Bit of ranting - Cost of Volvo Penta parts
- Thread starter Nina Lucia
- Start date
rotrax
Well-Known Member
I paid last year almost 400 quid for a simple 4 cylinder head gasket to fit our Yanmar 4JH4-HTE.
[70521]
Well-Known Member
Other manufacturers are available. Google is your friend.
rotrax
Well-Known Member
Not for the gasket I needed!
Bodach na mara
Well-Known Member
When my 2003 took to pumping its oil into the bilge I found out the cost of Volvo spares, even used spares for parts that Volvo couldn't supply. Which is why, once I accepted that it was not economically repairable and was advised to replace it with a D1-30 I chose to replace it with a Beta.
pandos
Well-Known Member
maybe these guys would have helped...
The secret in looking at Volvo parts or any others is to track the part by the various numbers and then back to the various suppliers. Looking for other uses for the same part number.
My MD 21b is in many Peugeot and Ford cars indian 4x4s the gasket and bolts are still available from autodoc even though the engine is from 1980. The lift pump is from a German tractor supplier, the kit to service the injector pump was 15 euros from a local tractor garage.
I'll bet most yanmar parts (except marinisation bits)can be sourced from digger and machinery places.
The OP's Volvo is probably also a rebadged engine with parts available from other sources...
Ironically the cheapest thing I buy for my engine is an original Volvo oil filter from a Volvo main dealer... (About 1/3 the price of a spurious in the chandlery)
rotrax
Well-Known Member
A lot of what you say is correct. Our engine is the 16 valve job and I was told it was only used in marine engines, not plant.
The genuine Yanmar secondary fuel filter - the one that comes with the engine - is about 56 quid from a UK Yanmar dealer. $25.00 in America. US Yanmar dealers can lose the franchise if they discount and ship out of their area. Many instances of pissed off Yanmar customers on the IPHomeport. Away cruising they have to use the nearest dealer, not the one in their home port who they know.
I get my filters from InLine filters, 12 quid plus VAT.
The all in price for our exhaust elbow, a huge cast bronze one, is 1700 quid. I got a Swedish S/S one for £360.00.
I did punt about for a cheaper source for the gasket - and the valve I needed - but nothing doing.
Had I still been working in my motorbike shop I could have had a lazer cut solid copper gasket made for far less money and made a valve myself from a high quality racing motorcycle valve. It was nothing special, stem and head similar to a Honda 125cc single. I could buy those for a fiver, shorten the stem and put the collet groove in, a blob of hard facing on the tip, job done. The Yanmar valve was 57 quid!
Thanks for the link, I shall keep it handy.
You never know!
The genuine Yanmar secondary fuel filter - the one that comes with the engine - is about 56 quid from a UK Yanmar dealer. $25.00 in America. US Yanmar dealers can lose the franchise if they discount and ship out of their area. Many instances of pissed off Yanmar customers on the IPHomeport. Away cruising they have to use the nearest dealer, not the one in their home port who they know.
I get my filters from InLine filters, 12 quid plus VAT.
The all in price for our exhaust elbow, a huge cast bronze one, is 1700 quid. I got a Swedish S/S one for £360.00.
I did punt about for a cheaper source for the gasket - and the valve I needed - but nothing doing.
Had I still been working in my motorbike shop I could have had a lazer cut solid copper gasket made for far less money and made a valve myself from a high quality racing motorcycle valve. It was nothing special, stem and head similar to a Honda 125cc single. I could buy those for a fiver, shorten the stem and put the collet groove in, a blob of hard facing on the tip, job done. The Yanmar valve was 57 quid!
Thanks for the link, I shall keep it handy.
You never know!
DanTribe
Well-Known Member
The parts to repair my 2GM cylinder head came to about the same as a new Beta 20. Most of it I could do myself but would need some professional labour.
No guarantee that it would fix the problem and it would take several weeks. The new Beta was delivered in 2 weeks.
An easy decision.
pandos
Well-Known Member
Here's an even better source...
My exhaust elbow was made from about 50 quids worth of stainless pipe fittings, by a previous owner. I have owned the boat about 15 years and it has survived without any deterioration.
25931
Well-Known Member
Likewise, some 20 odd years ago and never regretted the decision.
DanTribe
Well-Known Member
About 20 years ago we met a Swedish yacht that had put into Torquay with an overheated engine. Local engineers diagnosed a blown head gasket and sent to Sweden for spares. On re-assembly it was found to be a crankshaft problem, more delay for spare parts from Sweden. Then someone asked why he didn't get spares from the local Perkins dealer!
The guy was very fed up with the engineers and probably England also.
He abandoned his plan to circumnavigate UK and returned home.
The guy was very fed up with the engineers and probably England also.
He abandoned his plan to circumnavigate UK and returned home.
Arcady
Well-Known Member
I agree that the price of Yanmar and Volvo spares is eye-wateringly expensive. However, the cost of stocking low volume spare parts - often for years after the original item was sold - is not inconsiderable. I used to work for a UK manufacturing company where the policy on pricing spares was that if one was to build the entire instrument from the spare parts catalogue, then the finished item would cost 10 times the recommended retail price. I suspect the pricing policy of Volvo & Yanmar is something similar. Having said all that, the pricing of consumables such as filters is still something of a rip-off in my opinion!
oldgit
Well-Known Member
In the recent past needed to replace a splined shaft in a 40 year old MS4B VP gearbox. The new shaft was around £700.00 pounds with bit of discount from local VP agent including P&P.
Twin engine boat.
The only alternative path was a new gearbox of some description.
This would involve sourcing a new box, there being no direct like for like replacement, any new box fitted required considerable rejigging both of engine location and down angle.
It would also result in two different ratios which would need a prop repitching.
Estimated a good month of messing around and probably at least £5K.
The new shaft was delivered to my front door from Belgium ? in 48 hours, was back in the gearbox 2 hours later, installed in the boat that evening and we went off on a weeks boating holiday the following morning.
Twin engine boat.
The only alternative path was a new gearbox of some description.
This would involve sourcing a new box, there being no direct like for like replacement, any new box fitted required considerable rejigging both of engine location and down angle.
It would also result in two different ratios which would need a prop repitching.
Estimated a good month of messing around and probably at least £5K.
The new shaft was delivered to my front door from Belgium ? in 48 hours, was back in the gearbox 2 hours later, installed in the boat that evening and we went off on a weeks boating holiday the following morning.
Bobc
Well-Known Member
This is where the Beta engines really score highly, because they are all based on Kubota bases, the parts are available worldwide at sensible prices. Even when it comes to the Beta proprietary parts, they're not a patch on the prices of VP and Yanmar parts.
I found that VP stuff, it often pays to find the OEM source parts rather than buying from a VP dealer.
I found that VP stuff, it often pays to find the OEM source parts rather than buying from a VP dealer.
Ammonite
Well-Known Member
I'm sure I shall eat my words at some point but having moved from a Beta 20 to a MD2040 I've been pleasantly surprised (given the horror stories on here) with the quality and price of parts from the likes of Parts4engines.com and a quick Google (or measure) should find you the size of any o rings, seals etc you need for next to nothing
Bobc
Well-Known Member
Parts4engines is fine, because they source and stock OE parts, not genuine VP parts. You wait until they don't have the bit you need.
Ammonite
Well-Known Member
I am sure you are right but my point is that people are needlessly paying stupid prices a lot of the time. By way of an example I'd hate to think what VP would have wanted for a fuel injection pump, Parts4engines wanted £720 for a refurb, but my local diesel specialist rebuilt and tested it for less than £200. I'm definitely not advocating VP prices but there are lots of ways to ease the pain if you take the trouble to find out what the base engine is, what OE specialists there are etc. The one exception I've experienced so far (I'm sure there will be more) was the stupidly priced cone clutch in the saildrive and it was significantly cheaper to put in a complete second hand saildrive.
TiggerToo
Well-Known Member
what is OE?
BobnLesley
Well-Known Member
As a new/first time boat owner in 2001 I naively walked into the local Volvo dealer and enquired after an oil filter, a Mann M77(?) filter was placed on the counter along with a request for the best part of £20 and when I reiterated that I'd wanted an OEM filter, I was referred to the white label stuck on the side of the Mann box showing Volvo part number/logo/bar code. I declined this kind offer and the following day went instead to my local Autoparts store where I bought three M77s for £10 - cash; if Volvo were going to shaft me, they could at least have had the decency to spend a few pence on a Volvo box for the filter, 
HissyFit
Well-Known Member
Original Equipment, as in Original Equipment Manufacturer. Ironically, in the automotive industry it seems to mean the opposite to what you think it means, meaning the car companies, not the companies that make the parts that go into the car.
