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41p turbo frozen

1908fish

New member
I am in the process of buying a boat and prior to the sea trial, the boat owner said that the engine has been started every 3 months on the trailer. During my inspection I removed the air filter to see if the turbo was locked up. Sure enough, she's locked up and frozen. I know these things are expensive to buy new and work on so I was very hesitant to try to spin the shaft with a wrench. thinking I have to have it rebuilt. Any easy fixes or ideas ?

Thanks in advance, fishboy
 
when sitting, older turbo cartridges tend to get stuck. carefully try to work it free with a socket, back and forth. if it frees up, usually works great as long as you are using the boat. I had one like that, it worked and is still working and its been 3 years since i freed it up. carbon cakes up the blades, and old engine oil cruds up the seals, that s what causes it to get stuck. you can also use this to your advantage when negotiating boat price. careful about rebuilding, these turbos are internally oil & WATER cooled, and cannot be rebuilt as easily as automotive turbos (oil cooling only). good luck
 
Thanks for the input Stringer bell, worked like a charm. 2nd sea trial on Wednesday. One other question, Thinking of getting an Oil sample check. If there was any impurities in the oil like coolant or fuel, would I be able to notice while the engine was running. The other day she fired up on first turn of key and had zero smoke until turbo didn't engage.

Thanks in advance, Fishboy
 
fishboy, most obvious problem clues are oil traces in coolant (visible in overflow tank) and coolant in oil (visible as whiteish/yellowish emulsion on dipstick. Those are important clues to some serious issues. Make sure engine is dead cold before you fire it up the first time, some sellers pre-warm the motor so that it fires right up. This is usually done if glow plugs are bad, and ether is used to start it (very dangerous for pistons/bearings) while noone is watching. Touch the motor to see if it was ran before you showed up. Check Blackstone online, they do ~$20 oil samples with free container mailed to you upfront. Its worth it, but it won't be effective if oil was recently changed. Good luck
 
IMAG0097.jpg

I just completely rebuilt two of these motors, sinkers, that sat for 3 years since sinking (and were completely taken apart). All the factory replacement parts were purchased OEM new from Volvo.
 
Stringer_bell, Update. There were no obvious signs of impurities in the oil or coolant. I went ahead and had an oil analysis done that came back negative. After loosening the turbo turban. 3 days later I took the boat out to see if it all work properly. Same problem. turbo does not spin and it started to lock up as I tried to spin it with a wrench. also my wake was black with exhaust. I have asked the buyer to credit me the cost of a new turbo. Not sure where this will go as he doesn't get the fact that no buyer will buy his boat unless they can see the full performance. Chris, this will be the 4th time down the road with Volvo 41's and for the most part, I have been happy with them other than the cost of parts. But thank you for your suggestion. Fishboy
 
I can relate to your issue. I bought a boat last year with the ad41 eng and outdrive with only 500 hrs I had a marine eng surveyor check on it before buying
I did not do a sea trial as the boat was a long ways away, Marine surveyor said eng ran great, bought boat took it to builder to do a complete service and
my turbo was also froze! when I contacted surveyor he said it ran great at idle and he never opened it up?
Big error on my part not doing sea trial.
I learned very valuable lesson.
I now start eng on weekly basis, if boat not used. what is recommended with boat on trailer?
 
D12038,

Never had this problem on my other boats with this motor. They were all on trailers. Starting your motor on the trailer once a month should be fine and thats primarily to keep things lubed move the fuel and keep the condensation down in your motor. Take the air cleaner off and spin the turbine now and then if your concerned. I imagine you had your turbo rebuilt or bought a new one. As long as you flush your motor with fresh water and have it on trailer, You shouldn't have this problem again. What was the cost and what did you do to fix the problem? Fishboy
 
Fishboy
it was expensive, builder said cause was cracked exhaust elbow, however the boat had not been used for quite a long time, cost was about $3000 for new Turbo
elbow hoses and seals and labor If I remember about 4 hrs?
Since then it has run flawlessly hope it keeps that up!
D
 
My two cents worth. I have owned a pair of these engines for 6 years now. When I bought the boat it had 175 hours on them. The previous owner had replaced the port turbo because it had stuck. The first year I had it the port one stuck, and I was able to free it up by hand. I then changed the oil and put in the recommended oil, 15w-40. The previous owner had used 30w. I also make sure for cold starts to crank the engine with the stop button pushed for about 15-20 seconds to allow the oil pressure to build a bit and assumingly get the oil up to the turbo bearings. Since this I have not had any issues with the turbos. I am also knocking on wood when I post this.
 
John
Very interesting info
Your thought about holding kill button makes good sense also, however my AD41 Pa has just a key start stop switch.
if it has a kill button I have not found it yet?
D
 
Hmm, yes I have a upper and lower helm, the key start is on the upper, the lower helm has just a starter engage switch and red stop button. No key required down there. That is where I normally start and stop the engines from. Not sure how you could do it with only the key start and stop. At least be sure you are running the recommended oil. In my case I believe the heavy 30 wt just wasn't getting up to the Turbo bearings quick enough.
 
Well thanks for the info , I am indeed running the recommended oil. I will definetly keep an eye on that turbo though dont want to replace another one.
Thanks
D
 
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