Volvo Penta TAMD40B fuel injector pump

Greetings and thanks for taking the time to read this. I recently purchased a Marine Trader with two TAMD40B motors. Can somebody tell me what drives the the main injector pump, does it run of the internal gears driven by the pully on the front of the motor with the belts? The left pump seems to work ok manually but im not getting fuel to the injectors and I think it because I didnt put the belts back on as was just trying to se if I could get the motor to fire.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks...

The injector pump is driven by a gear. If it was belt drive it would get out of time.
Either there is a fuel stop that's not opening or the injector pump and the injector tubes probably need bleeding. Air in the pump or tubes will stop fuel from traveling to the injectors. The injector has a spring loaded valve. Fuel under high pressure opens the valve. With air in the system, when fuel is sent to the tube, it compresses relieving the pressure below what's needed to open the injector valve so no ignition happens.
The pump is supposed to be self bleeding, but the tubes have to be manually bled. The pump is bled by operating the lever on the lift pump. See images
Also, if you are going to crank the engine for some time, shut the seacock to the seawater pump other wise water may back up to the engine and flood a cylinder thru an open valve.

I will try your suggestions, for the injector pump.

Lepke said:

The injector pump is driven by a gear. If it was belt drive it would get out of time.
Either there is a fuel stop that's not opening or the injector pump and the injector tubes probably need bleeding. Air in the pump or tubes will stop fuel from traveling to the injectors. The injector has a spring loaded valve. Fuel under high pressure opens the valve. With air in the system, when fuel is sent to the tube, it compresses relieving the pressure below what's needed to open the injector valve so no ignition happens.
The pump is supposed to be self bleeding, but the tubes have to be manually bled. The pump is bled by operating the lever on the lift pump. See images
Also, if you are going to crank the engine for some time, shut the seacock to the seawater pump other wise water may back up to the engine and flood a cylinder thru an open valve.

Click to expand...

Thanks Lepke, as I said the Lift pump does seem to work with the manual pump lever but im not getting anything to the injectors, tried bleeding at the injector itself but not at the filter, ill start there and continue with the manual pump until I see some fuel. Thanks for your help.... Do you know if any service manuals are available online for the TAMD40B?

https://boatdiesel.com

If you join, it's about $25 a year. They have a shop manual in the pdf library. There are also forums by maker. Often oem mechanics frequent the forums.
Also you may find a manual on ebay.
The manuals may be available from Volvo, but my experience is that for older models they sell an overpriced, abbreviated manual.

Lepke said:

The injector pump is driven by a gear. If it was belt drive it would get out of time.
Either there is a fuel stop that's not opening or the injector pump and the injector tubes probably need bleeding. Air in the pump or tubes will stop fuel from traveling to the injectors. The injector has a spring loaded valve. Fuel under high pressure opens the valve. With air in the system, when fuel is sent to the tube, it compresses relieving the pressure below what's needed to open the injector valve so no ignition happens.
The pump is supposed to be self bleeding, but the tubes have to be manually bled. The pump is bled by operating the lever on the lift pump. See images
Also, if you are going to crank the engine for some time, shut the seacock to the seawater pump other wise water may back up to the engine and flood a cylinder thru an open valve.

Click to expand...

Lepke, forgive my ignorance but what are you talking about when you say "set the governor to full revolutions"?

Thanks!

The injector pump should have a lever where the throttle cable attaches. Sometimes there are markings for idle or run, but the lever position when stopped is the opposite of full. The lever is setting an internal governor.
So you move the lever or your controls to full. Having all the injector nuts slacked prevents the engine from starting because the loss of pressure keeps the spring loaded injector from opening.
Wrap rags around the injector to catch the diesel.

Lepke said:

The injector pump should have a lever where the throttle cable attaches. Sometimes there are markings for idle or run, but the lever position when stopped is the opposite of full. The lever is setting an internal governor.
So you move the lever or your controls to full. Having all the injector nuts slacked prevents the engine from starting because the loss of pressure keeps the spring loaded injector from opening.
Wrap rags around the injector to catch the diesel.

Click to expand...

Thanks again, I really appreciate your time and assistance. One other thing you mentioned was a "Fuel Stop" . Last night when I was working on this issue I found that a lot of the fuel was being pumped into the return feed line. I was getting some fuel to the first injector and but that was about it. I checked the return line for blockages and found out where the fuel I had been pumping from the life pump had been going. Im wondering why the other ports off the injector dont seem to be pumping fuel. Keep in mind this engine has not been run in 7 years. I have gone through and replaced all the filters and fluids, emptied and scrubbed the fuel tanks and im using fresh fuel from a jerry can to try to start it before I put my polished fuel back into the system. Thanks again for your help. I had also blown the lines with air to clear them after scrubbing the tanks.

Still not getting any fuel to the injectors TAMD40B

Lepke said:

The injector pump should have a lever where the throttle cable attaches. Sometimes there are markings for idle or run, but the lever position when stopped is the opposite of full. The lever is setting an internal governor.
So you move the lever or your controls to full. Having all the injector nuts slacked prevents the engine from starting because the loss of pressure keeps the spring loaded injector from opening.
Wrap rags around the injector to catch the diesel.

Click to expand...

Im not getting any fuel past the injector pump. These engines have been sitting for about 7-8 years without being run but I have changed all the fluids and filters as well as scrubbed the fuel tanks and lines as well as the the fuel that was left in the tanks. Im thinking about adding a 12 volt fuel pump from the tank or fuel line to the fuel manifold in front of the racor filters. Is there any reason not to ass pressure to the injection pump, any internal filters or manifolds that could be damaged? Any help in trying to figure out how to get fuel to the injectors without taking the pump off would be appreciated. Thanks again for any and all assistance.

Nothing wrong with putting a lift pump on the fuel supply. This pump (Bosch VE) is driven by internal gears (belts mean nothing to the pump). It has an internal gear (or maybe vane) lift pump that when engine is stopped, it is difficult to push fuel through. An electric 5psi lift pump can be left on and it will sloooowly push fuel past the internal lift pump.

Hook up the lift pump and let it run. Crack open return line and see that "solid" fuel is there with a little flow. Then crack open injector lines and crank. No fuel goes to inj lines unless motor is spinning.

Also, there is an electric fuel stop solenoid on the top back of the pump, I think on this it is energize to stop. But sometimes they get swapped out with ones that are energize to run.

This pump is basically the same as the one used in VW rabbits and Jettas in the 70's and 80's.

Diesels with injector pumps are much easier to bleed with the installation of a 12v electric pump. It can be installed inline w/o affecting the other pump. Pump valves are check valves so the fuel only moves in one direction. I use ones similar to picture, about $20 on ebay, rated to move up to 35 gallons an hour. They can be used as a full time lift pump or standby in case of lift pump failure. I put them on all my engines.
Don't take the injector pump off! If you get it out of time, you'll need a mechanic. With rags in place, crack open each fitting after the lift pump to see if fuel is there under pressure (while working the lever). The engine may need to be turned slightly for full lever affect. The pump is run by a cam lobe, and if near the high point will have a reduced stroke.
When you are sure of fuel at the injector pump intake, then move your effort to the injector tubes. Slack the nuts of all. With the injector pump lever in full, either work the lift pump lever or crank the engine with the starter until fuel runs freely from the opened injector tubes. The engine will not start with all the tubes opened because the loss of pressure will keep the injectors from opening.
There may be a bleed screw near the top of the injector pump not mentioned in the engine manual. For more info on bleeding the injector pump. ID the pump. There should be a label that gives the make and model. A manual may be found online.
One more item. Avoid using too much ether for starting. Don't run the engine on ether. Ether works by expanding and creating very high pressures in the cylinder. In a cold engine the compression of the cylinder air causes the temperature to rise and a proper amount of ether helps reach above 500°F to the ignition temp of diesel. Too much ether will create pressures that can cause rings or piston lands to crack and require ether every start along with oil burning, solved only by a rebuild.

Second that about ether. Don't use it on a TAMD 40. It is a glow plug diesel and those seemed to be easily damaged from ether.

Even with the elec lift pump, no fuel will come from inj lines unless motor is spinning. Prime up the fuel pump body (elec pump will do it slowly, but will do it), then spin it with starter with inj nuts slacked. Between pump body and inj lines is the plunger/barrel and delivery valves. No fuel will move past those with a 5psi pump. Gotta roll with starter for that stage.