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Volvo Penta Frankenstein???

japdip

New member
Hi all, I have a new to me boat with twin VP 4.3 engines and DP-E drives. Since I dont know the history on it , I wanted to go through it and change filters, impellers, plugs, wires, etc. What I have found is that the engines have been replaced at some point so that there is no engine data tag anywhere. The engines have block casting numbers ending in 090M and the are TBI systems, which is where the fun begins. I was looking on the on-line engine diagrams trying to compare what I have to what is known out there and found out this setup is not listed and may be cobbled together. There is only an in-line fuel filter going to an in-line fuel pump that is plumbed into the throttle body with braided hose. There is no spin on filter assembly, vapor tank, or secondary pump. There are a couple of unused electrical plugs coming from the wiring loom to the throttle body area. Engine starts, idles, and runs up the throttle normally.
Am I missing something here as far as what I have?
If its not a standard setup, is it safe to use?
Should I discard whats there and convert to a carb system?

Thanks in advance...
 
The boat is a 2000 Baha Cruiser King Cat 27. I took a couple of photos, but I have to study how to upload them so I can attach to this thread.
 
Get a photobucket account and upload the pics there and link them here. You might try the 4.3GXiA and see if it looks the same go to the volvo penta store and pull up the diagrams.
 
The DP-E drive was unique and was offered behind some of the smaller diesel engines. There is a greater reduction in the transmission, which makes the lower unit ratio (as stamped) inaccurate!
If need be… I could explain why this was done.


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I looked at the 4.3 GXiA and thats not it either. I thought I went through every 4.3 model. This has throttle body injection and no fuel cell. Just an inline fuel pump and inline fuel filter. No high pressure or low pressure pump, no spin on filter.VP_ENGINE_1.jpg
VP_engine_2.jpg
 
Get a photobucket account and upload the pics there and link them here..........

Can you still do that without buying an account?

Why not just click the "Insert Image" icon in the toolbar above. That brings up this (without the numbers)........
attachment.php



1 Click on "from computer"
2 Click on "browse" then go to where you store you're pictures on your computer and click the picture so it is entered in the text box (left of the "browse" button)
3 Click on "upload"
 

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yeah, Photobucket got greedy and pissed off a lot of people with their 3rd party hosting crackdown, so that wasnt an option. I tried the forum's image paste feature, but kept getting an error so I went to a site called "Imgbb.com" and hosted from there.
 
most common reason for error in posting images to this site is files that are over the size limit. I always use the "resize" option in "paint" ( free on all windows machines for decades) to reduce them. Right click on image and select open with "paint".... select "resize".... save as a slightly different name ( *.jpg) and then upload.
 
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Okay, so I got a couple of photos up to look at IDíng the motor. The setup looks as though its been there for years so it must work, but I have a couple of concerns:
1) The inline pump sucks fuel from the fuel tank via fuel hose and then pushes it through the fuel filter via braided hose and then into the throttle body.
Shouldnt the fuel filter be inline before the fuel pump?
2_ With a pressurized system like this, shouldnt there be a return line back to the fuel tank? There is an short unused braided line coming out of the throttle body, but its not plumbed to anything and with the engine running, there is no fuel coming out (as a return line would).

I'm not trying to reinvent anything, I'm just trying to understand how the systems work, everything that makes it run and make sure it's safe.
 
And Rick, I think that the DP-E that is in this boat was also offered as a diesel powered option, is that why you mentioned the gear ratio? Is there any drawback to running the gas 4.3 in it? Also I have the props off and as I was looking them over, I could not find any marking to determine which props I have. Any special place to look for them?
 
It is hard to say from my understanding the fuel pressure is supposed to be regulated going into the TBs. It looks like the VP throttle bodies can you put a pressure tap in and check the fuel pressure is within spec running at all engine speeds. Try and ID the ignition, computer and sensers. I would definately want to make sure it would pass a coast guard safety check I would think the filter separator would be on the suction side of the fuel pump.
 
You can probably add fuel coolers that way you will have regulated fuel pressure to the TBs. Install two fuel filters one for each engine on the suction side of the tank then you pump fuel into the cooler and the pressure regulator just circulates the fuel in the filter. Go to boatinfo library for fuel flow diagrams, looking closer those look like mercruiser TBs?
 
So I went to run the port engine and it wouldnt start. I could hear the pump whirrr, but nothing. a shot of starting fluid and it roared to life and quit. Thought it was a blocked filter which started me down a rabbit hole and I ended up taking everything from the fuel tank to the throttle body out. Not only was the fuel filter downflow of the pump,it was a NAPA filter for a Buick. The fuel pump had 5 wires in total connecting it to the wire harness. and its probably and automotive pump. It all looked like it was plumbed in nice and neat, but holy crap was a mess. So I have to redo from the tank to the engine.

I couldnt find the fuel delivery diagram referenced. but I'm pretty sure its going to be: from the tank to spin on filter-from spin on filter to inline pump- from inline pump to regulator- from regulator to throttle body- from throttle body return to fuel cooler- from fuel cooler to spin on filter. All components with marine certified parts and braided hose.

Am I missing something here?
ful pump2.jpg
 
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