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TAMD74 gremlins

Discussion in 'Engines' started by T-Dawg, Sep 4, 2016.

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  1. T-Dawg

    T-Dawg New Member

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    Sep 4, 2016
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    Location:
    Cocoa, FL
    So......I just bought a 2001 43' Ocean Yachts Sportfisher with Volvo Penta TAMD74's.
    Boat ran flawlessly through sea trials and survey.
    After I took delivery I started to have starting issues with my starboard engine.
    Now it won't start at all. I have inspected the plugs in the harness and see that some wires have been hard wired, bypassing the plug completely.
    I'm thinking that these plugs are my issue. They are not well sealed and subject to the caustic environment.
    Has anyone experienced these problems and what was the solution?
    I have the yacht ported in port canaveral (cocoa beach) Florida.
    I suspect this is a common problem and would like some direction.
    BTW. There is nothing wrong with the starter, itself.
    T
  2. Fishtigua

    Fishtigua Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 20, 2007
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    2,937
    Location:
    Guernsey/Antigua
    This is a common fault with the 60/70 series Volvos. If you use the search facility at the top of the page, YF has many threads covering some owners trails at fixing the problems.

    Good luck because it's going to be a PITA.
  3. T-Dawg

    T-Dawg New Member

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    Location:
    Cocoa, FL
    Well, I love the engines!
    It will be well worth the time and effort to iron out the glitches.
    Thanks for the reply!
    T
  4. Prospective

    Prospective Senior Member

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    Sep 27, 2016
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    232
    Location:
    New England
    Congrats on your '43. I have one as well with same power. Are you sure you are doing the staring sequence correctly. Key to position one, press and hold active station button for 5 seconds, release, turn key to starting position? If you don't get that right you get nothing. Since it's only the one engine you're having trouble with I'm guessing you're doing it right but just thought I'd throw that in there. Also, are you're batteries okay? Port engine starts with it's own bank of two. Starboard starts with another bank which does double duty with the house.
  5. T-Dawg

    T-Dawg New Member

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    Oh ya. Done all that.
    It's beyond the usual suspects.
    Your turn will come! It's so freaking frustrating. If your fortunate, there will be a good technician in your locale. If not? Well, hop in my boat!
    Just read the forum and you will see the gremlins are prolific. To shifting into gear on there own to shifting outa gear on their own. To no start, intermittent start to dieing after they start. Or?? Smoke, limp mode, low rpm.
    The list goes on and on. Great engines, mechanically. The electronics suck!
    . T
  6. Prospective

    Prospective Senior Member

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    Location:
    New England
    Well, for my sake I hope you're wrong. I've had mine 2 season without any issues. Plenty of other issues but not the engines. I spent a fair amount of time over at boat diesel and by and large found a lot fewer complaints about these engines than others. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
  7. T-Dawg

    T-Dawg New Member

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    Sep 4, 2016
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    Location:
    Cocoa, FL
    Congratulations!
    Don't get me wrong.. I love the boat. Totally!
    Just so frustrated over these starboard engine issues.
    I'll get it ironed out and forget the grief, once I begin hooking up on the big fish!
    Mine was a one owner boat and so I felt confident there would be no issues.
    Unfortunately, the broker and the owner were hiding that which could not be uncovered in the survey.
    Thanks for your support!
    T
  8. Tim Morris

    Tim Morris New Member

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    Sep 30, 2016
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    1
    Location:
    Mobile, AL
    I had the same problem with the starboard engine (TAMD 74 EDC P) on my Bertram. The zinc on the after cooler is right above the starter on the outboard side of the engine. Because of the access issues in my boat, the previous owner never changed the zinc and over time it developed a slow leak dripping hot salt water on the starter until it died. After checking to make sure I was getting power to the solenoid on the starter I replaced the starter (and the zinc plug). Haven't had an issue since. And I change the zincs every 6 months.
  9. great white

    great white New Member

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  10. NYCAP123

    NYCAP123 Senior Member

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    I'm not a mechanic, but I had this issue when I first managed a marina and was asked by service to move a boat with this motor. I spent a bunch of time trying to figure out what I was doing wrong, looking for remote kill switches, etc. Feeling stupid I finally called the mechanic over. He hopped down and disconnected the wiring harness, let it set for about 15 minutes and plugged it back in. Started right up. Said basically the brain needed a reboot and that it was common on that motor.
  11. great white

    great white New Member

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    Sep 18, 2020
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    Long time since your post, I was wondering how did you finally correct the problem? I have same issue and have not had any real success.
    Thanks I will give that a try, makes sense, I just had a similar problem on a laptop and heard they can build up static electricity so I took out the battery and it fixed the no start problem. That's the first time I heard about that it is computer driven, Thank you!