1980s Volvo Penta engines. Any good?

[Tim Good]

I'm looking at a boat with a Volvo Penta MD2003 engine. Original from 1988. Done 1200 hours. Currently working fine and been regularly serviced.

Should I worry at its age or do these tend to have good reports?

 

[robmcg]

Found in tons of Westerlys and Moody 31's. No worse than any other engine of that era. Relatively low hours so should still have loads of life left in it. Having had a 2003, I would be more than happy to have another. MS2 gearbox should be checked for spline wear or even better the hex modification. That was one of their weak points.

Rob

 

[VicS]

I'm looking at a boat with a Volvo Penta MD2003 engine. Original from 1988. Done 1200 hours. Currently working fine and been regularly serviced.

Should I worry at its age or do these tend to have good reports?

Usually, but not necessarily directly cooled. Something to look into.

Early 2000 series engines suffered from failure of the spline between engine and gear box. Official and third party mods to fix but it does mean separating engine and gear box . Worth checking the engine serial number to see if its one of those affected and if so if its had the repair/ modification done. Bargaining point if not done.

 

[joha]

I have a1990 2003T runs sweet as a nut starts first push of the button only need to use the cold start on a really cold winters day. It has about 1750 hrs on it is a bit smokey but have been told by a VP mechanic that they all are. Only thing I have done apart from a yearly service is had the water pump refurbished which wasn't too expensive much to my surprise!

John

 

[West Coast]

I have a 1993 VP 2003 with saildrive, starts really easily, a few minor issues that you would find with any engine. FW cooled are best.

 

[Slowtack]

My 2003 is now 29 years old ............. so far so good

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Mine (in a Moody 31) was installed in 1989, and still performs well. It may be older than the installation date; the story goes that Moody bought a job-lot of Volvo 2003s and installed them in any of their range for which it was even vaguely appropriate, resulting in some of them being somewhat over-engined (I have plenty of spare oomph on mine!). I think I need to look at the waterways, but otherwise no problems. Recently stripped the top-end and no problems with bores or valves.

As far as I know, these engines can be completely rebuilt to as new condition using parts that are still available. However, I think it will outlast me without anything more than normal maintenance and perhaps a few odd jobs!

I should say mine is raw water cooled, as the majority are. As far as I can see, as long as you replace the anode regularly this isn't a problem. However, I think I am getting some build up of deposits in the waterways or the exhaust elbow, which may require treatment with acid or RydLyme or similar. Many threads on this on here!

 

[pvb]

Echoing other comments, it's a sound engine, although a bit of smoke is inevitable. The worst thing I find is the oil filter being mounted on the front face of the block, so as soon as you unscrew it oil runs down the engine block!