A Rusting Volvo....

[Scubadoo]

A couple of weeks ago I noticed my Volvo Diesel Oil Sump badly rusting. Fortunately it is still covered by the 3 year warranty (well I think so anyway) and left it in the hands of my local Volvo dealership.

Anyway, I am very surprised to see this rust on an engine less 2.5years old, and wonder if any of you people have experienced the same on your Volvo(s) or any other make of engine.

Any extra advice on this greatly appreicated.

RM.

 

[Guest]

Richard I see this all the time, the older they are the worse they get, I think it must be down to the painting process at time of manufacture, also have you ever looked at the engines the day after a long run?, after shutdown, overnight condensation forms on the engines and over a period of time hence the rust appears, I have just done a major repair to a 61a 306, the amount of rust behind the heat exchangers and starter motor was unbelieveable, also the aluminium parts of the oil pipework was starting to corrode away, I get my Volvo Ocean green paint mixed by a local supplier at less than half the price of the genuine stuff, these engines are in a well known , top quality british aft cabin motor cruiser.pjs

 

[Col]

One thing you can do to help, at beginning of season,spray engine with waxoil ( it doesnt look pretty but does the job ) leave it to dry (to allow solvent to evaporate) before start up.This will also help with those troublesome problems caused by corroded electrical connections. Over winter leave a de-humidifier and green house "tube" heater in the bilge,this should keep your rusting to a minimum.

 

[Scubadoo]

Thanks for that, during winter I do place a heater in the engine bay. I also spray the engine with Duck Oil on a regular basis, but have not tried Waxoil - good idea I'll do that next.

The rusting is only the oil sump, the rest of the engine is generally rust free, this is probably to do with using Volvo's green paint and duck oil. The sump is a little harder to get to.

Thanks,

RM.

 

[Scubadoo]

Out of interest what do you recommend as treatment - or is it a case of insisting Volvo replace with a new sump.

It seems strange that you don't get this on car engines and why volvo don't properly treat engines for marine environment.

Anyway at least you don't make me feel I am the only one with this problem.

RM.

 

[DepSol]

Corrosion X best product for that. spray it on and walk away.

 

[Scubadoo]

Who supplies it (car shop?) and is that it's full name.

RM.

 

[DepSol]

Marine chandlers should have it but it isn't cheap although the best products never are.

If you get stuck try Herm Seaway on 01481 726829. they should be able to send it VAT free as it is under the recommended retail requiring VAT.

Good Luck if you get stuck let me know, I will see if I can help.

Dom

 

[Gludy]

I just phoned and ordered 2 cans of this Corrosion X to try. The Chandlers were very helpful. they had just closed but went and inspected the stock to answer my questions. I find that sort of service unusual these days.

Paul

 

[DepSol]

Although a busy company, Herm Seaway are very customer orientated.

I always get a good service from them. If you come to Guernsey pop in and see them. Prices are very competitive.

Enough of that as I will get loads of people now asking if I am connected with them, cant seem to recommend a good product these days without people getting suspicious!

Dom

 

[Guest]

Richard,

Do you remember we bought our boats at roughly the same time? You bought the Sealine and I bought a Regal Commodore. We both had the same engine though - a Volvo Penta AD31P. Well since I took delivery back in 99 I have only managed to get 107 hours use out of the boat! This was not due to any lack of time on my part, but all due to Volvo Penta problems. You may remember the first problem I had was that the leg and transom shield had corroded in the first two months of use, and after many letters back and forth Volvo eventually agreed it was their fault and replaced the leg and transom shield, this involved removal of the engine. The end result was that I could only use the boat from July onwards.

This year I had the boat serviced and dropped in the water in March looking forward to a complete seasons use. I travelled out of the marina, opened the boat up and after 3 minutes the boat just stopped - no alarms no horrible noises or smoke, no overheating. There was oil in the water all around the boat.

To cut a long story short - the engine had ejected all its oil through the breather tube and then seized.

I had to pay for the boat to be removed from the water and stripped down to prove it was a engine fault and not something I had done!

No actual fault could be found, however Volvo authorised replacement of my turbo, two pistons and sleeves. Looks like the internal seals on the turbo broke down and pressurised the sump which caused the oil to spray out, although they are not sure.

I am launching the boat this weekend and will use the boat through the Winter, got to really, otherwise I'll get no use out of the damned thing!

I hope you have better luck with yours. How many hours have you done now?

Regards

Andy.

 

[Scubadoo]

Hi Andy,

Long time since we last emailed. You been pretty unlucky with your Volvo with so many problems. My engine has run for approx 240hours and to be honest no real problems YET.

This year my forward gear failed to engage properly, it turned out to be a corroded throttle cable and lever, the cable was a Sealine part and was thinner in design than Volvo - replaced with a Volvo cable (at my expense). The throttle lever was replace under Volvo warranty.

My oil breather pipe blow off on a longish cruise, I was fully load with dive gear, only discovered it after I was back in the marina doing some checks, a fine mist of black oil around the engine bay's grp - but not serious, now use a tie rap to prevent that happening again.

My biggest worry now is the rust on the oil sump, I guess the volvo paint must have been scratched when installed. My volvo agent is going down to the boat next week to investigate, I am in two minds what is best. I could insist on a new oil sump or they treat it - my thoughts are a new oil sump but I have to see what Volvo's response will be. The rest of the engine is pretty much rust free, mainly to do with winter touch up of green paint and duck oil.

Do you have any rust on your oil sump?

I too will be doing winter boating but depends on my rust problem, liked to get it corrected before the spring next year.

Like everything always learning, my next boat (oneday) I will add oil sump rust to my check list.

Have you been to the Solent yet, I remember you were planning once.

RM.

 

[longjohnsilver]

Diving

Richard, I see from various posts that you like me are a keen diver. Where are you based (presumably the Solent) and what type of boat do you run. Until a few years ago I had a Channel Islands 22 which got a little cramped when I had 4 divers + 2 cylinders each + 30 or 40 doz scallops. It went a bit slower then. I now have a 32' version of the same boat, but we still seem to fill up the cockpit space with just a few divers. All good fun though.
What's the diving like up your end, does the vis tend to be good? If you ever fancy some diving in Lyme Bay give me a shout - we tend to dive mainly for shellfish between 15 -27 metres between Lyme Regis and Exmouth.

 

[Scubadoo]

Re: Diving

Hi,

Yes I am a keen diver like a few of us on this forum. A few years ago I used dive with a mate in a Fletcher 16ft - really used to push this boat to it's limits! but had limited range. I now have a Sealine S24 (24'8) cruiser with a diesel, not really a diving boat but had to have a happy medium between diving and general cruising. There is usually three of us on a dive trip - me as a skipper - but take it in turns so we all get to dive, however on more taxing dives I tend to manage the boat. We remove the rear seating and built (well my mate did) a diving friendly rack to give us more space. It's okay to manage upto three divers and a skipper, but I prefer just two divers. The boat struggles to the plane with three sets of dive gear but okay and even better with just two sets. My plan is to upgrade to a 30' boat to make life even more comfortable, but that some time way off.

My boat is based in the Southampton water and we usually aim to dive on the east side of the Isle of Wight - usually wrecks. Last year we took my boat down to Weymouth for four days diving and did wrecks such as the M2 Sub (excellent) etc.

The viz is one big problem, we can get upto 5-8m on a good day and down to 0-2m. Weymouth, Anvil Point better but depends on diving slack/neap for best conditions.

A few years ago my previous boat was trailered down to Helford River/Cornwall for a week of diving - very good viz.

Our usual dive config = 15L Cylinder + 3L Pony each + a spare 12L (not each), two of my mates also dive occansionly with Nitrox. My personal max depth is 35m and prefer now more than 25m, however my mate (more qualified) has been down to 40-45m. This is only to see wrecks, we are not the type of divers that must see how deep you can go.

We also dive in Oban Scotland and charter a Rib, excellent wreck diving and good viz.

Funny you mention Lyme Regis etc, I was trying to convince my mates the other night to do some diving in your area next year, but Scotland seems to be preferred. Prehaps next year we could meet up one weekend at your end - I'll drive down, would you consider two extra drivers?

Anyway seem to be rambling on a bit.

RM.

 

[longjohnsilver]

Re: Diving

Yes would be happy to have you along sometime next year. Like you used our first boat in the mid 80's to dive off but a Shetland 535 really was too small.
We haven't used nitrox but one of my regulars is keen to start - as he says none of us are getting any younger!!
I use an 18 and a 15 litre tank, you don't see many 18's around - the rest of the crew hate it when it comes to loading and unloading. I'm afraid that we all break the rules and dive solo, we all prefer it that way and it means there's no problem with boat handlers. It's a system we've used for 12 years or so, and we all still enjoy what we do.
What hp is your engine and what speed do you normally cruise at? I'm not surprised that it struggles to plane with 3 divers + equipment on board.
John

 

[Guest]

Richard,

My sump was resprayed in the process of re-fitting the engine, so I don't really know if it was rusting.

Sounds a bit worrying that your breather tude blew off on that long journey. There is no pressure (normally) in the sump so there should never be a case of oil coming up through the tube, unless of course its sucked out. Why not report it to volvo anyway, while you still have the warranty, that way you will be covered for a period after your warranty expires. I have heard that I am not the first person with this engine to have this problem, its possibly a faulty batch of turbos.

The new turbo cost £1300. +fitting.

I didn'y make it to the south coast yet, it takes us too long (approx 3 hours) so we have moved the boat from the Shepperton on the Thames to Titchmarsh marina on the East coast - a bit of a nightmare with tides and sandbanks, but you soon get used to it!

Regards

Andy.

 

[Scubadoo]

Thanks for the advice, as this happened early last year I don't think I need to worry. I think the breather may have been loose in the first place, used to have the same problem on my Landrover. The oil mist was not serious and gave me the impression that it was not under pressure. I'll give it some thought though whether to notify Volvo.

Remember when you visit the Solent (oneday) let me know and we could meet up. How are you finding the Regal apart from the engine problems.

Regards,
RM.

 

[Scubadoo]

Re: Diving

My mate who is nitrox mad will enjoy giving his views on nitrox, he has tried for some time to convert me - but feel I don't need it.

I've not heard of 18litre cylinders before, and I have the same problem when it comes to load/unloading dive gear, this is one time when I enjoy cleaning the boat after a trip while they unload ;o)

Yep we also do solo dives, you make it sound a bad thing. I tend to do solo when their is just three of us. They do the wreck dive in the 30min slack and then I will do a 10m ish dive in a sheltered bay/cove, I'm more interested in marine life than wrecks. I think solo diving concentrates the mind on safety and being self reliance.

My engine is a AD31 150hp diesel with duoprop, I tend to cruise at 18/19knots to a dive site and 22knots returning - but this all depends on conditions as you know. The maximum speed is 29/30knots and reduces down to 27k later in the season.

Look forward to next year - see how things go.

Regards,
RM.