2014 Cutwater C-28 D4 Volvo Engine Smoking

[Mike Wolff]

Need advice, I have a 2014 C 28 with a D 4 VOLVO it has 330 hours on it. It has slowly become harder to start. Once it does start running it puts out quite a bit of blue smoke. When I use the throttle only button and give it more fuel it really smokes on the initial increase in throttle. Then it continues smoking. It seems to have plenty of power. My questions are could it be a stuck fuel injector ? If so can it be fixed with an additive or should all of the injectors be removed and sent out for cleaning? If they need to be removed how much would a mechanic typically charge?
One other note about a year ago I had the oil changed and when the mechanic was done I took the boat out for about an hour, upon my return to the dock I checked to oil level and the oil on the dipstick read that it was overfilled past the MAX letters by a half inch. I had the mechanic return and remove the oil down to the correct level, of course he said this would not damage the engine. My question is could this cause my engine to have the problems that I am currently experiencing?

Thank you for any comments.

 

[Cutwater28GG]

hmm. blue smoke is typically oil.

you could still be burning off excess from the overfill. but I don't know if damage was done from being overfull, like too much crankcase pressure and, damage to piston rings. I don't want to scare you as I'm not an expert but I would have it checked out.

if the oil level is now correct it seems to me that oil is getting into the combustion zone. how long have you run the engine since having the oil level corrected?

 

[Mike Wolff]

Thanks for your input. It’s ran for about 40 hours since lowering to correct level.

Thanks

 

[it4llc]

I had a similar overfill situation last year. I was about 1/2-3/4" above max after I had the annual service done. My oil pressure was ~66-67psi at idle. Talking with the shop that did the service, they said that it was ok and nothing needed to be done. That was Nov 2022. I ran all year like that with no issues. I'm curious if I got bad guidance, or if there is some tolerance built into the max fill mark...?

 

[BB marine]

There are all kinds of reasons for hard start and blue smoke. Sometimes we have a couple issues going on and try to put them together as one problem.

Hard start ? Why? Is the engine turning over fast enough? Is the battery condition good. Is the battery installed 950 CCA or higher to crank the D4 Properly? If the answer to all of theses leads to you may have a marginal start battery then that is your reason for hard start.

Blue smoke/grey smoke is normal when starting a engine when it is cold. A cold engine that just started with lower outside ambient temperatures can cause the engine to smoke. Once the engine warms and the smoke dissipates this is normal.

An engine that is producing blue smoke but "It seems to have plenty of power" could indicate a leaking turbo seal. The seal is designed to retain the oil that lubricates the turbo bearing. Another source of blue smoke can be caused from a plugged ventilation filter. If the filter does not allow gases to pass oil builds up and passes through the air intake fouling the compressor side of the turbo and after cooler. The excess oil passes through and does not drain back to the crank case, the oil is burned during combustion and blue /grey smoke is seen.

High oil levels can cause excessive blow by which can cause Blue/grey smoke.

Theses examples are simple reasons for blue/smoke.

internal engine wear can cause this issue but I would start with simple before jumping in this direction.

Injector leaking normally produces white smoke. This smoke is caused from incomplete fuel burn. Many times people have trouble making the distinction of blue/grey and white smoke.

I can go on with more reasons but I really don't have enough information. My gut says it is caused from cold weather starts.

 

[Mike Wolff]

Thanks to all for your responses. I have some work to do for sure.

By the way I have spoken to several Volvo certified mechanics and they said overfilling the oil would not have damaged the engine.