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Volvo KAD32 power loss

Lancev

New member
Hi, have a KAD32 volvo and it gradually lost power. The supercharger kicks in but the motor powers out as it reaches above 2000 rpm. The rpms will gradually get to about 3200rpm. The turbo whine seems to be missing but the paint is not discoloured. What are the steps to take from this point?
Also is there a full repair manual (the big one) online or where to purchase one at a reasonable price?
Thanks for any help
Lance
 
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Hi, have a KAD32 volvo and it gradually lost power. The supercharger kicks in but the motor powers out as it reaches above 2000 rpm. The rpms will gradually get to about 3200rpm. The turbo whine seems to be missing but the paint is not discoloured. What are the steps to take from this point?
Also is there a full repair manual (the big one) online or where to purchase one at a reasonable price?
Thanks for any help
Lance


Hi Lance

I have the same problem with my Kad 32, I was wondering if you had any luck tracing the fault or even got it sorted.
Cheers Jim
 
Hi, we ended up changing all 4 of the belts and that seemed to solve the problem. I understand that belts are an ongoing maintenance problem with the KAD32. The old belts still looked like new but putting brand new belts on solved the problem.
Hope that helps.
Lance
 
It seemed as if the turbo and/or supercharger was not working, a very definite lack of power at mid and high rpm.
It is interesting to note that the 'used' spare belts the previous owner had left were in almost new shape. it seems that the KAD32 needs new belts frequently. My advice is if you haven't changed the belts this year then it is the cheapest way to go. The other option is big $ spent on marine mechanics.
Have put about 30 hours on the boat since the new belts: works great!

PS. We had to retighten the new alternator belt after a few hours, and then it stayed tight.
Hope this helps
 
Seems strange? We have a pair of KAD32's that were rebuilt at 2600hrs and have done ~600hrs since the rebuild. I think we might have used 3 (maybe 4) belts in that time (~3200hrs and 10 years).
One problem we had at one time was that the vanes in the supercharger got quite 'sticky' with oil residue etc. Volvo said it was not a serviceable item and we should buy a new one (now why would they suggest that???). We stripped it down, cleaned it, and it has been as good as new ever since. I know of other KAD32's that have had this same 'sticky' problem, but usually when they get higher hours on them. I wonder if you could have something similar affecting the belt life? How many hours have you on your engine?
 
You may have something there. We have less than 1,000 hrs on the engine (we think), so the hours are not that high. However, my brother saw that the alternator belt was slipping (that belt was tight) so we assume that the main pulley belt is slipping. This could be due to extra drag from the Supercharger.
We will take a better look to confirm if the main belt is slipping.

If I could ask, about how much are the parts for doing a rebuild on one of these?
 
No parts - just labour. We did it ourselves and it took probably 4 - 5 hours to strip, clean and reassemble. Probably take 2 - 3 hours now that we have done it once.
The good news though is having done it once, Next time I would do the following instead of a full strip down

1) remove the belt and try rotating the supercharger (SC) by hand. It may take a bit of effort, but should be smooth rather than 'sticky'
2) if it is 'sticky', remove the SC from the engine (a few bolts and some clamps)
3) spray brake cleaner or similar into the top of the SC and start rotating it
4) keep spraying and rotating until it is no longer sticky and the stuff running out the bottom looks clean
5) let it sit for a few hours to make sure no brake cleaner remains in the system
6) change the SC oil
7) refit to engine

Our one was actually frozen solid after the boat hadn't been run for a few weeks so we assumed something had seized (bearings etc). In fact it was just the sticky residue on the vanes sticking them together. We stripped it right down and checked bearings etc but in the end it was just the sticky gunk that was the problem. Having seen how it all works we decided that if the other engine did the same we would use brake clean etc as above. If you do strip it down, take careful note of how the gears of the vanes engage (take photos and put marks on the gears etc). We probably spent 1 - 2 hours getting the vane timings right again as we weren't careful enough when taking it apart.

You could probably get away with a quick and simple solution if yours isn't seized by disconnecting the inlet and outlet hoses to the SC while still on the engine and spraying the brake clean through it with the engine running and the SC turning. Just need to make sure that the engine is not sucking the brake clean into the intake as it comes out of the SC outlet.
 
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