Engine preheat?

Went out to check the boat this morning (2016 R27), mid 30's temp outside. I fired up that D3-220, it had a rough time starting at first, then fired up billowing white smoke out the exhaust, then as the engine came up to temp it smoothed out and the exhaust cleaned up.

A salty boatman at the dock said "Forgot to turn on the preheater, didn't you?". Well, I'm pretty sure the Volvo Penta D3-220 doesn't have any kind of preheater.

So, question for the Tugnuts brain trust: Is the rough starting and billowing smoke during cold weather just a normal thing to deal with here? Are there preheater kits that can be installed? Or perhaps the engine is already equipped with a preheater and I'm too stupid to know it?

Thanks

Toki,
I too will be anxious to hear from the others since I have the same engine as yours.

It's going to smoke when it's cold until it warms up. The D3 has glow plugs ( preheat) controlled by the glow control unit. Fuel is cold, air is cold. My D3 smokes a bit for a few seconds or more when its warm out at first start up.

Yes you can get aftermarket engine heaters for cold weather most will heat the oil, but you can get them that are installed in the collent system too. Most will require 120 v power. Before going to the expense of installing a pre heater I would check the glow plugs and make sure they are working properly, they don't last forever and if your motor is more than a few years old probably they need to be replaced. The same goes for your diesel truck.
Good luck and stay warm! Bob

Brian/Bob, tell me more about the glow plug preheat. I've got 2 buttons for the engine; ignition and start/stop. When I hit the ignition, does that activate the glow plugs? Should I wait X seconds before pressing the start/stop button?

Toki, I'm not familiar with the VolvoPenta D3-220, the glow plugs are activated via a relay, but that's about as much as I know, if you have or can get a manual it should be explained under Cold Starting section. Or you could ask your local mechanic or the service department at the factory.
Diesel engines are a lot like women! The longer they are around us old sailors the more they become cold blooded.

The main power supply for the Glow plugs comes from a 50 amp circuit off the alternator. This power supply goes directly to the glow control unit. The glow plugs are powered from the glow control unit. There are individual leads coming out of the control unit that power each glow plug independently. (5) The Glow control unit is wired to the main harness and leads go to the ECU. The glow plugs are managed by the ECU. If an individual glow plug is not functioning properly a alarm status should be noticed. There are individual codes for each glow plug to assist in trouble shooting. If the glow plug relay as no power there will be a fault code saved with no fault indication. A check of power to the glow plug control unit will determine if the issue is fuse, poor connection or failed glow control unit. ( relay and control unit an assembly)

The ECU controls the glow plugs. The boat owner does nothing different in a cold climate then a warm climate except oil viscosities may be different. In your case I'm sure you are not seeing temperatures of 0 and running the engine so the 15W 40 is fine.

When I purchased our C26 with the 220 hp D3 in 2016 it smoked quite a bit on start up. Maybe for a minute. white smoke would be lingering around the boat. It was like this for the first couple of months. When I did my PDI after about 60 hrs of operation I had a Volvo technician come to the boat to sign off on the PDI. He said there was an ECU update that needed to be done. The Volvo update was for adding a FOB. After the update was completed he had me start the engine. There was very little smoke at start up and it had been a few weeks since the last start up. Normally it would smoke much more until it was warmed up. I asked him what all was in that update? Did that update change starting parameters? He said volvo doesn't tell us all the changes. The update was for the key fob but there may have been more operating changes. I still see smoke on cooler days at initial start up. I feel that is normal. If the only issue that was experienced was smoke and it cleared up after the engine started and warmed up I don't think there is an issue. Diesels run good in cooler weather but they start hard.

Toki,
There was nothing in the case of "stuff" I got when I purchased the boat.
I think a call or email to the Factory is in order.
My Diesel truck has the glow plug and I wait until it goes out before starting the engine.

Talking with a friend of mine that is familiar with volvo penta engines he stated that the glow plugs are activated when the engine switch is turned on, you should wait approximately about 10 seconds prior to starting the engine, this will give the glow plugs time to warm up and do there job. He also stated that on very cold days with no engine heaters you can double heat by turning off the ignition switch and turning back on for another 10 seconds. If every thing is working properly the engine will start with no problems.
Let me know if this helps for your cold starts! Bob

bob daily":2stbh076 said:

Talking with a friend of mine that is familiar with volvo penta engines he stated that the glow plugs are activated when the engine switch is turned on,

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Partially true. The glow plugs, and all electrical components of the common rail Diesel engine are activated when the power switch is activated. You should always turn power switch on and wait a few seconds for self test and fuel pump to activate warm or cold ambient temperatures. The ECU controls all after self- test is performed by the ECU.Bottom line cold air, cold fuel, it's going to start harder when in lower ambient temperatures then when in higher ambient temperatures. And its going to smoke more when started. Warm up the air temperature, warm up the combustion chamber and fuel and it will start like its 70F outside.( To minimize cold start smoke we recommend the installation of an engine heater or engine bay heater if temperatures below +5°C (41°F) are encountered.) This is copied from the starting procedure from the Volvo manual for a D3. If this is a once in a while cold start up in cooler ambient temperatures and it resulted in a little more than normal smoke at start up, cleared up, and all was good, Normal. If you plan on using the boat at lower ambient temperatures through out the winter a small bay heater may be the inexpensive way to resolve your issue.

Thanks everybody, this all makes sense. Just like a typical diesel truck, wait 10 or so seconds after hitting the ignition button to hit the start-stop. Interesting that I didn't see this mentioned in the manual.

I don't plan to use the boat in cold weather often enough to justify the expense of the engine heater addition discussed in the manual (I'm sure that's at least a couple B.O.A.T. bucks), but this does spur a follow on question:

I'm assuming it's good practice to fire up the engine once in a while during the winter rather than just leaving it dormant till spring, correct? Or is that cold, smokey start somehow bad for the engine and I'm better off only starting it during warmer weather?

Also wondering about fuel additive (anti-gelling) for winter use.
I have been adding Howes Lubricator to my diesel truck since new (235,000 miles ago) for added lubricity and anti-gel.
It gets cold here in Utah.

Toki":13sc02q2 said:

I'm assuming it's good practice to fire up the engine once in a while during the winter rather than just leaving it dormant till spring, correct? Or is that cold, smokey start somehow bad for the engine and I'm better off only starting it during warmer weather?

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My boat is stored on the hard for the winter so no winter start up's for me. If I was wet stored and wanted to run the engine in colder ambient temperatures I would do the same as you did. I may heat the compartment up a bit before starting to ease the engine starting and possibly reduce some of the smoke from the cold start. Then next step after starting would be to put the engine under a load (in gear) and run up to full operating temperature each time a winter start up is done. The best would be go for a boat ride and make all of us owners that have to store on the hard jealous! Just starting it up and running it in neutral for 10 or 15 minutes probably not harming anything but not helping either. When diesels run below operating temperature and not under a load some of the fuel is not burned. This unburned fuel can cause cylinder wash reducing lubrication on the cylinder walls. This is not a big deal if done once in a while but not something to do often. My opinion

Thanks, as always, for the great advice Brian. Yes, I think a little jaunt out into the bay once in a while during the winter sounds like a great plan!

Bluestreak, before I tucked my boat away for the winter, I topped the tank off with fresh diesel. My understanding is this is important, as air space in the tank can lead to condensation and fuel fouling. I then added an additive. I don't remember which additive I got, but the instructions had a mixing ratio (X ounces per gallon of diesel) for normal use, then double that ratio for winter storage. I used the winter storage ratio.

When I had a gas I/O, I always kept the fuel tank full to prevent condensation year round.
Also added an additive during the winter storage and fogged it out just before storage.
I will do the same with Blue's fuel tank.
Thanks.