Help! VP 8.1 HO fuel pump not priming when the key is turned on. No Audible beep.

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2003 Chris Craft, Volvo Penta 8.1HO

Hello All, over the past year, I have read quite a bit about my VP on this forum. So I searched it for my current problem, but came up short.

After a month of not running the boat, I came back to a dead set of batteries. I charged the batteries ran the boat around for a few hours and then hooked it up to shore power while it was docked. Over the next week or two we had some rain, but I figured the shore power was connected under the mooring cover so I am assuming that it was protected from the water.

The next time I went to fire up the boat, the batteries were dead again, this is when I discovered that the fridge was left on. I charged the batteries, but when I put the key in and turned it to position 1 the fuel pump did not prime and the normal audible beep did not sound.

This weekend I tried the following:
1) jumped the lanyard kill switch to eliminate that possibility.
2) Checked all of the fuses under the dash and tested the keyed ignition to make sure the switch was working. It is.
3) made sure the boat is was in neutral.
4) the fuel pump works. I jump it from the battery and got pressure.
5) I checked all of the grounds that I could find in the engine compartment.

This is where my knowledge stops....Any help would be very much appreciated. Also, once this issue is fixed, I promise to post the fix for others to read.

Thank you.
 
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Hi Buddy,
Did you check your fuse box on top of your engine ? You've got a fuse for the pump assembly. Could be this.
 

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Checked that box as well. The fuses were in good order. Switched a couple of the rectangular relays around with the spare to make sure that the relay were good. Still no beep or fuel pump priming.
 

alldodge

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In your post I read that your batteries were drained twice, the second time while being plugged into shore power. If you had a good battery charger this should not have happened, even with the fridge plugged in.

IMO you need to replace your battery(s). No lead acid battery can take being drained to next to nothing without damage. Draining a battery twice will pretty much kill it. I would guess that after charging it back up and leaving it sit for 1/2 a day it would be low, and if you turn the key, the voltage probably drops to low
 
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Hello AllDodge,

Thanks for the reply. I will replace the batteries before the season, but even when I turn the key while the charger is charging the batteries there is no audible alarm and the fuel pump does not prime.
 

Fun Times

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Hello AllDodge,

Thanks for the reply. I will replace the batteries before the season, but even when I turn the key while the charger is charging the batteries there is no audible alarm and the fuel pump does not prime.
Which bear in mind that should the batteries be completely depleted due to age, failed internal conditions and/or severe drainage like they've went through, connecting up a charger still could show no vital signs to the high voltage and amperage drawing engine accessory components that range from the combination of the ignition system, ECM/sensors and fuel pump(s) systems that you may not see anything at first key-up even with the charger running due to a depleted battery will draw all the power to the battery itself and not allow enough voltage to run to a high demand electrical system for any noticeable time period.

Without the charger connected/running, at the very least you'll need a multimeter to see what the voltage reads both at the battery and throughout the 12 volt electrical system as you test...Then see what voltage you see with the charger connected for comparison that better/more power seems to be reaching designated areas of where it should.

There should be some (possibly 2) red push-in circuit breakers that may have tripped on the engine side. Be sure to push them in with some good effort should one be tripped as they can be a bit difficult to push at times. Also is there a push-in circuit breaker in the vicinity of the key switch that protects the ignition system up at the helm area. Some boats do while some don't.
Double check the fuses with the multimeter ensuring continuity is okay between the fuse blades like inside the following link if you're in need of some help of how to do just that, http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...82D888502FE32DD587FB82D888502FE32&FORM=VRDGAR

Also should one fuse be bad, be sure to read the fuse box lid/cover as some Volvo models recommend that if one fuse for the ignition system went bad then there's a chance that another fuse has been weakened and it is recommended to be change as well even though it's good. The fuse box should tell you the 2 fuse numbers to replace if needed.

Is there 12+ volt power up at the key switch wires?

Does your boat have a built in battery charger system that is connected/powered up when you're connected to shore power? If so and since you found your batteries dead once again, maybe the fuses going to the batteries have blown and not allowing a charge anymore should you have a design something similar to the photo below which I'm using only as an example to help show the yellow connectors would be an inline fuse going to each battery.




Next thought would be let's hope your boat wasn't struck by lightning as it happens more than one would think.

Hope it's an easy one for you to find, good luck.
 
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Hello Fun Times,

Thank you for the response. I skipped the onboard charger. It is old and I think this might need to be replaced. I was charging directly to the battery terminals.

I will check all the fuses again rather than visually, I will use my multimeter to do so via the video(thanks).

I pushed the 50Amp fuse on the back of the engine and it did not move. I took it off its mount and inspected it, the was no signs of it being burnt.

The fuse next to the key switched ignition was not tripped either and I had 12.88 volts from the ignition key switch on the purple wires going to the lanyard kill switch. I jumped the lanyard kill switch to take a bad kill switch out of the equation.

I will double check the ignition fuses again on the top of the motor in the fuse box.

Thank you for the ideas, please keep them coming.
 

alldodge

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Hello AllDodge,

Thanks for the reply. I will replace the batteries before the season, but even when I turn the key while the charger is charging the batteries there is no audible alarm and the fuel pump does not prime.

There are two relays and they are both the same, (fuel pump and main) do you hear the relays click when the key is turned?

These two relays can be swapped.
 

alldodge

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Try swapping the two relays and see if you still get the click
 
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Tried swapping the relays along with putting the spare relay into the place of the fuel pump relay. Same results. Unless both relays in the fuse box blew at the same, but I would guess the chances of that would be slim to none.
 

alldodge

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If it's clicking then the fuse for "that" relay is not blown. What should happen is the key is turned to ON, then the ECM gets powered from the main power relay. The ECM sends a signal to the fuel pump relay along with others systems to check before cranking. Your not hearing the fuel pump come on nor the beeps indicating motor is good to go.

So check your three fuse next to the two relays
 
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I will certainly do this. Thank you for the suggestions and explaining to me how the signal moves through the system, it is extremely helpful!
 

ericga

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Does the engine crank? Check if your battery still provide 12v when the key is on. Test the battery with a good tester. I personally use a Solar BA5 and love it (see picture).
 

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Ericga thank you for your suggestion. The engine does crank. When I jumped the fuel pump, it ran as well. Once charged, I was measuring 11+v at the keyed ignition.
 

BRICH1260

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As it ran fine before the batteries were drained, twice, I think I would concentrate on replacing the batteries with new and try starting it again.
 

ericga

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If the batteries are good enough to crank the engine your problem is likely elsewhere.

Not sure about your engine but some are equipped with an oil pressure cut off switch. On some configurations, the switch prevent voltage to the fuel pump if disconnected. You may want to check that. -- Not to be confused with the oil pressure sender for the gauge -- .
 
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OK folks thanks for all of the suggestions. Here we go.... I tested 13v to the fuse box on top of the engine. I tested all of the fuses on as Fun Times had suggested. I tested 13v on either side of the 50a fuse on the engine. I pulled and replaced fuse 3 with a spare.

After reading about issues similar to this last night and jumping 30-87 and also about the ground being regulated by the ECM to get the fuel pump working, I tried grounding 87a of the fuel pump relay(I pulled up the fuse 1/8 of an inch and slipped in the prong of a test light with the alligator clip on the engine) and the fuel pump started whirring. I stopped here.

See the attached picture of fuse panel for the prong that I grounded.

Is my ECM fried?
 

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