Volvo Cutwater 28 disappearing coolant

[Cutwater28GG]

I've read a bunch of the threads on the sensitive coolant alarm for the Volvo d4. Sure enough my new to me boat had the alarm go off. It also went off about 3 hours ago when I picked up the boat from the dealer who topped it off.

With the engine cool I opened the cap and looked for a fill mark. Alas I can't see how much extra coolant to put in? I don't see a max line?

1. How much should I put in?

I also read that it might be a lose heater hose that's the culprit.

2. Is this the heat exchanger heater by the helm or the separate diesel furnace? (I would have though the furnace is a delegate system? ).

3. How do you get to the pipe run for the heater by the helm?

When I took the cap off it hissed as if a vacuum had been created in the coolant system that was released when I opened the cap. Is this normal? Or is something amiss?


Sorry for the newbie questions! I'm still learning this boat!!

 

[pleeson]

Probably one or more hose clamps on the domestic hot water tank heat exchange hoses. After they have heated and cooled a few times it seems they are always too loose from the factory. Under your cockpit sink in the bilge area. If it's elsewhere it gets more complicated but tighten any hose clamps you can see when the engine access is open. When hot/warm the system will be pressurized so that's likely what you are experiencing when taking the cap off.

 

[Cutwater28GG]

interesting thank you.

 

[R Baker]

I had the same problem with my Yanmar. It took nearly 3 litres before coolant in the overflow stopped disappearing. I concluded the heater and/or hot water tank had an air lock. i did as well tighten as many hose clamps as I could find.

 

[Cutwater28GG]

Thanks. Anybody know a good source in th seattle area for the Volvo vcs coolant? I couldn't see it at fisheries the other day.

 

[seashanti]

You can get the Volvo vcs coolant from Coastal Marine located on the ship canal. They are the regional power center for Volvo Penta.

 

[asm777]

Dealt with low coolant warning for months that we finally got resolved within the past month.

We discovered a coolant leak at the heater but the final culprit was found to be a defective coolant cap after our dealer arranged for a Volvo tech to pressure test the system.

Keeping fingers crossed that we won't see the Low Coolant Warning on the Garmin again!

Good luck!

 

[Cutwater28GG]

thanks guys

for those of you that struggled with this did you ever see any other signs of the issue such as coolant in the bilge?

 

[asm777]

Not always. We only discovered coolant in the engine compartment once or twice and that was related to the leak from the heater coonection.

The faulty coolant cap was only discovered after everything else had been ruled out and the Volvo folks pressure tested the whole system.

Hope that helps!

 

[Cutwater28GG]

I'm still struggling with this issue. I lose about 1cm of coolant depth in the header tank for every 1.5 hours running.

I found this pipe on the engine with a strange white residue at the joint. I was wondering whether this was my leak!??

this is a large diameter pipe on the port side of the engine (volvo D4) near the top. anybody know what this pipe is?

photos here https://onedrive.live.com/redir?res...49&authkey=!AHROPMIbtZ64fJk&ithint=folder,jpg