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yobird · 23-04-2021, 15:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Challo

After 5 MDIs (I paid for the labor and several of the units), we spent the off-season eliminating it. A perfectly good engine should not be limited by a piece of electronics.

S/V Challo

Same MDI issue for us.
Could you share some info on how you proceeded to get rid of it and replace with conventional gauges?

Help !

yobird · 24-04-2021, 07:20

Greg,
All good info in your posts here, thank you for it. Instruments wise I was considering keeping the VP tach and temp and oil gauges with current harness.
Wondering .... if these guages would even work and
by-passing the MDI, and also using the current senders on the motor....

redneckrob · 24-04-2021, 07:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by yobird

Greg,
All good info in your posts here, thank you for it. Instruments wise I was considering keeping the VP tach and temp and oil gauges with current harness.
Wondering .... if these guages would even work and
by-passing the MDI, and also using the current senders on the motor....

Tach, temp, and oil all come from the MDI and they all die when it does, even if you have the separate harness to pull the data directly which I do.

more · 24-04-2021, 09:29

I simple bypass MDI and fuel solenoid. Now have a secret switch with a safety antitreft option. RPM WORK, temperature,oil, exhaust gas sensor have double. in Volvopenta panel don't work this. The engine have 5500 hour

more · 24-04-2021, 09:50

I forget. for bypass after the warranty ends.
Locate Stop solenoid is an electromagnetic relay. When
the stop button is pushed the stop solenoid is activated by the MDI. wire direct to Volvopenta Stop button,

In MDI bypass wire from Volvopenta panel start button to Starter motor relay(on starter motor)
But is best if put in garbage (no Buton superior quality)Volvopenta,wire, sensor,panel and make a new panel with superior Chinese KUS gauge with or without NMEA integration all sensor on the boat.or classic Germany VDO.
or if you geek and like LCD https://www.sangiorgiosein.it/easySt...p?SchedaID=596

CarinaPDX · 25-04-2021, 13:29

The existing gauges use some form of canbus (but not necessarily N2K). It would be great if we could bridge between the sensors and the V-P instruments. I suppose if someone had the time and skills a packet sniffer could be used to determine the format and some small controller (Arduino or Pi) could do the job. I think it would be best to see if any of the devices I listed earlier could work as that bridge. My plate is full right now...

Greg

Shawn0900 · 16-05-2021, 11:05

I'm looking at a boat that has the Volvo Penta S2-55 in it and I'm being told the owner does not know the engine hours. The hour display is blank so there's no way to know. The engine is in great condition and appears to not be orignal, but I'm not sure. This is a 2003 Beneteau 423. I thought those had Yanmars from the factory.

I suspect that the MDI box is faulty as the display being blank is clearly one of the symptoms. Has anyone been able to see the correct engine hours after replacing the MDI box when this happens? I assume the hours are being stored in the actual display/panel. Also, can someone please confirm that the latest version of the MDI box works and resolves the historical problem?

Any input would be helpful.

LoudMusic · 16-05-2021, 11:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shawn0900

I'm looking at a boat that has the Volvo Penta S2-55 in it and I'm being told the owner does not know the engine hours. The hour display is blank so there's no way to know. The engine is in great condition and appears to not be orignal, but I'm not sure. This is a 2003 Beneteau 423. I thought those had Yanmars from the factory.

I suspect that the MDI box is faulty as the display being blank is clearly one of the symptoms. Has anyone been able to see the correct engine hours after replacing the MDI box when this happens? I assume the hours are being stored in the actual display/panel. Also, can someone please confirm that the latest version of the MDI box works and resolves the historical problem?

Any input would be helpful.

I replaced an MDI box and the hours were reset.

Does the engine start from the remote start buttons or does it require some makeshift start procedure?

I also had a tach display fail ($650 to replace!!!). It's just a display - the hours are in the MDI, to my best understanding.

Shawn0900 · 16-05-2021, 13:23

Sorry D2-55...fat fingered it.

Ah crap, I was afraid of that. I was hoping to discover how many hours are really on the engine. Can anyone else confirm that the hours are in the MDI box please?

Thanks

redneckrob · 16-05-2021, 15:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shawn0900

Sorry D2-55...fat fingered it.

Ah crap, I was afraid of that. I was hoping to discover how many hours are really on the engine. Can anyone else confirm that the hours are in the MDI box please?

Thanks

Yes, hours are in the MDI box. I've had multiple replacements now on both engines (D1-30) and every time the hours go back to zero.

Lepke · 16-05-2021, 15:10

Going back to the original post: replacing failed Volvo engines with new Volvo engines.
Isn't that a practical example of the definition of insanity?
Doing the same thing over and expecting a different result?

redneckrob · 16-05-2021, 16:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lepke

Going back to the original post: replacing failed Volvo engines with new Volvo engines.
Isn't that a practical example of the definition of insanity?
Doing the same thing over and expecting a different result?

If the OP had 2030s they were at least 20 years old and potentially 27 years old, potentially with thousands of hours on them or several years or poor care. Replacing them with new Volvo Pentas seems completely reasonable, especially given the extra cost of getting new sail drives they would have probably faced if switching manufacturers. This whole MDI box thing wasn't something anyone could reasonably expect, after all the original MDI boxes have been fine for years. Clearly Volvo Penta screwed up and is continuing to screw up on these boxes, I'm as mad about it as anyone with the number I've had to replace. But I certainly wouldn't have switched engine manufacturers if I was replacing 2030s now several years ago when this problem was just starting. Probably wouldn't switch even if I had to replace my engines now. You can buy a lot of MDI boxes for the cost of two unnecessary new sail drives!

mlibkind · 16-05-2021, 17:28

If it is "blank" then something is wrong with the MDI box. If it reads zero, then it is a brand new box and the engine has not been starting with it installed. I replace the MDI box myself and I have no special engine skills. Just make sure that you get all the wires re-attached to the correct terminals.

I went through the which is the latest version of the MDI box a few years ago. I'm sorry but I didn't keep a record of the different iterations. I would search this thread to see if people commented on the version numbers. Of course there could even be a newer one.

FYI, although I replaced the MDI box, that was not my problem. The old one was working fine.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shawn0900

I'm looking at a boat that has the Volvo Penta S2-55 in it and I'm being told the owner does not know the engine hours. The hour display is blank so there's no way to know. The engine is in great condition and appears to not be orignal, but I'm not sure. This is a 2003 Beneteau 423. I thought those had Yanmars from the factory.

I suspect that the MDI box is faulty as the display being blank is clearly one of the symptoms. Has anyone been able to see the correct engine hours after replacing the MDI box when this happens? I assume the hours are being stored in the actual display/panel. Also, can someone please confirm that the latest version of the MDI box works and resolves the historical problem?

Any input would be helpful.

mlibkind · 16-05-2021, 17:35

On 14-10-2018 CarinaPDX listed in order the part number for 5 versions of the MDI box. Of course there could be a newer version.

Hope this helps.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shawn0900

I'm looking at a boat that has the Volvo Penta S2-55 in it and I'm being told the owner does not know the engine hours. The hour display is blank so there's no way to know. The engine is in great condition and appears to not be orignal, but I'm not sure. This is a 2003 Beneteau 423. I thought those had Yanmars from the factory.

I suspect that the MDI box is faulty as the display being blank is clearly one of the symptoms. Has anyone been able to see the correct engine hours after replacing the MDI box when this happens? I assume the hours are being stored in the actual display/panel. Also, can someone please confirm that the latest version of the MDI box works and resolves the historical problem?

Any input would be helpful.