Volvo fuel pump issue

DaddyAirtime

Cadet
Joined
Jul 20, 2012
Messages
20
I am seeking advice on the progress I have made working on my fuel issues.

2006 Larson Lxi 208. 5.0 gix f

First trip out for the year the boat ran well for approximately an hour. After restarting and attempting to run, the fuel pump began to whine and I could not exceed 3000 rpms. When I would slow down to 1500 rpms, the pump whined for a bit, then stopped. I could then run WOT for about 5 minutes. Then the problem came back. The boat shop said I had water in the fuel. Recommended dumping the fuel filter a couple of times to remove the water. I tried this and it seemed to help, but the problem would come back sooner or later.

Once we were back home I did a lot of research. Lots of info related to black paint pieces in the fuel cell. I checked the under side of the fuel filter housing and it was falling apart. Also, this time there were large chucks of black plastic or rubber in the fuel filter. I assumed it might be an old gasket that someone left on. But, after reading a post on the paint issue I have decided it is the paint from the filter housing. So I cleaned all the paint that was coming off the housing, I also installed a new filter.

On a side note, this boat has always been sluggish off the line. It pulls much slower than other boats with the same engine. WOT there are no issues. I read somewhere that there is an issue with the fuel regulator filter and it should be replaced with an eclip. When I took off the regulator, the filter was 80% clogged with the black paint pieces. Lake tested the eclip and the results were astounding. The boat pulls much better down low and it's much quicker getting on plane. So, end result of the eclip was good.

Back to the fuel pump issue. When I lake tested it this time, I still had issues with the pump whining. I didn't want to keep taking off the filter and dumping it. One because I was in open water and didn't want to dump in the lake. Two, I remember reading something one of the mods posted about not dumping the filter because it can cross contaminate or something like that. I decided that the first thing would be to let out the pressure from the valve on the fuel rail. When I did this, it shot fuel spray and air out. I thought it was strange to have so much air in the line. I primed the fuel a few times and did it again. Half the air this time. About three or four more times there was only fuel coming out. I started the boat up and presto, no more fuel pump whine and I had full range of the rpms for extended periods of time.

My thoughts now are is this a temporary fix? Will I still get issues with these paint pieces? Should I pull the injectors and clean the filters on those? Does the low pressure pump have any filters like the fuel rail did? If so, where is it located? Any other advice would be appreciated.
 

Dave-R

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Mar 18, 2008
Messages
441
I also had the fuel pump whine.I took apart the fuel cell, and found the black paint in both the low pressure and high pressure pump suction screens. They are hard to find because they get covered with paint. I used a spray carb cleaner to clean them up. That cured my problem. Good luck Dave-R
 

alldodge

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Mar 8, 2009
Messages
40,582
Dumping the contents out of a filter into a container is of no issue. If you find a lot of crud you should replace it.

Finding the filter 80% clogged with paint, I would be remove and cleaning again soon.

What you did with burping air out of the fuel rail is what should be done with your issue. As long as your filter doesn't clog again you should be fine.

I'm sure you didn't do this but incase someone else reads this, never, ever dump the contents of the filter in the lake or any body of water
 

Thalasso

Commander
Joined
Jan 18, 2011
Messages
2,876
When the fuel pump goes it's usually the low side pump. I never heard of the high side going. Not that it can't. You can buy the high side by it's self but you have to buy both if it's the low side. If your getting it to 3000rpm's i can tell for sure it's not your pump. If it was you would be lucky just to be able to idle. If you found water in the fuel constantly it's time to find out why along with pumping out the tank
 
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DaddyAirtime

Cadet
Joined
Jul 20, 2012
Messages
20
Thank you for the tips.

Just to be clear... I did not, nor would I ever dump fuel into the lake. I was on the water at the time and unable to get to shore, that is why I didn't dump it. I have a small catch can on board that I can use when standing on the shore. I do not use the catch can while in the boat.

I guess my biggest concern is whether or not I should disassemble the fuel pump like others have done. I do not seem to be experiencing any more issues. Also, has anyone tried removing their injector filters? My thinking is that the fuel regulator filter picks up after the fuel has passed the injectors. So, there is a good chance that the injector filters have picked up the paint chips since there were chips in the regulator filter.
 

GCM2

Recruit
Joined
May 21, 2015
Messages
3
I had a very similar problem on my 5.0 Gi engine. I don't know your engine configuration so you will have to make the appropriate translations if they exist. The 5.0 Gi has separate low and high fuel pump and also a fuel reservoir. I believe these functions are combined in a "fuel cell" on your engine. In any event the LP pump feeds the reservoir and the HP pump takes fuel from the reservoir and feeds the injectors. Because all the fuel may not be used, the unused fuel is returned reservoir. The entire process and other causes can generate vapors and these can get trapped in the reservoir. To remove the vapors there is a float-needle valve mechanism in the reservoir that will open a port when the fuel level gets low. The vapors are then sucked out from the port by a rubber vacuum hose that connects to the throttle body. If the vapors are not removed the HP pump sucks the vapors along with some fuel. This causes the whining noise and erratic behavior of the engine. In my case a $1.38 clip that connected the reservoir float to the needle valve broke and caused all the grief. As a side note, it really shortened the life of the pumps. So I would check the vacuum hose (for leaks or kinks) and the mechanism that is used to remove the vapors. The float and needle valve must move together. In my case at first glance everything looked ok, but actually the clip that made them move together had broken off. Finally for completeness, in my search of the internet one contributor stated they had a similar symptoms to mine that was caused by the pressure regulator.
 
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