Fuel pump problems

"Hello board,
I have a proble

"Hello board,
I have a problem, maybe someone can help.
2002 chaparral ,5.7 GI 280 h.p. multiport EFI.
Last week on the lake, the boat had a intermitten loss of power issue. for the most part it happened on the top end. several times it did not quite have enough power to get on plane. usually if i shut the motor off for several seconds it would fire up and take off like normal.
At the end of the weekend while retrieving the boat, I noticed the fuel pump was making a low whining sound.
So after we got back I changed the fuel filter and did a fuel pressure test. The high pressure was at 80psi and the low pump was 5psi. All the while I could still hear the low whining sound.
Do those pressures sound normal ? The last thing I want to do is spend $750 for a new pump if its working normal. Any ideas ?
Thanks,Jeff"

"Anyone home ?
Where's th

"Anyone home ?
Where's the love
"

Jeff...I'm experiencing si

Jeff...I'm experiencing similar issues with my 2001 Volvo in a Chap 263. Scroll down further on this board to 5.7 GXI and read Russells input regarding the fuel pump....I think he is on to something that will help us both. I have lost faith in my mechanic after he stranded us on the lake yesterday by removing the fuel line and not being able to connect it back up without leaking. I think it's ridiculous that he charged me 3 hours ($109 per hour) and a tow for him to scratch his head and not know what to do. So I just ordered a manual (SELOC) on ebay and should have it in hand in 3 days...I'm sure I can fix it myself without too much problem. I'll let you know what I find.

"Jeff, like Joe said read my e

"Jeff, like Joe said read my earlier post on "5.7 fuel pump nightmare". I would also add that you should check the fuel line fitting that is screwed onto the side of the fuel cell. Some of the stock fittings had a screen and the screen would sometimes get blocked with paint chips. I don't know where these chips could come from but they seem to match the engine color. The Volvo manual also states that sometimes a pump can get stuck and reversing the polarity on the pump wires will reverse the pump direction and sometimes unstick the pump. Its worth a try, at 5 psi I would suspect your low pressure pump, unfortunately you can't buy it separately. Your low pressure pump draws fuel thru the filter and into the fuel reservoir, the high pressure pump takes fuel from the reservoir and pumps it to the fuel rail. The fuel acts as the coolant to the pumps, if the high pressure pump is being starved for fuel it will get hot, as in hot to the touch and will begin to make noise. You can check which pump is making the noise with a screwdriver - one end to the ear the other to the pump, and your hand will tell you if its hot. If you still have problems send me an e-mail."

"Thanks for the info.
I bough

"Thanks for the info.
I bought a new fuel pump yesterday. We have a Lake Powell trip coming up on Wed. So I did not want to screw around too long. but I'll check for the screen. I'm 99% sure my low pressure pump took a dump. A friend has a boat shop so he got me a pretty good deal on the part at $630 tax free cause he has a resale lic.
Something interesting, the unit came with a new fuel filter attached. its at least 50% longer than the stock volvo filters I have been using.
hmmmm.... wonder if thats part of the problem.
We'll see.
Thanks again,
Jeff"

"My problem ended up being cor

"My problem ended up being corrosion in the distributor cap. (I think I should convert to electronics in the future) FYI, my engine is TBI not EFI and my fuel pressures came in at 30 (high) 10 (low)....within range according to the SELOC manual. I am a little confused as to where I am to find referrence to actual part numbers, as the manual doesn't have any? Any advice would be appreciated."

"Try here:

[url=""]http://w

"Try here:

http://www.volvopentastore.com/Genuine_Volvo_Penta_Parts/dm/cart_id.497973580--c ategory_id.343835--search_type.category--session_id.684642048--store_id.366--vie w_id.343835"

El...Thank you very much for t

El...Thank you very much for the link...I have learned a lot from your posts and advice I have seen on this site...I really appreciate your wiilingness to share your knowledge.

"I have tried to read all of t

"I have tried to read all of the pertinent posts regarding fuel pump/fuel cell issues. Just replaced a burned out fuel cell after foolishly ignoring that fuel pump noise-jeff k your description of the problem is perfect--anyway first day out with new pump and noise is starting again-complete with hot to the touch fuel line. It seems I'm about to take a trip through fuel pump hell!
It seems that good diagnostics are the key to isolating the exact problem or problems.
Possible problems culled from multiple posts:

-antisyphon valves
-paint chips or other debris in screen on side of cell
-bad fuel/water in fuel which could possibly block
-fuel filter or fuel water seperator
-air leaking into fuel lines

Am I missing anything? Mechanic is coming monday, because i sure can't afford to replace pump again!$840 for cell, relay(just in case)and two hours of labor seems comparable to numbers you guys have paid.

Initial failure-appaarently everything got so hot from trying unsuccessfully to pump the fuel that the two leads coming out if the pump and the locking connector partially melted! Onset was sneaky and intermittent; slight loss of high end coupled with intermittent strange noise that you could only hear at idle.
Oh yes forgot the suggestion to check for salt scale occluding the small raw water cooling inlet atop the fuel cell in between the two fuel lines-great picture on that post. Probably can't be it in my case as I have fresh water cooling with antifreeze?
Thanks to everyone for "sharing your pain" and I will report back with the outcome--hopefully simple and cheap, but it doesn't look good

paulie59"

"oops forgot to describe boat.

"oops forgot to describe boat. 24'seasport with 5.0Gxi I/O with duoprop. I think it is a 2002.past 5 years have seen one bad ignition coil, lost steering due to loose/missing lock nut on seastar cylinder@ transom(monday morning blues at the factory?)and two leaky outdrive bellows which led to rear end growl/bearing replacement,new alternator after burning out a set of batteries. Other than that(!) pretty happy with boat, but have had less problems with outboards on earlier boats.

paulie59"

"Paul, I would ask your mechan

"Paul, I would ask your mechanic to check the fuel pump pressures to see if they meet spec. Also I would ask him to verify there is no fuel supply issue by connecting a portable fuel supply directly to the fuel cell.

You mention in you post "Oh yes forgot the suggestion to check for salt scale occluding the small raw water cooling inlet atop the fuel cell in between the two fuel lines-great picture on that post." Can you provide a link to this post? I have not seen the picture you refer to and would really like to see it.

Thanks"

"Russ

thanks for input and

"Russ

thanks for input and timely response. I'm still learning how to use this site! I will try to find photo link, I think I read every post that pertained to 5.0volvo,5.7volvo, fuel pumps, hard starting, and funny noises. It was in one those, might take me a while.

thanks again, and i will definitely keep you posted

paul"

"Russ

It was actually tw

"Russ

It was actually two different posts. Salt scale problem was addressed by you in a may 30,2008 reply to Joe Christenson, photos were in a request from Jason Allerding on june 26, 2008. I have read so many postings doing my home work that the two posts got mixed in my memory. I spent two days reading as many posts as possible (much to my wife's dismay!) so as not to waste anyone's time if there was an obvious answer online. No one answer except do all the diagnostics in an intelligent manner!

I don't see any replies to jason's problem. If you are out there, did you figure it out?

paul"

"update on fuel pump problem.

"update on fuel pump problem. Mechanic replaced rubber fuel pickup hoses in gas tanks with new plastic ones. Claims plastic is better with the alcohol in the gas here in the states. Original hoses were jammed all the way down against the bottom rear of the tank to get every last drop of fuel(!) Screens at the end of rubber lines were dirty. Unfortunately, one screen fell off into the gas tank when pulling out the hose. How worried should I be about that, if at all?
Anyway, took boat for 45min test run and no more fuel pump noise. He did not do a fuel pressure test. New problem is: unable to reach previous max rpm@wot of 4600 with this prop, barely making 4000rpm. We're gonna replace some tune up parts next, will update

paul"

"RU Still having problems with

"RU Still having problems with your fuel???



I had the same problem and refused to pay the $800 dollars for the new pumps…figured out what was the problem!!! You will not believe what the problem is…



eliminated the fuel filter – put a new filter on
eliminated the electrical connections to the high/low – disconnected one (listened) – switched (listened) “turned key to the start position but didn’t start the engine
eliminated the check valve – put fuel line from fuel pump in gas can


Well still having the problem…so then to say the least I was pissed so I took the whole pump apart…what I found was “PAINT”



Factory paint is my guess…the top side of the fuel pump “where the filter, high, low, and water cooler” connects!



I took that off, sand blasted all the paint off the filter housing “top black piece which held everything together” and also blew everything out with an air compressor!



Took it out for the 5th test run…perfect…pressure never dropped “used a fuel pressure gauge on the high pressure fuel pump”. This amazed me that the dealer didn’t know this!!! Called them twice….they wanted me to pay for my 2nd fuel pump at $800 saying I had burned up the pump!!!!



I think that if someone could get a hold of all the people having this problem “which I saw a lot of on-line” some type of recall would be in order…or I could rebuild people fuel pumps for them…it was fun to finally figure out the issue.



If you didn’t already throw away the old pump…check the paint to see if is flaking off inside of the pump.





Thanks!



Will"

"will
Of course, I already th

"will
Of course, I already threw out the pump! I have also read about this problem, by the time I started looking online my pump had already burned itself out. I wonder if the ethanol dissolves paint and they never had to worry with plain gas?
To date, new pump, new fuel pickups in both gas tanks, minor tune up, and now I'm still down about 500 rpms at wot.Currently looking for an answer to low rpms, otherwise boat runs and sounds fine.
paul"