Power loss on port engine, Volvo KAMD300

[TwinFin]

After 8 knotting it out to the tuna grounds in the dark, tried to speed up at first light yesterday to run the last 15 miles and found that my port engine would not power up.

Symptoms:No computer codes reported, only get the 1.1 back. Upon power up, stbd side behaves normally but port won't rise above 1500 the normal way. Not computer limited to 1500 rpm, just very sluggish up to about 2K and could not get above that, lots of dark smoke out the port exhaust, and can't get up on plane. Found that if I pointed her down swell, I could barely slip up on plane, then the port engine would make the transition from 2K up to normal running conditions no problem. (I usually run at 3200 or so). Once she was up on plane, all behavior was normal. Smoke back to normal low levels and was white. At first I thought (hoped really more than thought) "oh well, just needed to blow that **** out". But no, same pattern repeated each time I needed to get back up on plane. Made a day of it at 7.5 knots and brought firends back home with a nice load of albacore but now I'm looking for ideas before I begin the search for a mechanic that won't mess my boat up.

any ideas on diagnosing the cause?

I've considered:
fuel restriction (filters?)
compressor not kicking in
turbo not kicking in

[Captain Spike]

My guess would be supercharger (compresser) not kicking in.

[backman]

concur

Its the damned volvo compressore clutch. Painful experience on my part also...

[TwinFin]

Do you know

how that compressor is switched on and off? The clutch you refer to is engauged how? I ran my port engine in the slip today and listened for the compressor to turn off as it always does after a few minutes of engine warm up time at idle. I never did hear the compressor switch off which makes me believe it never came on at start up. I'm wishing someone would tell me that one of the fuses on the engine might simply be blown. (wishful thinking I'm sure)

Larry - what was involved when you wrestled with your compressor clutch. (expense wise I mean) I visited my Volvo service outfit in San Diego today and scheduled a mechanic to take a look on Tuesday.

[Armageddon]

Just like Backman said, it sounds like the compressor clutch. I am not to versed in the compressor clutch solution other than having it replaced. Depending on the age of your engines and hours, this may be the only solution.

My mechanic says to replace all fuel filters first. If that doesn't work, it may be the belts. If the belts are in good condition (no cracks in belts) and there isn't any "slipping," then the compressor clutch sounds like the culprit.

There are a few threads on this in the mechanical section of this website.

My KAMD's may be in need of new clutches too, so you're not alone. Good luck with yours .....

[TwinFin]

Thanks guys

I added a few more questions here...

I'm at 501 hours and my 28 is a 2004 model so the engines are probably 2003's. I will probably change my filters tomorrow but I think it's the compressor since I can't hear it at warm up now and I just changed all my fluids & filters 2 trips ago.

How that compressor is switched on and off? How is the clutch you refer to engauged/disengauged? I ran my port engine in the slip today and listened for the compressor to turn off as it always does after a few minutes of engine warm up time at idle. I never did hear the compressor switch off which makes me believe it never came on at start up. I'm wishing someone would tell me that one of the fuses on the engine might simply be blown. (wishful thinking I'm sure)

Larry - what was involved when you wrestled with your compressor clutch. (expense wise I mean) Was the clutch repaired or the whole compressor replaced? Was it something that can be fixed quickly? I visited my Volvo service outfit in San Diego today and scheduled a mechanic to take a look on Tuesday. I asked if the compressor is easy to replace and the mechanic said yes. Then I asked the guy behind the desk to check on the price. $3700 minus an $1100 core trade in if the one down is "worthy" of being traded in. Who knows about the labor... Anyway, anything you can share about your experience with compressor problems will better prepare me for talkin with the mechanic Tuesday. Is there anything I might have done by trolling so much to cause the compressor to fail? I usually troll at about 1400 rpm to get 7.5 knots or so.

Now on the lighter side. I'll remember yesterday's trip forever. The first sign of bad things to come was at 12:45 AM in the slip as we were about to leave. I found my head door locked with no one inside. Since I teaked the wood earlier in the day, I must have accidentally bumped the lock. My ditch bag is kept in there so no way we are leaving with the door locked. Of course the lock knob is under the handle and even my arms are not long enough to reach over the top of the door. Fortunately there is enough of the thingy exposed (what is that called anyway?) that slides in and out as you turn the handle that I was able to slide it back enough with a flat head screw driver to open the door without damaging any of the wood. 5 - 10 min frustrating delay.

Then late in the day my macerator on the albacore blood/ice brine filled fish box decides to **** out. Try emptying that mess out without a macerator. My marina neighbors must have been wondering if I moonlight for Tony Soprano as I bailed bucket after bucket of blood overboard this morning. That pump will be tomorrow's project assuming I can find a replacement easily. I can't wait to disconnect that hose and have all the remaining blood in the hose soak me as I lay on my side under the fishbox.

[Captain Spike]

The compressor clutch is switched on electrically depending on engine RPM. I have KAMD43's and the compressors come on at 1700 RPM and off at 2600 RPM, however if the throttles are pushed all the way forward it's like a kick-down on an automatic car and the compressors will come on even if the RPM are below 1700 RPM. The actual in and out points may be different on your motors.

Maybe you should have the electrical side checked to see that it's telling the clutch to operate before blaming the actual clutch.

[backman]

Some one just went through this also on this BBS

my recollection of his experience and mine 5 years ago was the clutch would not engage which in turn overloaded a breaker in the black box on top of the engine.

I was on extended warranty when mine went and my recollection was that the complete cost for parts and labor was in the barely less than 1K range of which Volvo extended warranty covered ~2/3.

[RODHOG]

I Dont Know If This Will Help But I Had A Similar Problem The Other Day With Kamd 44. I Could Not Get Up On Plane Only Turn 2000 Rpm Black Smoke Same Problems. Luckily I Was Close To Home And Went In At 5.5 Kts. When I Got Back To The Dock Opened Up The Hatch Found That My Compressor Belt Had Slipped Off. Closer Inspection Found That My Tension Pulley Had Warped And Was Out Of Balance Causing The Belt To Get Thrown Off. The Pulley Is Plastic With A Bearing In The Middle. New Tension Pulley $82, New Belt $30. The One Thing I Remember That Day Was The Belt Started To Squeak And I Was Going To Tighten It Up When I Got Back Only To Have It Slip Off Before I Could Tighten It Up.

[Agitator]

Regarding the macerator pump

Steve, I thought that I had a macerator pump failure on my 03 CC28. Upon removal and disassembly, I found "stuff" like mono, a lure eye, skirt material, etc. preventing the shaft from turning. I cleaned it up, put it back together and it is still in service. I try to be more aggressive in keeping "stuff" out of the fish boxes. At worst the pumps are available, not too costly, and easy to install. Good luck on your compressor challenge....agitator

[TwinFin]

Thanks again

for all the replies. The information helps a lot.

I'll check out the fuses and the belts. I looked at the belts as best I could yesterday while leaning over the front of the engine but today I'll do the squirmy dance and get in front and take a good look at everything.

I am glad to hear about the extended warranty covering some of this. I hope that proves to be the case here.

I bought a new macerator a few minutes ago. I'll see if maybe the old one can be rescued.

Dang thing about having twins is each time something breaks on one - you wonder if you should just replace both of them. But cost always keeps me to just fixing what broke!

[TwinFin]

Back on the water!

Updates:

power loss:

Checked all my belts and they seem fine. Compressor oil is fine. Nothing looks out of the ordinary. Then checked the lower 7.5 A fuse of the two fuses under my port computer box and it was open. Top one was OK. Replaced the lower fuse and sea trialed my boat. Power is back, repeated (probably 10 times) runs up to plane all felt normal.

But.... Bothered not knowing why the fuse blew in the first place. It blew sometime between warm up (compresssor ran during warm up and I heard it switch off) the day of that tuna trip and 5 - 6 hours later when I first tried to speed up. Most of that time was spent running at 7-8 knots. I'll have to search for the other posts you guys mentioned. I'm curious to learn exactly what Larry and others observed prior to realizing they had a compressor clutch issue.

Also - now that I'm so focused on what goes on while getting up on plane I noticed that the port tach trails the starboard tach by a few hundred rpm between about 2500 and 3000 rpm. Both very soon equal out but they differ during power up. Don't know if this has always been the case.

Gotta decide by Monday whether or not I still have something to show the mechanic I made an appointment with. Boat runs fine now but I can't help wonder when I'll blow another fuse.

Macerator:

Removed my macerator and found a small egg sliding sinker jammed between one of the blades and the inner wall of the casing. Removed the sinker and tested the pump. It works fine so I remounted it and will keep the new one I bought as backup. Also replaced that heavy exhaust water tubing that connects the fish box to the macerator with something a little more flexible (shields 141 multiflex hose).

[Bullish]

I have had same problem with my compressor clutches last year and had them replaced. Problem fixed but now they are acting up again. Everyone else here gave you most of the advice that I would already give except for the fact that there is a fuse for the compressor that is under the left-hand side of the black electronic box on top of the the engine. If this fuse is blown (like it routinely blew on my engine last year) the compressor will not kick in and you WILL see a lot of black smoke when trying to get the boat on plane. Check this fuse. Sounds like it is blown. There are spares in the black electronic box.

If the fuse is blown, now you have to figure out why it blew. Maybe just a one-time thing or more likely, you need to replace that compressor clutch. The clutches are about $300 each and I hear they are fairly easy to replace if you turn wrenches.

[Bullish]

Looks like we posted the lasts post at about the same time. When trying to figure out why the fuse blew on mine last Summer, I noticed a theme. The fuse would only blow when the compressor was continually engaged for at least 20-40 minutes. This was a problem for me since my compressors engage at 1400 rpms and I tuna troll at 1600 rpms. Replacing the clutch fixed the problem. Fuse did not blow anymore. I suggest running the boat continually for an hour with the clutch on...see what happens. If it blows, change the clutch.

If it doesn't blow, cancel the mechanic, buy 10 extra fuses and go fishing!

By the way, buy the fuses from a volvo dealer, some generic 7.5 fuses won't actually fit in there.

[Petty Cash]

Did you guys ever think of trolling a little slower. I troll between 5.5-6.5 knots.My compressors never come on when trolling. Do you think the faster speed is better?