Logo

TAMD41 oil problem

davefforest

New member
I am new to the forum but really hope someone can help. I am running a TAMD41B in a 24ft Cleopatra. The engine pulls well giving 22kn at 3700rpm clean exhaust and very smooth with stable water temps. My issue is with the oil pressure. On start up there is a distinct delay of 2 to 5 seconds before the alarm stops and the pressure registers, when hot the idle pressure shown is approx 20psi with 45 shown on throttle up. I am concerned that this may damage the turbo bearings! I have replaced the oil and filter with Volvo oil and filter but had difficulty removing all the oil through the extraction pipe with a fair bit of the old oil seemingly out of reach despite every effort. Any ideas welcome!
 
Oil change requires tight seal on the tube. Also dirty cold oil is hard to pump up.
20psi sounds low, usually idle hot is 30psi on those motors, 50-60 at cruise.

Remove turbo feed line (top of the turbo) evacuate it into a deep narrow container. Fire up the motor and see how quickly and how much oil pumps thru there. Make sure you dont make a mess, cold startup should have ~50psi and oil should come out hard.

How many hours on the motor?
 
Oil change requires tight seal on the tube. Also dirty cold oil is hard to pump up.
20psi sounds low, usually idle hot is 30psi on those motors, 50-60 at cruise.

Remove turbo feed line (top of the turbo) evacuate it into a deep narrow container. Fire up the motor and see how quickly and how much oil pumps thru there. Make sure you dont make a mess, cold startup should have ~50psi and oil should come out hard.

How many hours on the motor?
Thanks for the reply!
Unknown hours but suspect a lot overall. motor was supposedly overhauled by an independent Volvo spe******t 70hrs ago. I will try and contact the previous owner and try to clarify what was done.
I carried out the test on a cold engine (mild weather) with the following results:
Manual stop out 10 secs cranking - no flow or registered oil pressure.
Manual stop out 12 secs cranking - no flow or registered oil pressure.
Manual stop off engine started 4-5 secs before flow as a strong stream.
 
That sounds normal. What weight oil are you using? Rotella 15w40 is what i like

Its hard to get oil pressure up when cranking at only 200-300 rpm. 5 seconds of warning is a little much, but it can be a sender. Also, please verify exact oil pressure using mecnahical pressure gauge screwed directly into one of the oil system plugged ports on the block. This will tell you for sure what is going on.

If you search the forum you will find that sometimes dry seal inside oil pickup system gets cracked and engine is trying to pump oil but it gets mixed with air and lowers the pressure. First verify with good mechanical pressure gauge what is the exact pressure at startup, at hot idle, at cruise, and at WOT. Report back
 
Last edited:
Back
Top