Re: Volvo MD2030 hard to start

Derek Moody wrote:

In article <UpOMi.25071$c_1.18258@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Ronald
Raygun <URL:mailto:no.spam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Duncan Heenan wrote:

Make sure to wear some really thick insulated gloves both to protect
from the high current the glo plug draws, and the heat of the plug
itself.

You need no protection "from high current". There's no way you can get
a belt off it -- it's a low voltage environment, with no inductance to
speak of in the circuit.

There might be enough to matter.

There's a solenoid and a starter motor in that setup - if you manage to
pass enough current to activate the first (or the 9yo 'helper' prods the
starter or a screwdriver rolls off the cover and momentarily bridges the
rails) then the back emf on the unprotected side of the circuit zooms well
up into the killing range.

I doubt it. The solenoid would at best give a very short duration
high voltage pulse, which is no more dangerous than an electric fence
around a cattle field. But the solenoid would not be activated
(except unintentionally) if all you're doing is preheating without
proceeding to the start stage. If unintentionally activated, the
helper would get a fright from the unexpected noise and instinctively
pull away before the solenoid is even switched off (which is when
the pulse would arise), and in any case the pulse would be most in
evidence at the solenoid side of the just broken connection at the
starter switch, a wire the helper would be unlikely to be touching.

You don't need anything special in the way of insulation but apply a
healthy dose of common sense - OK?

Agreed, and common sense includes refraining from pointless scaremongering.
It's as bad as the myth about wet clothes or wellies full of water making
you sink like a stone

When
reassembling, make sure to get the electric circuits in properly or
your work will all be wasted.
Good luck.

I'd still try boosting the starter current with a spare battery and
jumpleads first - especially as you've just had a service.

Next I'd check and tighten electrical connectors,

It was reported that the starter is turning the engine over vigorously.
That suggests there is no problem with the electrics related to the
starter, nor with the battery being weak.

after that belts and pulleys.

Anything dodgy about belts and pulleys should be put right, of course,
but won't usually affect willingness to start. One exception might
be if there is a shot bearing, so that a pulley puts a high load on
the engine (similar to what would happen if you tried to start it in
gear).

The most likely problem is poor compression and not enough preheating
to make up for it. But having said that, the OP said the boat was only
3 years old. If the engine is of the same age as the boat, one wouldn't
really expect so young an engine to suffer from bad compression. Is it
perhaps a second-hand engine?

-then- it's time to get out the spanners.

Given that it's just been serviced, I would have thought it might be a
good idea to consult whoever did the service for advice. One presumes
they did test-run the engine after the service and found it to be going
satisfactorily, or else they should have reported back any remedial work
which the engine might require.

.

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