deh4170
New member
First thank you in advance for any help in resolving this issue I am having...I have a 2001 Chaparral 280 Signature with twin Volvo Penta 5.0 Gi PEFS with SX-M outdrives. Sorry to be long winded, but I think explaining what has happened up to this point may help in determining next course of action. At the beginning of this season I experienced an issue with my port engine...would run smooth and rev up just fine when in neutral...once I put engines in gear and advanced the throttle, port engine would die. Removed the fuel pump and replaced (disassembled old pump and the normal "paint" issue had the screens blocked)...once new pump was on all ran well for a few trips. Issue occurred again...started checking all connections and discovered the MAP sensor connector had corrosion on the ground lead...cleaned connector and engine fired right up and ran great. I thought I would check all connectors for corrosion and treat any signs of a problem. I had the port engine running and BARELY touched the (2) relays sitting in front of the TBI and the engine started missing and died. I first removed the relay on the left side (believe this is the ignition/fuel relay) and there was corrosion present and one of the tin plated spades on the relay had corroded down to the copper...checked the relay on the right (believe this is fuel pump relay) and no corrosion was present, but to be on the safe side I replaced both relays and everything was smooth as silk again.
This past weekend took the boat out...noticed as I was getting on plane that things felt sluggish, but had just put in 400 lbs of fuel...so it didn't seem that big of a deal. As I was going down the lake I looked at the port oil pressure and it was pegged at 80 psi and then took a nose dive to 0 psi and then bouncing all around. I immediately came off throttle and could smell burnt oil for a brief moment...no smoke anywhere...no alarms...but engine was running rough. Last night I went up to the boat and checked fire at each plug with in-line tester (all ok)...pulled plugs and some appeared really sooted and plug in #3 cylinder had oil around the threads of the plug...so I changed them all. Pulled distributor cap and rotor...had a tiny bit of build up, but nothing big...was able to clean easily with emory cloth. Checked oil pressure switch, which had some corrosion that I cleaned off of the spade connector. Pulled the PCV and was able to blow through one and the air came back out the other...but I did notice that there was oil residue on the TBI, but unfortunately cannot take off the flame arrestor all the way due to clearance issues. After I did all of this, engine fired right up and ran smooth as silk...took the boat out and came on plane for about 4 mins oil pressure was steady and in sync with starboard engine...then pressure started bouncing...so I throttle down and engine was running rough again (still no alarms)...then I tried to go back on plane and the port engine would not get above 3000 rpm...no matter if I went full throttle. Could put port engine in neutral and easily hit 4000 rpm...but not if in gear and under load. When I turn the ignition switch I get the normal (2) chirps, but have never experienced an alarm on either engine. Could this be the S.L.O.W system? I plan on doing a compression test in a day or so, but if anyone has any ideas please share.
Also, I did oil/filter change on both engines at winterization last fall. The Volvo manual states that the engine holds 6 qts with filter change...so that is the amount I placed in the engine. With that amount, the oil level is above the full mark on both engines...actually about what I would consider a quart more. Now, when I checked both engines the starboard oil is still extremely clean (only put @ 28 hrs on engines this season) and the port oil looks as if it was never changed. One thing that really stood out to me when I checked the oil level in the port right after this started is that there was oil almost all the way up the dipstick when I took it out...made me think oil was being forced up the dipstick tube. The oil viscosity appears to be consistent with the starboard engine and no milky appearance in the oil...just that it is dirty looking. Should the oil level should be within the hatch "safe" marks on the dipstick or should the oil level be above the "full" mark? When I have drained the oil previously, I can hear the pump sucking air from the oil pan...so I feel that very little old oil remained in the pan.
This past weekend took the boat out...noticed as I was getting on plane that things felt sluggish, but had just put in 400 lbs of fuel...so it didn't seem that big of a deal. As I was going down the lake I looked at the port oil pressure and it was pegged at 80 psi and then took a nose dive to 0 psi and then bouncing all around. I immediately came off throttle and could smell burnt oil for a brief moment...no smoke anywhere...no alarms...but engine was running rough. Last night I went up to the boat and checked fire at each plug with in-line tester (all ok)...pulled plugs and some appeared really sooted and plug in #3 cylinder had oil around the threads of the plug...so I changed them all. Pulled distributor cap and rotor...had a tiny bit of build up, but nothing big...was able to clean easily with emory cloth. Checked oil pressure switch, which had some corrosion that I cleaned off of the spade connector. Pulled the PCV and was able to blow through one and the air came back out the other...but I did notice that there was oil residue on the TBI, but unfortunately cannot take off the flame arrestor all the way due to clearance issues. After I did all of this, engine fired right up and ran smooth as silk...took the boat out and came on plane for about 4 mins oil pressure was steady and in sync with starboard engine...then pressure started bouncing...so I throttle down and engine was running rough again (still no alarms)...then I tried to go back on plane and the port engine would not get above 3000 rpm...no matter if I went full throttle. Could put port engine in neutral and easily hit 4000 rpm...but not if in gear and under load. When I turn the ignition switch I get the normal (2) chirps, but have never experienced an alarm on either engine. Could this be the S.L.O.W system? I plan on doing a compression test in a day or so, but if anyone has any ideas please share.
Also, I did oil/filter change on both engines at winterization last fall. The Volvo manual states that the engine holds 6 qts with filter change...so that is the amount I placed in the engine. With that amount, the oil level is above the full mark on both engines...actually about what I would consider a quart more. Now, when I checked both engines the starboard oil is still extremely clean (only put @ 28 hrs on engines this season) and the port oil looks as if it was never changed. One thing that really stood out to me when I checked the oil level in the port right after this started is that there was oil almost all the way up the dipstick when I took it out...made me think oil was being forced up the dipstick tube. The oil viscosity appears to be consistent with the starboard engine and no milky appearance in the oil...just that it is dirty looking. Should the oil level should be within the hatch "safe" marks on the dipstick or should the oil level be above the "full" mark? When I have drained the oil previously, I can hear the pump sucking air from the oil pan...so I feel that very little old oil remained in the pan.
