Volvo 5.0GI Fuel Pump Whine & Engine Stalling

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nellingson

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Engine is a Volvo 5.0GIPEFS, year 2000, S/N 4012016326. There is a whine, now isolated to the fuel pump. Before paying attention to the whine I was troubleshooting loss of power when throttling up. I changed out the plugs and filter and found some water, but not a lot, in the old filter. The engine cranks and idles for 2 or 3 minutes, then surges and dies. I added fuel conditioner and rechecked the filter and did not find any new water. That's when I payed closer attention to and identified the source of the whine as the fuel pump. (I suspect a whine is bad in a Carter fuel pump!) Are there any other options I should consider before a pump replacement? Oh, other engine and generator are running normally so I am assuming the fuel is not totally bad.
 

nellingson

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Re: Volvo 5.0GI Fuel Pump Whine & Engine Stalling

Thanks Don. Will delay tests until after the holiday. Enjoy the 4th.
 

nellingson

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Re: Volvo 5.0GI Fuel Pump Whine & Engine Stalling

Finally got back to the boat today and checked the system as suggested by Don. Anti-siphon, pickup and fuel line all checked good - cleaned them anyway. Problem remained. Since there is nothing serviceable between the filter and the "pump" output I disconnected the power plug of the lo-pressure pump and checked for voltage supply (normal at about 13+volts) and the engine started with the same problem as before ( i.e., idle for about a minute, then die out as the whine increased). I checked the resistance on the lo-pressure pump terminals (2.4 ohms) and compared that to my good engine pump (24+ohms) and have decided that lo-pressure pump is not running/shorted. Next step will be to pull and bench check the wiring for the pump and probably replace the "pump", which appears to be a large module including both lo- and hi- pressure pumps, filter and vapor recovery unit.
 

nellingson

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Re: Volvo 5.0GI Fuel Pump Whine & Engine Stalling

:)Received the new fuel cell (hi and lo pressure pumps, filter and vapor recovery, all in one unit) on Tuesday. Went to the boat on Wednesday and took about 2 hours to remove the old pump and install the new one. Nothing unusual about the whole process (no spills, leakage or jams) - had instructions from my Penta manual - and there were no problems. Cranked up the engines and was pleased to not hear that distinctive whine. Cruised out to open water and found everything smooth from idle to WOT. Next step for me will be to autopsy the old "sealed unit" to see if I can tell what went wrong.
 

freelancer

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Re: Volvo 5.0GI Fuel Pump Whine & Engine Stalling

Nellingson, me and a few other skippers have had the same problem with the low pressure pump on that fuel cell and had to replace the unit as well. Seems to be the fix so far but a little costly. Good luck.
 

nellingson

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Re: Volvo 5.0GI Fuel Pump Whine & Engine Stalling

Following up on my promise to report further on my fuel pump problem: The engine has performed great over the summer with the new fuel cell, and the objectionable whine is gone, so I consider the original problem resolved. The question remains regards what is wrong with the old fuel cell? When prepping the new cell for installation I noticed the fuel filter is different - it's circumference is smaller and it is longer than the filter on the old cell. Okay - so back to the old cell. (The old cells filter is correct according to the dealer and the maintenance manual.) When I disassembled it on the bench at home, I noticed that the sealing surface on the cell was painted black where the filter gasket comes in contact and the paint was rough/crinkled from fuel immersion. Some paint was missing and the rest scrapped off easily. Both pumps from the cell ran independently fine with good vacuum and pressure and there were no signs of fuel/water leakage or anything amiss in the vapor separator tank or pump connections. For now, I guess that after a couple of filter changes air was leaking in at the filter gasket and I now have a spare fuel cell.
 

dolly

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Re: Volvo 5.0GI Fuel Pump Whine & Engine Stalling

Engine is a Volvo 5.0GIPEFS, year 2000, S/N 4012016326. There is a whine, now isolated to the fuel pump. Before paying attention to the whine I was troubleshooting loss of power when throttling up. I changed out the plugs and filter and found some water, but not a lot, in the old filter. The engine cranks and idles for 2 or 3 minutes, then surges and dies. I added fuel conditioner and rechecked the filter and did not find any new water. That's when I payed closer attention to and identified the source of the whine as the fuel pump. (I suspect a whine is bad in a Carter fuel pump!) Are there any other options I should consider before a pump replacement? Oh, other engine and generator are running normally so I am assuming the fuel is not totally bad.

I have had the same problem and replaced the low/high fuel pump. Is there a class action suit against VP
 
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