Stuck in Forward, Crashed into Rocks

[Heron]

The control stuck in forward while turning into the slip. There was no reverse. Really scary experience. I was also not able to turn off the engine with key or buttons. Eventually killed the main power to stop the engine. The only option was to proceed to the end of the dock and crash into the rocks. Fortunately there was no major damage. Russ and a diver, Mark Sundahl, and others helped pull the boat into an empty slip. I tried starting the boat and it started but was still in forward position and the controls were not responsive. Essentially the boat cannot be driven.

I called Steve a Volvo mechanic with Neilsen Beaumont. He said that he has seen the sticking in forward several times but not the inability to kill the engine at the same time. Over the phone, I confirmed that the servo motor controlling the forward, neutral, reverse appears to be in the neutral position, so the control system thinks everything is OK. Unfortunately the cable going from the servo motor to the outdrive is likely stuck or broken. In my opinion this is a serious safety issue as evidenced by my crash experience. There needs to be some means to communicate a failure of the mechanical cable system and allow for an emergency override. This failure could have been much worse. I plan to report the problem to Volvo but do not expect much from them. I have found their customer service to be extremely poor.

I believe the inability to stop the engine with key switch or stop button is related to the two station setup. I experience this once before, but thought it was my inexperience with the controls. On both occasions, turning off the power, allows the system to reset and work properly. The joy of all electronic controls. There may be some type of firmware bug that locks up both control stations. It is not a major problem as long as one can put the boat into neutral and shut everything down. In this instance both systems failed.

Mark took a look at the bottom of my boat. This guy is great. He said there was some damage, but no major holes. I will check the hull thoroughly tomorrow. There is a gash above water line that went through the fiberglas and into the foam core.

In the meantime, I have a friend, Craig, who is going to put his boat in the water tomorrow and tow me to Dana Landing to pull my boat out of the water.

[Al Gagnon]

That is some scary stuff. Thank God you did not crash into someone in a small boat.

[iclypso]

Holy moly!! I'm glad everyone's alright and the boat (or someone else's) wasn't destroyed. I hope Volvo stands behind their products if the responsibility is theirs.

[Al Gagnon]

I do not think any company would openly admit they had a defect in workmanship. It would open them up to a law suit. They would say that you did not do the maintenance, or something was modified, or fatigue, etc. Have you found out what caused the problem? Something may have broke physicaly or electricalyPlease post when you find out so it will help other fisherman or Blackman owners.

[Freespool]

Man that sucks. I hope everything works out OK for you. If your friend doesn't work out for you I have a spare trailer you can use. If you need it call me @951-491-5462.

[Heron]

I had Sea Tow move me from J dock to Dana. I just pulled off the cowling on the outdrive and disconnected the cable to the shift mechanism. The cable was broken. So the outdrive was in forward, but the servo control was in neutral and the system computer indicated neutral. I guess the corrective action that I can do is to change this cable assembly every couple of years. I believe that there is a Volvo design issue that would allow this to happen.

The remaining issue is why I was unable to shut down the engine from either helm station. As mentioned earlier, I had this same problem occur once before, but the engine was in neutral and all I had to do was power down the engine using the battery disconnect. This time it was more problematic when the outdrive was stuck in forward.

I am not sure how to resolve the shut down problem since it occurs intermittently and infrequently.

There is a fair amount of superficial fiberglas damage to the hull in the bow area where it hit the rocks. It will take a while to repair and re apply bottom paint. Fortunately nothing serious. Marty thinks there might be a problem with his dingy that was on his swimstep and got bumped.

[firebc]

Glad you're okay. Hard to tell standing on the dock, but the damage looked minimal.

Any estimate how long you'll be out of the water?

Phil

[Heron]

I removed the cable from the outdrive and actuator. Here is a link to pictures of the damaged cable.

http://picasaweb.google.com/wfender/HeronDamage?authkey=Gv1sRgCMf97ofhkdq06gE&feat=directlink

Notice that the cable is made of steel and has rusted at the one end attached to the outdrive. The cable is steel with a plastic jacket. The end fitting is rotary staked to the cable. It looks like the staking breaks through the plastic jacket and allows water to contact the steel cable and corrode. Notice how about 6" of the cable is rusted and dark color where the water has worked up inside the plastic jacket. I can't believe that Volvo uses a steel cable rather than stainless steel for a such a critical part continuously immersed in salt water.

I sanded off the bottom paint on the damaged areas of the bow. There are a number of areas where the impact damage goes into the cloth matt. I will need to build up several areas with new cloth.

Getting a new cable will be the pacing item to get Heron back into the water. Hopefully, there is one in stock and I can get it here by the end of next week. I have been unable to identify the part number for the cable so I will have to call a supplier on Monday.

[NoSlack]

Bill

Your cable doesn't look much different than the design Volvo has been using for the past 30+ years, just shorter. Think about the possibility of electrolysis. Check your outdrive for a grounding cable that gives it a good electrical connection to the engine block.

Mike

[Heron]

Mike,
Thanks for the suggestion regarding galvanic activity. All the ground straps are good. I checked all of them when John and I pulled off the outdrive to replace the boot. That is not to say that an additional bonding strap directly to the cable may not help or that the attachment of the cable and cable housing to the outdrive might not be a optimum electrical connection due to calcification on the bolts etc. Looking at the cable, it is evident that water has penetrated up the inside of the plastic jacket. In a salt water environment, even without any electrical activity, ferrous steel will readily corrode/rust. I am surprised that they have been using this type of cable for 30 years without problems. Are the cables you are referring to made of galvanized steel strands not stainless steel? In your experience how long do they last when the boat is kept in the water?

On this cable, it looks like the end of the cable was exposed and is not galvanized and the rotary stake broke through the plastic jacket and probably through the galvanized coating on the cable. The cable fibers are galvanized but it does not take long when continuously immersed in salt water for the galvanized coating to be breached. I plan to talk to Volvo on Monday and will report back if there is any new insight into this problem.

[Heron]

I spoke to John, He says that the shift cable is not a Volvo supplied part but installed by the boatbuilder. As Mike mentioned, these cables have been used for many years. There are three possible cables:
Morse=red cable jacket
Teleflex = Black cable jacket
Volvo = Grey cable jacket.
Teleflex purchased Morse so the red ones may go away.
Telflex makes a Supreme and a Extreme Cable. John heard that the Extreme was better but more expensive. I went to West Marine. They had a Supreme and an Extreme. They were both the same price. The counter person called Teleflex and asked them if the Extreme had a stainless cable rather than a galvanized steel strand cable. The Teleflex rep said that the Extreme was stainless. However, I checked with a magnet and the cable is not stainless. Bought it anyway and plan to change every two years.

I am going to mount and section my old cable to see what happened. It is curious that some cables last a considerably longer time. There is a ground strap right on the clamp that attaches the outer jacket to the outdrive. However, since the inner cable is plastic sheathed, it is difficult to say if there is good electrical contact. Also, the end of the cable is cut and at location there is no galvanizing. Seems like salt water can enter the end of the cable and start working it's way up. Once it gets a way up the swaged area, the strength is compromised.

I am going to run a pair of wires from the Accessory Stop button on the engine to an Emergency stop button located at both control consoles unless I can determine where the wire pair originates. I suspect that the wire pair comes from the main control computer located in the pilot house to the engine. Does anyone have a wiring diagram for a D4? The interior console can use a standard industrial ESTOP. I have one left over from a control job. I have to look into a liquid tight switch for the upper console.

I fixed all the damage areas on the hull and put on the first coat of epoxy barrier paint. Tomorrow a second coat followed by two coats of "hard" bottom paint and two coats of soft ablative paint. Hope to be back in the water by early next week.