check unfortunately. Result is we can make suggestions but not be able to point to a specific cause.

Maybe this will give some ideas where to look and maybe suggest something you have overlooked.
Attached Files
File Type: doc Heating up when running.doc (37.5 KB, 26 views)
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Old 09-24-2020, 06:33 PM   #11
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Well, I'm still at it, and still searching for the "smoking gun". I removed and cleaned out the turbo "aftercooler", including repairing/replacing the mild steel studs that broke off in the housing, despite 48 hours with penetrating fluid etc. (You have to wonder who at Volvo Penta thought that combining steel, aluminum, salt water, and electrical current would be a good idea...).

Anyway, so far the only real blockage I've found was in the heat exchanger, and there was only about 20% or so blockage. One interesting part was that the T-shaped seals (that divide the raw water flow into channels up, down, and back) were all mangled, so they wouldn't have been directing the flow properly.

Interestingly, I found the same in the aftercooler. It appears that the place that was doing a lot of (shoddy) work on the boat previously not only didn't put the divider seal in place properly, but left part of it hanging out under the cover plate & outside the entire housing. That certainly wouldn't have helped, as the flow of the water through the aftercooler wouldn't have circulated as it should. However, this couldn't have been the "smoking gun" as it's been this way for 4-5 years & cooling has never been an issue before now.

As for the raw water flow, at this point I'm not ENTIRELY certain that the raw water DOES come in through the leg. The access to the water pipes & hoses is severely limited & lots are bundled together down in the bilge area & against the transom so it's very difficult to trace where hoses etc. go.

There IS a large through-hull with a ball valve near the transom that I've never been able to identify the reason for. The ball valve works, but I don't know if water flow through it is free. At this point I'm wondering if that's for cooling (it's not for the head - that has its own, brand-new through hull & valve) and, if so, if it's salted almost shut. I'll be looking at that tomorrow (the boat's an hour or two drive away).

I just spoke to a VP mechanic today, and he suggested that another possibility (if the inlet is inside the leg) is that there's a right-angle raw water fitting inside the leg that is notorious for corroding through. He says that when this occurs, the fitting (which is below water line at slow speed) goes above water line when speed increases, allowing it to suck air instead of water. Instant overheat....

The leg is a 290 DuoProp, by the way.

So, he suggests using the existing through-hull (or adding another one, with a ball valve) to reliably feed raw water to the raw water pump, which is only about 3 or 4 feet away from the pump, and to simply not use the through-the-leg raw water supply.

Any thoughts on that?
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Old 09-24-2020, 08:43 PM   #12
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We had a Seasport with the same engine and same outdrive. Also had overheat issues at speed, and it turned out to be a bad fuel pump. Really good Volvo mechanic here in town suggested it and explained why, but it was years ago and I forget exactly why it caused the overheat, but a new pump fixed it.
Worth looking if the cooling system all checks out.
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Old 09-24-2020, 08:46 PM   #13
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Thanks, I never would have thought of that! It did get a new fuel pump about 30-40 hours ago (runtime), but you never know, right? I'm guessing that lean running could cause a lot of heat....
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Old 09-24-2020, 11:11 PM   #14
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******** I'm guessing that lean running could cause a lot of heat....**********

That is gas engine thinking. A diesel does not run lean the way a gas engine does. As long as it gets enough air to burn the fuel they can run effectively and properly.
Diesels do not need a fuel/air ratio within tight parameters like a gasser. They do just fine with what many would call LEAN conditions without getting hot. In fact it is that ability that makes them extremely efficient at low power levels that would give a gas engine fits.

Yours would not be the only leg that has trouble feeding the engine enough water to effectively cool. I don't know about the corrosion allowing it to suck air but others have found the intake has been blocked and couldn't effectively be cleared. THey too eventually installed a proper seacock.

You might try a vacuum guage in the hose to the raw water pump and maybe watch at the strainer for excessive air bubbles. Once running at speed the water flow should be solid with absolutely minimal air.

High vacuum on the order of over 8 or 10" Hg would be too much. Lower is better.
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Old 09-25-2020, 12:44 AM   #15
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Thanks! I'm going to look at the seacock tomorrow, and maybe I can rig something up.
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Old 09-25-2020, 07:09 PM   #16
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Well, folks, I believe I found the "smoking gun".


I was looking at the leg, deciding to take a look at the raw water fitting & hose, and saw that there was (deep inside the outboard mechanics of the leg) a large oyster. It had grown to the point that it was pushing hard on the rubber hose, folding it over into a "V", rather than the gentle "U" it is supposed to be. There couldn't be more than a trickle getting through there.


The bad news is, the aluminum fitting that the hose is joined onto is badly corroded (electrolysis, despite my religiously replacing the zincs when they're even a little bit corroded), and needs to be replaced. Aside from the cost of the fitting (which is substantial), it doesn't look like it's possible to get at without removing & disassembling the leg which, thanks to COVID, is waaay outside my available funds.


So, although I now know what was causing the lack of cooling water, the fix may be unattainable.


Unless, that is, I install a new through-hull/strainer/ball valve. That would certainly ensure lots of cooling water, and prevent this from happening again. I would have to figure out a way to plug the very large hose running from the leg through the bilge to the water pump's metal pipe, but that's doable.


Any input on this option? I've had a mechanic or two say it's the "ultimate solution", which makes sense....
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Old 09-25-2020, 08:36 PM   #17
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Further to the foregoing - I've been reading up on replacing that 290DP hose connector, and it looks like a bear to do, requiring full removal and disassembly of the leg to replace. Hereabouts, we're talking several thousand dollars to accomplish that, IF you can find a mechanic who has time to look at it (currently, none of the 4 I've tried don't have the time).


It's starting to look like the through-hull/strainer/ball valve is the most economical & sure fix for this....
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Old 09-25-2020, 08:52 PM   #18
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Second that. Pulling water through the leg makes mfr easier, but as things age out having a normal through-hull fitting and strainer is just much better.
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Old 09-25-2020, 10:02 PM   #19
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Zetec7 you might try giving a call to Advanced Marine in Campbell River, they are the Volvo mechanics up here. They have an extensive collection of good used parts that may be useful to you if you end up having to take the leg apart. You could probably run the question of the thru hull by them as well. We have used them for our engines, they are pricey (but aren't all mechanics) but we are happy with their work. They definately know Volvo engines inside out.



Good luck with your repair.
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Old 09-28-2020, 03:14 PM   #20
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Well, after talking to a couple of Volvo Penta mechanics, I pulled the trigger & drilled a 1.25" hole through the bottom of the boat, about 1' forward of the transom. I'm installing the same bronze through-hull/strainer/scoop intake that Volvo Penta offered as an option to through-the-leg coolant intake.

I've also added a bronze & stainless steel ball valve shutoff, just in case I get a leak somewhere (something that was never included in the through-the-leg system). At my last survey, the surveyor told me I should consider putting in a through-hull to avoid future cooling problems but, as I had never had cooling problems, I hadn't done it. Now I have...

Now I have to reassemble all the major parts I took apart (heat exchanger, oil cooler, oil filter housing, after cooler, etc.) and get ready for reinstalling them all. The replacement O-rings + one paper gasket cost a whopping $441.41. OUCH! Plus, hauling out & sitting on the hard has cost another $750 (so far), and most of it wasn't necessary....all due to that stupid oyster!!! Up to around $1200 that I don't have to spend.
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