Hi everyone,
Iâve got problems with my volvo md6a combi, and I need your help.
I motored out into the bay this weekend, and after hoisting the main and turning off the engine I then feathered the prop. Later when we went to start the motor to return after sailing, I couldnât get the prop to unfeather. I mean that the lever in the cockpit wouldnât budge from the feathered prop position, and I couldnât get it to move even an inch, let alone move all the way to reverse, neutral, or forward.
I pulled up the engine cover and located the combi lever on the rear of the engine to which the cockpit lever is linked. I put a bar under it to try to get it to rotate forward to put the prop in reverse or neutral or forward. It wouldnât budge either.
I pulled the connecting pin that joins the cockpit leverâs linkage/rod to the combi lever on the rear of the engine to see if I could move the lever on the engine independently of the lever in he cockpit (incase the problem was due to a siezed pushrod or cable in the cockpit), but that did nothing to help.
It seems like the prop is stuck in feathered position and no reasonable amount of force on the cockpit lever or the lever on the rear of the engine is going to get it to bust loose.
So here are my thoughts on how to address this. Please tell me if you think I shouldnât do this.
I want to get a four foot long steel bar to attach to the combi lever on the rear of the engine with a few hose clamps. Thatâll give way more torque for trying to get the prop pitch to free up and return to neutral. I also would like to put a wood lever on each of the prop blades so that their pitch can be forced by hand directly.
Just trying to adjust the pitch from the prop alone probably wouldnât be good, and just trying to adjust the pitch from the combi unit on the back of the engine may not be enough.
I think that if I use a lever on each prop blade and push and pull on them to try to get the vari-prop out of feather position *while* someone is in the cockpit with a long lever directly attached to the combi lever on the rear of the engine, we could probably break it free again. Forcing the adjustment from both ends of the linkage might work.
My concern is that we could break something inside the prop or the combi unit on the rear of the engine with too much force.
As it is now the engine is useless, but I donât want to go breaking some delicate internal component. If we donât try to manually force the prop blades back to their proper position, then I donât know what else to do. Haul the boat and pull the engine to overhaul the combi and vari-prop?
The prop adjustment has been stiff for a while now, but this takes the cake. I wish Iâd worked the cockpit lever back and forth a bit before feathering the prop or hadnât bothered to feather the prop at all!!!
Any helpful input would be greatly appreciated. I want to fix this next weekend if possible.
Thanks,
Kristopher
Iâve got problems with my volvo md6a combi, and I need your help.
I motored out into the bay this weekend, and after hoisting the main and turning off the engine I then feathered the prop. Later when we went to start the motor to return after sailing, I couldnât get the prop to unfeather. I mean that the lever in the cockpit wouldnât budge from the feathered prop position, and I couldnât get it to move even an inch, let alone move all the way to reverse, neutral, or forward.
I pulled up the engine cover and located the combi lever on the rear of the engine to which the cockpit lever is linked. I put a bar under it to try to get it to rotate forward to put the prop in reverse or neutral or forward. It wouldnât budge either.
I pulled the connecting pin that joins the cockpit leverâs linkage/rod to the combi lever on the rear of the engine to see if I could move the lever on the engine independently of the lever in he cockpit (incase the problem was due to a siezed pushrod or cable in the cockpit), but that did nothing to help.
It seems like the prop is stuck in feathered position and no reasonable amount of force on the cockpit lever or the lever on the rear of the engine is going to get it to bust loose.
So here are my thoughts on how to address this. Please tell me if you think I shouldnât do this.
I want to get a four foot long steel bar to attach to the combi lever on the rear of the engine with a few hose clamps. Thatâll give way more torque for trying to get the prop pitch to free up and return to neutral. I also would like to put a wood lever on each of the prop blades so that their pitch can be forced by hand directly.
Just trying to adjust the pitch from the prop alone probably wouldnât be good, and just trying to adjust the pitch from the combi unit on the back of the engine may not be enough.
I think that if I use a lever on each prop blade and push and pull on them to try to get the vari-prop out of feather position *while* someone is in the cockpit with a long lever directly attached to the combi lever on the rear of the engine, we could probably break it free again. Forcing the adjustment from both ends of the linkage might work.
My concern is that we could break something inside the prop or the combi unit on the rear of the engine with too much force.
As it is now the engine is useless, but I donât want to go breaking some delicate internal component. If we donât try to manually force the prop blades back to their proper position, then I donât know what else to do. Haul the boat and pull the engine to overhaul the combi and vari-prop?
The prop adjustment has been stiff for a while now, but this takes the cake. I wish Iâd worked the cockpit lever back and forth a bit before feathering the prop or hadnât bothered to feather the prop at all!!!
Any helpful input would be greatly appreciated. I want to fix this next weekend if possible.
Thanks,
Kristopher
Help!