2001 Volvo 5.7L GXI Fuel pump whine

[i4abuygto]

Does anyone know what would cause a significant fuel pump whine in the high pressure fuel pump on the 2001 5.7L GXI Glastron 205? If I jumper to apply power to the pump I can get the whine to temporarily go away by reversing the pump. If I purge the system by opening a pressure release on the pressure guage and allowing the fuel to be pumped into a fuel can there is no whine. If I run the engine at an idle after this purge there is no whine but after running the engine under load for several minutes the whine comes back. I believe the low pressure pump may be out, making the high pressure pump work harder, but I am not sure. When I run the engine, the low pressure pump has approx. 4psi of pressure and the high pressure pump is at approx 30 psi. As soon as I shut off the engine the pressure at both pumps drops to zero. Volvo sells only the fuel cell as a complete unit for $900.00 (which consists of both pumps and the filter), I would like to isolate the problem before I invest in any parts. I heard it could be picking up air in the fuel lines before the pumps and fuel cell. Need help please advise. Thanks

 

[GTBecker]

Re: 2001 Volvo 5.7L GXI Fuel pump whine

I have a similar issue on a 1999 5.7GSi, a whine that seems to come from the throttle body, so I assume it is a pressure whine from the high-pressure pump, which I just replaced - due to whine.

I found that the old pump inlet screen was clogged with debris it picked up from the surge reservoir/tank. I opened and cleaned that, finding a fair amount of a sand-like, broken deposit that I'm guessing was old dried fuel (the boat was not operated for two years before I got it). I believe the whine is due to pump starvation caused by the inlet-screen debris.

Although I just cleaned the tank, I suppose the inlet screen might, again, be clogged if the debris is coming from the throttle body through the pressure return line. Otherwise, I'm puzzled.

Have you located the source of your pump whine?


Tom

 

[Don S]

Re: 2001 Volvo 5.7L GXI Fuel pump whine

Sure hope that after 3 months, he's still not waiting for an answer.

 

[GTBecker]

...

 

[GTBecker]

Re: 2001 Volvo 5.7L GXI Fuel pump whine

Yes, indeed, a second cleaning of the high-pressure pump inlet screen has silenced the whine. This time the deposit was much finer, a muddy brown paste, obviously what I left behind. It easily washed off the screen with a few jets of WD-40.

One design flaw, as I see it, is that the threaded, double-o-ringed pump mount/inlet adapter screws down tightly into the pump, in fact, against the inlet screen. Consequently, only a center 5/16" disk of the screen (which is almost twice that diameter), or ~25%, is actually used.

A lathe could undercut the end of that adapter and dramatically improve the screen performance.


Tom

 

[GTBecker]

Re: 2001 Volvo 5.7L GXI Fuel pump whine

I removed the high-pressure pump from the tank again and found a small quantity of debris in the inlet screen, again. Clearly, this stuff is still being shed from somewhere in the high-pressure fuel loop, but it is vastly less than the first time I found it. Here is the inlet screen with the pump mount/inlet adapter; note debris in the adapter center and debris centered on the screen. The largest area of the screen is blocked by the deep threads of the adapter. http://rightime.com/images/Misc/DSCN5602a.JPG

A solution is to undercut the end of the adapter, easy to do with a few bits in a drill press. This mod exposes the entire inlet screen to fuel and removes a restriction. http://rightime.com/images/Misc/DSCN5604a.JPG

End of whine for now.


Tom

 

[JT824Megacab]

Re: 2001 Volvo 5.7L GXI Fuel pump whine

I had recently had the same problem, whine noise coming from pump, and no power when I accelerated. I initially thought it was starving for fuel and suspected there was a blockage somewhere. I checked the tank, fuel filter, and later took the fuel cell off. I took it apart and didn't find anything that would indicate a blockage. I took the 2 pumps down to my local VP dealer hoping to replace only those parts, but I was told Volvo-Pental doesn't sell those separate anymore. The dealership said I had to buy the entire fuel sell. I found a company on the internet call Sierra that sells only the hi/low pressure pumps. I considered that option but it was going to take a few days for the parts to arrive. I had family coming for Memorial Weekend 09' so I went back to the VP dealer and purchased the fuel cell unit. It came with fuel filter, hoses, clamps, but I had to remove some of the brass fittings from the old unit. I installed the new unit, tightened everything down, lubed the new fuel filter rubber seal, filled the new fuel filter with fuel and put it on. I had to crank boat a few times and it fired right up. I checked for leaks and everything looked good. The whine sound was gone and the throttle was responsive again. The dealer said it was common for that unit to fail. I paid $706.00 out the door for the fuel cell. Just wanted to pass along my experience in case someone else has the same problem.

 

[coastalcruiser]

Re: 2001 Volvo 5.7L GXI Fuel pump whine

The dealer said it was common for that unit to fail. I paid $706.00 out the door for the fuel cell. Just wanted to pass along my experience in case someone else has the same problem.

I checked the fuel filter

Checked the filter? they need to be REPLACED every year.
My fuel pump whine went away after I replaced the filter.

 

[claytootie]

Re: 2001 Volvo 5.7L GXI Fuel pump whine

I just this past weekend disassembled the fuel cell of my 1999 Volvo Penta 5.7 GSi (black engine in a 2000 MY boat). I did this because like the other posts I was experiencing a loud whine from the fuel pumps. I did not have a significant performance problem. At the worst I could only pull 4900 RPM where I should be pulling 5000+. The inlet screen to both fuel pumps is very fine. Although I did not see granule sized debris I could not see through the screen. I used about a 1/4 can of brake parts cleaner to blast out what was on the screens and other areas of the fuel cell, reassembled the fuel cell, reinstalled it, and the whine is gone. The fuel cell is "primed" using engine vacuum and a carb. style float to stop the vacuum line from sucking in fuel. What I suspect is happening is that this "may" allow for dust, carbon, etc to enter the fuel stream AFTER the fuel filter. If this is the case, replacing the normal fuel filter annually will do nothing to stop this from happening. The good news is that there are forums like this one that help diagnose these problems and it only took 2hrs to remove, clean, and reinstall the fuel cell. This is the first hiccup I've ever experienced with this 10yr old, 455+ hrs, engine. I'm very happy with this Volvo DP and will continue to recommend Volvo Penta to other boaters. Props to GTBecker for the initial root problem discovery.

 

[Potomac-Bill]

Re: 2001 Volvo 5.7L GXI Fuel pump whine

I have a 2006 5.7 GXi with over 400 hours that seems to have this same fuel pump whining problem although not as serious. I've lost 500 RPM at WOT and there seems to be a general loss of horsepower. I've always replaced my fuel filter annually with Volvo's OEM filter and have just competed a full tune up (over $100 for distributor cap and rotor - ouch). I also have a heavy gasoline smelling exhaust at idle and increased fuel consumption (as measured by a fuel manager gauge). Are these also symptoms of this problem or is this being caused by something different/additional???

 

[210ccr]

Re: 2001 Volvo 5.7L GXI Fuel pump whine

i'm having this problem with 5.7 tbi volvo also, where is this fuel cell located? sound's like this could be my culprit!