Back to the UK for a winter refit

[Portofino]

Bandit,s line of thought is right .
I replaced exhaust elbow insitu ( looked same -corroded up inside the cast iron casing ) on the stb engine with the help of my skinny son .While it was off did notice corroded rim on the horn -the part that the strap "3" clamps to -and the inside of the cast iron "1" looked v corroded .
We could not reach or be bothered with port side ( cos had to remove fire extinguisher ) .
I did manage to look up inside the turbo from exhaust side .My boat KAD 300 was a 2003 -
Ithink new turbos were due- they were tired and along with the corossion -INSiDE the cast iron VP components ,and mild steel other bits .
I kinda realised an engine out was due with several 000 ,s to spend .
I sold the boat surveyer could not pick up on this -it's all inside ,the corossion -only clue is external paint rust spots ?

Reading arround marine engines I made a decision to actually avoid another VP engine set up and home in on
Man,Cat,MTU ,or Cummins .In an engine room whereby you can get round easily all four sides of the engines .
I did regularly waxoil corroding bits like the pulley wheels and other bare steel components ,but things
Iike the alloy fuel pipes started to blow ,so I would rub down and treat these .+ mild steel sumps -corroding ,and the engine mounts -like yours in the pics
In the end I ended up with MAN engines -erh made in Germany ,in an older boat 2001 -they are immaculate no corrosion .VP stuff is ok if you can keep on top of the corrosion issues ,
I would be very surprised once opened up that the elbow,s and part "1" are not reccomended for replacement .

 

[Portofino]

This pic shows the top of part 1 -actually looks like an alloy with sea water gray "furring " .The elbow connects to the rusty flange on the cast iron turbo housing
Also judging by the exterior of the oil cooler?? ( that box on the RHS of the pic ) -there's a horror show inside side that -when opened up .
Sorry be seemingly the harbinger of doom here.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

This pic shows the top of part 1 -actually looks like an alloy with sea water gray "furring " .The elbow connects to the rusty flange on the cast iron turbo housing
Also judging by the exterior of the oil cooler?? ( that box on the RHS of the pic ) -there's a horror show inside side that -when opened up .
Sorry be seemingly the harbinger of doom here.

That 'horror story' looks more external than internal on closer inspection. What's happened there is that that cover has been blasted by high-pressure raw water escaping from the oe raw water filter cap on the stbd engine.

 

[Portofino]

Ah that explains a lot for that piece
The alloy has blown and the mild steel bolts rusted .
That's my point -I wish the folks at Vp would think things through "what if X or Y or in this case the raw water filter cap seal fails ?"
So we use a dfferent material than painted Alloy and secure it with SS bolts in a marine enviroment .
Don,t get me wrong the actual gubings inside -crank,pistons,head ,valve gear ,are bomb proof .
It's the bolt on ancillary componants ,like turbos, exhaust elbows, risers, that have time limited lives .
Since the engines are out as Bandit suggests -worth replacing now ?

 

[Bandit]

The horns corrode around the top where the boot joins item 2 and the do corrode lower down.

I think you are a bit high on exhaust horn price .

But its a cost benefit calculation ie reduce breakdowns and future big bills for something you can sort now at component cost rather than component cost, labour, lift out and engine out and then refit all back again.

 

[volvopaul]

That alloy corroding box is the electrical system for the engine, no where near the oil cooler or heat exchanger, that's on the other side of the engine out of shot. Funny how people jump to conclusions. At this age the coolers will require major attention for sure, it's one component that this D range of engines do suffer quite badly.

 

[volvopaul]

That 'horror story' looks more external than internal on closer inspection. What's happened there is that that cover has been blasted by high-pressure raw water escaping from the oe raw water filter cap on the stbd engine.

Both motors have the latest type strainer lids, they should not leak unless they have been left slightly loose, as there under pressure when the engines are running this can happen. Later motors have the strainers on the suction side where they should have been on the drawing board in the first place!

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Both motors have the latest type strainer lids, they should not leak unless they have been left slightly loose, as there under pressure when the engines are running this can happen. Later motors have the strainers on the suction side where they should have been on the drawing board in the first place!

I fitted those new-style strainer lids when they first became available; the damage was already done by then. The only thing I'm suspicious about is that there is some corrosion on the frame of the new-style lid as well. As you say, they've now corrected the (stupid) design of all of this. Perhaps they'll redesign the legs to bring the steering rams back inside the boat again? I wish...

 

[vas]

Both motors have the latest type strainer lids, they should not leak unless they have been left slightly loose, as there under pressure when the engines are running this can happen. Later motors have the strainers on the suction side where they should have been on the drawing board in the first place!

I noticed that on the drawings posted by JTB but I thought I got it wrong!
How come they put the strainers AFTER the pump?
Is it easy to change that to the later design or is it top $ to do so?

cheers

V.

 

[Jonmendez]

I noticed that on the drawings posted by JTB but I thought I got it wrong!
How come they put the strainers AFTER the pump?
V.

Our friends at Volvo are VERY good at design that you look at as an engineer or end user and find yourself question your sanity as to 'Why' would anyone do that, the filter after the pump style has been around on Outdrive boats for years - all the KAD range had it, it is a really good reason to put extra pre pump filters in. But it make Volvo lots of £££££££

 

[RogerRat]

Nothing other than the usual clean, pressure test, service. I'm not sure there's much else you can do with drives, is there?

Hi Jimmy,
There is one cable that's especially worth replacing as it's SO difficult to replace with the engines are back in place. The rudder position 'sender' cable. Its path is right behind the starboad engine close to the transom the access is almost impossible and you'll need to bend a stiff cable almost through 90 degrees. It then needs to be straightened be fore connecting. It's one of the silly jobs and the boat will need to be lifted.

Btw. I never changed my strainer caps although I kept meaning to but then they never leaked. As you know mine was originally a D6-310 boat and the leaks on those was caused by the plastic heat exchanger covers. Four bolts one in each corner and they warped when hot. This was not one of Volvo's best ideas and that's why they changed them to D6s' with the bronze caps. Unfortunately, this was after the boat had been flooded to about a foot and all the signs were there on mounts etc.

Yours will look great when done now.

RR

 

[RogerRat]

I fitted those new-style strainer lids when they first became available; the damage was already done by then. The only thing I'm suspicious about is that there is some corrosion on the frame of the new-style lid as well. As you say, they've now corrected the (stupid) design of all of this. Perhaps they'll redesign the legs to bring the steering rams back inside the boat again? I wish...

Hmmm. even if they do it won't help you this time.

One thing that will help though, is always park the boat with your helm left hard to Starboard. With the Rams in there shortest position, (with gators fitted) like trim tabs up, there's far less chance of the nasties attaching to the rams' surface and wrecking the seals when they extend.

It worked for me, never replaced rams, although marine growth would be higher in the warmer waters of course.

RR

 

[stelican]

Thanks for the pic. I'm struggling to find that exact component on marinepartseurope - is your pic from a D6?



Blimey. Your idea of modest cost and mine are a bit different, I think - those horns are about £1k each. Spending £2k on something that hasn't failed yet does seem like a lot of money. Specifically how does the horn fail?

Volvo did a recall on the exhaust systems as the horns were corroding when fitted with the additional risers required on some installations

 

[jrudge]

Hi Jimmy,
The rudder position 'sender' cable. Its path is right behind the starboad engine close to the transom the access is almost impossible and you'll need to bend a stiff cable almost through 90 degrees. It then needs to be straightened be fore connecting. It's one of the silly jobs and the boat will need to be lifted.

RR

Mine was done in the water by "aquatom" in Mallorca. It took about an hour, I would add that how he did it was a mystery to me!

The cable seems to break when it feels like it if it bends over centre ( I think mine happened when I lifted the drives and turned the wheel). As soon as it kinks it snaps as the cores is pretty brittle.

 

[benjenbav]

I think we're agreed that JTB should keep the blocks and discard all the peripherals to those engines.

Meanwhile, has a design emerged for the bathing platform yet?

 

[vas]

I think we're agreed that JTB should keep the blocks and discard all the peripherals to those engines.

don't agree, since we are not paying and since all these components (that I fully agree should be replaced) were in touch with the blocks, I recon the blocks should be also replaced!

Meanwhile, has a design emerged for the bathing platform yet?

yes, looking fwrd to some sketches!

cheers

V.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Is it easy to change that to the later design or is it top $ to do so?

I have no clue if this is even possible, but I guess it must be unlikely otherwise it would have been offered as a resolution at some point. It would be possible to change the complete strainer assembly for a bronze one but that's big bucks.

 

[petem]

There's something extremely satisfying about spending other peoples money for them and on that basis I think all aforementioned improvements and replacements should be implemented forthwith. Whilst he's at it, a nice new carbon fibre dash from Axon would be money well spent (err wasted) too!

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Volvo did a recall on the exhaust systems as the horns were corroding when fitted with the additional risers required on some installations

Yep, mine got inspected but were unaffected by the recall.

Don't know if this is much use or not, but this is what they look like at the moment:

It turns out that the horn (only) is £236+vat; the indicative price I'd previously been given was apparently for the entire assembly.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Hi Jimmy,
There is one cable that's especially worth replacing as it's SO difficult to replace with the engines are back in place. The rudder position 'sender' cable. Its path is right behind the starboad engine close to the transom the access is almost impossible and you'll need to bend a stiff cable almost through 90 degrees. It then needs to be straightened be fore connecting. It's one of the silly jobs and the boat will need to be lifted.

Hi Rog

Thanks for this - but in fact I've replaced this rudder reference cable before, it was maybe three years ago. I don't think it should need doing again already.