Any volvo experts around?

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mdonnelly

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My Volvo Penta MD7b has finally become economically non-viable, having blown two head gaskets in last month. Time for a change. The engine is attached to a 120s saildrive. An opportunity has risen to purchase a 6yr old volvo penta 2002 model. This is attached to a shaft. Is it possible/difficult to attach this model to a saildrive?
 
If the engine is 6 years old, are you sure it's a 2002? I thought they stopped making those long before that.
If instead it is actually a 2020, then it will certainly attach directly to some models of 120S saildrive as that is what I have in my boat - mine is a 120SD.
Best to get the specific models of the saildrive and the engine off the spec plates, and call a Volvo agent, I'd suggest.
 
Have you thought about getting the head skimmed or is it really past it?

If the head has distorted there will be a reason which could be overheating. Whatever it is, it will have to be checked.
 
Have you examined the heads and block....was the head or block gas cut(grooved) when the first gasket failed.

What did you see after removing the head gaskets and cleaning..

I had a similar failure 10 years ago and repair is not difficult.

You may need to skim the head or the block and then shim up the block on the crankcase..No problem..
 
Head has been skimmed twice under my ownership. Engine was lifted out last year and head and block and piston heads skimmed. She then ran perfectly well for 8 months until gasket went last month. This was replaced but engine never started easily and then gasket gone again. Think she has had enough!
 
Engines which have had enough generally burn oil and produce smoke. If your engine was not doing either of these then I would think it is probably ok. If you think of a head gasket as being like a fuse. If a fuse kept blowing you would look for the cause. Its exactly the same, what is causing the head gasket to blow. On most engines the head has to be re-torqued after a few hours running as the gasket compresses. Was this done to your engine? This is often the cause of repeated gasket failures.
 
Two further thoughts to consider:-

1 - Did you tighten the head bolts in the correct order and just a bit at a time?

2 - The purists will hate this but years ago I had the same problem with a car engine. I found the way to cure it was to use Hermatite non setting sealing compound on both sides of the gasket. Be careful not to use too much or you could block the oil and water ports. It is cheap and used to be available at Halfords. Eventually I used it every time I had the head off an an engine and never had any more problems.

If you are going to scrap the engine why not try it before spending buckets of money.
 
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