What's up with my VP engines..? One depends on the other.

[Zven]

So last night was the scariest moment in my yachting career so far...
The weather was great and I decided to cross the Golf of Lion, from Spain to Marseille, in my Cranchi motoryacht.

I got this boat a few months back. It is 10 years old and has two Volvo Penta D9 engines, both recently serviced. The fuel tank was all topped up for this trip.

Just as I came to the middle of the sea, 50 miles from land on either side, the port side engine developed a problem and stopped. There was actually smoke coming from the flybridge dashboard.

I suspect something with the EVC control system. But that is not the bad part...

Just seconds later, the starboard engine also stopped!

I fiddled with this for a few hours.... but to make a long story short, could not get either engine going again. My mechanical skills are limited to the most basic of matters.

Eventually, thanks to VHF, I got the French rescue services to come and tow the boat.

Now, as I am here stuck in a remote corner of France, I have a number of questions... but the most important is with regards to the starboard engine. The second one to stop in this case...

It does not seem to get any diesel. Indeed, it seems like this engine is depending on the other one going, in order to get fuel.

I will get a professional to look into this, but in the mean time would appreciate any ideas you might have...

What could possibly cause the engines to not work independently?

I have a theory that someone might have implemented a quick fix in the past, perhaps bypassing a broken part rather than replacing it...
Like the alternator on the starboard side.

This would go against the main lesson I have learned about yaching:
Always have two or more separate propulsion systems.
Learned the hard way, of course.

[NoTies]

If there was smoke coming from the EVC then that is is likely cause of both engine failures.

[Zven]

I have now found out what was the problem with my engines: The starboard engine was powering the electric switch for the port side diesel supply... and vice versa.
I guess some complete idiot must have been doing work on the boat, at an earlier occasion.
All sorted now.

Sent from my SM-T805 using Tapatalk