New guy with a used boat needs help! (what a suprise) Vessel has a 1996 Volvo Penta 5.0 with SX outdrive

[Captain_Crunch]

New guy with a used boat needs help! (what a suprise) Vessel has a 1996 Volvo Penta 5.0 with SX outdrive

Hello friends, I have recently become a member of the new used boat club. I purchased a 1996 Chaparral 2130 Sport with a 5.0 Volvo Penta with SX outdrive. I'm about as new to boating as they come, my knowledge is only that of what I have read in forums and watched on YouTube, but I love this stuff and can't wait to get rolling on this continuous project. Disclaimer: I will ask tons of questions some of which may sound dumb but I'm hoping my knowledge gained here from you fine folks will allow me to pass information on to others in my same situation for years to come.
Okay let’s get to the nitty gritty:

1) When I place the boat into gear the engine revs up and down ever so slightly, almost like I'm taping the gas and letting off then tapping the gas and letting off ect. When I give it more gas and get the rpm's up it stops. This engine has electronic fuel injection (you probably already knew that.) I threw some fuel injector cleaner in the gas tank (why the hell not?) that obviously won’t fix it, I just wanted clean insides.

2) This could coincide with number 1, but it is very difficult to put the boat in gear, I really have to muscle the throttle forward, the gears don't grind when I do this, and once in gear, it is difficult to get it back into neutral.

3) This thing seems to be belting out quite a bit of exhaust, not an obnoxious amount by any means but enough to leave a residue on top of the water and stink up the whole boat.

4) The only gauges that work on this baby are the rpm’s and oil pressure (which hovers around 70 psi) all the rest, including the engine temp gauge don’t work (I know that’s an important one as to not blow up my engine) The speedometer hose is sheared right off so I know what’s going on there, but as for the rest…not much clue. With the trim gauge is it the Trim Senders that send the signal to the gauge? It’s possible the wires on those could be corroded.
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Lastly, which repair manual would you recommend for this engine and out drive combo, I have going here?
Thanks in advance for any help,
Mike

 

[Augoose]

Welcome to iboats and congrats on your first boat!

I can't answer all your questions but I'll throw out what I can....

1) When I place the boat into gear the engine revs up and down ever so slightly, almost like I'm taping the gas and letting off then tapping the gas and letting off ect. When I give it more gas and get the rpm's up it stops. This engine has electronic fuel injection (you probably already knew that.) I threw some fuel injector cleaner in the gas tank (why the hell not?) that obviously won’t fix it, I just wanted clean insides.

Sounds like you have some binding issues with the throttle cable and shift cable - see #2 below....

2) This could coincide with number 1, but it is very difficult to put the boat in gear, I really have to muscle the throttle forward, the gears don't grind when I do this, and once in gear, it is difficult to get it back into neutral.

You shouldn't hear the gears "ratchet" or grind like you do on a mercruiser - if the shift cable is adjusted correctly, you can't even tell when the drive goes into gear other than your boat starts moving. If you have resistance, you need to figure out where the resistance is coming from - most likely a worn or corroded shift cable, corrosion in your throttle control arm or a resistance screw in your throttle control arm set too tight. When you push the throttle control forward, two cables move - the shift cable pulls a linkage at the back of your outdrive and puts the drive in fwd and then the throttle cable runs to the top of your engine and pulls a linkage to increase the throttle/rpms - they need to move in conjunction with one another. Determine where your resistance is by disconnecting the shift cable from the drive and manually turning the shift linkage on the drive (with engine off and boat out of water preferably) in and out of gear - it should be turned very easily. Then try moving the throttle control arm forward and back forth. If you still have resistance, disconnect the shift and throttle cables as they lead into the throttle control arm and then try again to move the throttle arm forward and back- see what step makes a difference. Of course all of this infers you need manuals which I'm happy to email you or you can find them here - http://forums.iboats.com/forum/engin...ives/366271-vp


3) This thing seems to be belting out quite a bit of exhaust, not an obnoxious amount by any means but enough to leave a residue on top of the water and stink up the whole boat.

Are you running it for the first time this season? Did someone winterize it last year with fogging oil and maybe you are seeing the results being burned off? I'm a carb guy and I know you have FI, but I'd say its time to ensure the timing/mixture/FI system is tuned up. You might be running rich.

4) The only gauges that work on this baby are the rpm’s and oil pressure (which hovers around 70 psi) all the rest, including the engine temp gauge don’t work (I know that’s an important one as to not blow up my engine) The speedometer hose is sheared right off so I know what’s going on there, but as for the rest…not much clue. With the trim gauge is it the Trim Senders that send the signal to the gauge? It’s possible the wires on those could be corroded.

The sending unit for the trim is on the starboard side of the outdrive - its a circle and black in color- and they are known to be problematic. If you are lucky enough to have a broken wire somewhere you can fix it, that's great. The wires on my sending unit broke off right where they go down inside the molded rubber - very difficult to repair. The sending units are basically a potentiometer however because its for a boat, replacements are around $150. IMO, my drive is either up when I'm on the trailer or down when I'm underway - I don't need a gauge telling me where it is......Definitely get the temp gauge working - there have been some recent threads on testing gauges which you can find by a simple search.

​
Lastly, which repair manual would you recommend for this engine and out drive combo, I have going here?

Use this link - http://forums.iboats.com/forum/engin...ives/366271-vp

There is a great DIY section here too - http://forums.iboats.com/forum/engin...ion-for-diyers

Good luck!

 

[Captain_Crunch]

Thanks for the information! I just ordered my manual yesterday so as soon as I get it in I'm going to start tackling these issues. Once I start on them I'm sure I will come armed with a lot more questions, so I really appreciate all the help.

 

[Glastron_V210]

#1 Is this a throttle body fuel injection or a port fuel injected engine?

Your idle symptoms are typical of a fuel pressure regulator issue (fuel pressure will affect idle) or failing fuel pressure pump, or a small manifold vacuum leak, or an IAC (Idle air control) valve problem. The idle air control valve is a small stepper motor connected to an air valve which regulates the flow of air to the engine when the main throttle plates are closed. It tries to maintain a certain target idle rpm, which is high when the engine is cold, and slowly reduces as the engine gets warmer.

It can also be a worn distributor, where the ignition advance will vary slightly, causing an oscillation to occur.

It can also be a spark that is weak, and only lights off the cylinder sometimes, causing an oscillation, or dropout from time to time.

Fun eh?

#2 sounds like a bound up shift cable. Does it change when the engine is off? If so, it's not the cable, and has to do with the cone clutches in the drive probably. It can also be just plain bad cable routing...lotsa bends = lotsa resistance.

#3 sounds like running rich. Hard to say though. Residue...black, a sheen, please explain. Sounds like job #1 is a compression check, and a tune up. Check base and advance timing. These items will solve a lot of problems!

#4 Yeah, fix the coolant sensor...probably a sender as mentioned. The rest is just fluff. Really, you don't even need a tach, just oil and temp.

Chay

 

[Captain_Crunch]

Ok here is an update:

I changed out the shift cable and it seems to be shifting fine now, I also discovered while I had the throttle control off that there was some crushed wires that had fallen and may of been adding to the problem.

Here's my new dilemmas:
1) My ignition starter switch will now turn in a complete 360 degrees. The engine will still start but I don't know if that will burn out my starter? Does this mean I should just get a new ignition starter switch?

2) The fuel filter on the engine now is just a regular NAPA fuel filter, I bought a water/fuel separator filter for it from the marine store. The lady said it will fit, however, it's significantly larger in diameter. If the boat has a plain fuel filter on it right now is it even possible for a fuel/water separator filter to even work on it?

3) I cannot get my spark plug socket onto all but one of the plugs because it is positioned differently from all the others. It's like they're so deep and in such a tight space not even a regular sized plug socket will fit. Has any one else had this issue with their 5.0fi ford?

4) Are you saying to just replace the coolant sensor and that should fix the temp reading problem?

5) The smoke is black, which I guess is good... When you guys say tune up the Fuel injector or just plain "tune up" what items are you referring to?

Again I thank you for being patient with me and for all the help!

 

[Sparkinator]

I'd get a new keyed start switch if it isn't returning back to the on position after you release the key after starting. As far as changing sparkyplugs, I've got a 302 carbed and not sure how different intake/manifolds are from mine as far as restricting access to the plugs, but I found it easier using a sparkplug socket and then a open end wrench to turn the socket. My socket is hex shaped on top, so I can turn it with the open end wrench. My open end wrench was a thinner wrench than most, so it had room to turn fairly easily. You may have to grind one down. Glad you got that shift cable changed out. My drive was hammering badly when I first got the boat, and after replacing my shift cable, it fixed it as well.