Hi all,

I have a Volvo D3-110i-C with low oil pressure. I’m told by the local Volvo dealer that the engine will have to be taken out in order to replace the oil pump. I’m wondering what other factor may cause low oil pressure. Any opinion on this would be most welcome.

A bit of history on the problem. I changed the oil and oil filter after 188 engine hours which was 3 years. I then started getting low pressure warning after reducing from 1100rpm to idle. I checked the oil level and topped up to the top of the mark. After a couple of days I started getting low pressure warning whilst running at 1100rpm (to heat water). This was confirmed when the engineer attached a pressure gauge.

Cheers,

Paul

S/Y Ya Fohi - Amel 54 #98 - Grenada

Hi Paul;

We had the same issue about a couple of years ago. For us, it ended up being a bad pressure switch. This is basically an on-off switch with a minimum set pressure in the switch. If the pressure is below this threshold, you will get a low pressure warning. To ensure this is not the problem, you can remove the pressure switch and attach an oil pressure gauge where the pressure switch was removed. Then you can confirm the actual oil pressure. As I recall, if the oil pressure remains at or above 1 bar at idle, the issue it the pressure switch.

If you do find this to be an issue, you have to order the oil pressure switch from Volvo France that has actually performed the ground isolation on these engines. If you order from your serial number at a Volvo dealer/supplier, like we initially did, you will receive a single wire non-isolated pressure switch.

On an unrelated issue, we do replace the oil and filter annually, regardless of the number of hours used during the year.

Paul, a bit more information is needed to give you some help.

How many hours are on the engine now?

How many hours are on the oil in the crankcase now?

Did you get maintenance logs at the purchase that showed good habits regarding regular oil changes? What were the months and hour intervals if so?

Did this problem started immediately after a new oil filter and fresh engine oil were installed? Or was it several hours or days later?

Testing with a mechanical/non-electric oil pressure gauge confirmed that what you were reading from the helm mounted instrumentation was correct ?

Did oil pressure increase with higher engine RPM in a linear pattern, not increase at all or very little, or immediately increase by a great deal? This is very important  

 to know.

Does the engine burn more than a liter of oil  in 50 hours of running time?

Did the Volvo dealer immediately suggest engine removal with out any other testing?

 Did anyone suggest that you have a spectrographic engine oil analysis performed ? Do a web search on this. Not expensive and extremely telling about the engines  

internal mechanical condition.

  I will await and respond to your answers but I would strongly suggest changing the engine oil filter and if nothing changes then obtaining a spectrographic engine oil analysis before the engine  is removed. The oil analysis will, for sure, tell you plenty about the engines’ relative health. Much the same as getting your blood work done before a visit to your medical practitioner.

All The best, Joel

Hi all,

I have a Volvo D3-110i-C with low oil pressure. I’m told by the local Volvo dealer that the engine will have to be taken out in order to replace the oil pump. I’m wondering what other factor may cause low oil pressure. Any opinion on this would be most welcome.

A bit of history on the problem. I changed the oil and oil filter after 188 engine hours which was 3 years. I then started getting low pressure warning after reducing from 1100rpm to idle. I checked the oil level and topped up to the top of the mark. After a couple of days I started getting low pressure warning whilst running at 1100rpm (to heat water). This was confirmed when the engineer attached a pressure gauge.

Cheers,

Paul

S/Y Ya Fohi - Amel 54 #98 - Grenada

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Cheers
Paul
Ya Fohi - Amel 54 #98

I always keep 2 spares on board Kimberlite.

Fair Winds

Eric

Amel Super Maramu #376

Many thanks to all who have replied. I’ll try to reply to the feedback.

This problem occurred immediately after an oil and oil filter change. I got the engineer involved after a few days when it started giving the warning whilst still at 1100rpm. The first thing the engineer did was to change the filter again for a genuine Volvo filter.

Re. oil analysis: Joel, as the oil is fresh – probably no more than 4 hours –  I doubt an analysis will yield anything significant – or am I wrong about that?

Re. oil consumption: The engine does not burn or lose any oil.

Re. hours: engine hours are 1975.

Re. historic maintenance – I have no details but I do know the boat had been extremely well taken care of so I doubt there is an issue here.

Re. pressure: I about the pressure, I didn’t personally take notes, but the engineer did measure the pressure using the external gauge at different rpm, up to about 2500 if I remember correctly. I am away from the boat and have asked them to send me this info.

Re. Pressure relief valve – I know nothing about that and it was not mentioned.

Re. pump safety valve – again I have no knowledge about this and it was not mentioned.

Unfortunately I am away from the boat now until October. It is being looked after and I have contacted a friend who is an engineer in Grenada to investigate further. My concern is that if there is any bad weather the boat is not mobile – not a good situation.

Latest from the engineer:

We can simply change the oil and filter, using Volvo filter and 15W40 HD oil as recommended, install a new pressure sensor and see what happens. If that isn't effective, there is a valve in the oil pump which could be stuck but because of your poor access we don't think the pump can come out without lifting the engine. The pump is on the crankshaft, behind the timing belt pulley(best replace that belt too) and this needs to be extracted; Stef says he doubts there would be room to get a puller between the engine and the bulkhead. The suction tube has a strainer and this could be blocked. The engine sump must be removed for this so engine definitely needs to come out. The sensor is not expensive, Euro 26.33 + freight. The valve is E 61.33, belt E 207.78, strainer E 61.33, seal E 25.11, gaskets and o-rings not much. Pump is not cheap at E 368.89. You suggested a new pump; I have not seen one give trouble, but I haven't seen this problem on a D3 before.

 So, how would you like us to proceed? The prices I gave are list, exclusive of shipping and brokerage. We can order just the sensor and replace this, the oil and filter and run her up in a couple of hours. If the problem is still there then I think she's gonna need to come out. The freight for just one sensor won't be very efficient and unfortunately I don't have much else to order right now- I try to get a list of parts together and spread the freight costs around, but if you are in a hurry, which with a disabled engine and the boat in the water I guess there must be some sense of urgency...