Copy parts.........not always a success

kashurst

Well-Known Member
Joined
10 Oct 2003
Messages
11,882
Location
Spain
Visit site
Wasted 3 hours this afternoon on what I thought would be 30 minute job. My raw water pumps not surprisingly developed a drip from the rear seal. Ordered two new seal kits which arrived promptly and looked OK but clearly not Volvo parts. How hard can it be to make a rear seal and a gasket for a raw water pump???? They will probably be OK.......

Fitted the new seals and gaskets, put the pumps back on job done!!! Started the engines, no drips, water going through the raw water strainer on the port side, it's not working on starboard engine.......3 hours later affter swapping pumps over, taking all the pipes off, checking and rechecking seals, swapping the impeller out for the previous one, pump drive widget, even connecting pump to a bucket of water the starboard pump will not suck.

The port side engine would pump but on close inspection not especially well. Eventally put the old pump gaskets back in. Bingo - both pumps working really well.

Never mind..........
 
Were you supposed to grease the new seals?
I did and the gaskets. I have to admit I am annoyed with myself for not swapping the gaskets out as soon as I realised there was a problem. However a week or so ago the starboard pump wouldn't prime the system unless I undid the raw water strainer. So I went off chasing why that would be happening when the now rebuilt pump had new seal and gaskets. A google search this evening indicates that is a symptom on my pumps of a failed rear seal. Which it was. It didn't occur to me that brand new parts would be the problem. Never had that before on anything. Lesson learned.
 
Last edited:
It gets worse........ having spent ages trying to find replacement wiper blades for an 8mm bayonnet the new ones turned up at last. Tried to fit them yesterday no joy. The box they came in clearly states for 8mm arms, the little plastic fitting is clearly marked for 8mm arms.

The slot inside the plastic moulding is 7mm wide,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,I give up. I will file the arms down a bit.
 
Copy parts , I always cringe at some of them especially the bellows , piston and liner kits, gaskets , exhaust elbows , starters and alternators , pretty much most of it has a short shelf life compared to genuine parts . Don’t mention the tolerances on important parts like bearings, pistons, liners etc . I once did a rebuild with customer supplied parts , yes you guessed it didn’t do 10 hours and he expected me to do it again under warranty.
 
Copy parts , I always cringe at some of them especially the bellows , piston and liner kits, gaskets , exhaust elbows , starters and alternators , pretty much most of it has a short shelf life compared to genuine parts . Don’t mention the tolerances on important parts like bearings, pistons, liners etc . I once did a rebuild with customer supplied parts , yes you guessed it didn’t do 10 hours and he expected me to do it again under warranty.

There are some instances where it's possible to find the same part without a Volvo part number on it (e.g. Valeo alternator) but many are Volvo-specific and cutting corners often doesn't end well.
 
Wasted 3 hours this afternoon on what I thought would be 30 minute job. My raw water pumps not surprisingly developed a drip from the rear seal. Ordered two new seal kits which arrived promptly and looked OK but clearly not Volvo parts. How hard can it be to make a rear seal and a gasket for a raw water pump???? They will probably be OK.......

Fitted the new seals and gaskets, put the pumps back on job done!!! Started the engines, no drips, water going through the raw water strainer on the port side, it's not working on starboard engine.......3 hours later affter swapping pumps over, taking all the pipes off, checking and rechecking seals, swapping the impeller out for the previous one, pump drive widget, even connecting pump to a bucket of water the starboard pump will not suck.

The port side engine would pump but on close inspection not especially well. Eventally put the old pump gaskets back in. Bingo - both pumps working really well.

Never mind..........
Doubt Volvo build pumps. They certainly don’t build alternators. Buying an otherwise identical black part and spraying it green can save £££

What I’m saying is “non Volvo” and “pattern” are not the same thing.
 
Volvo do not build pumps, they buy them in for new engines, and for after sales. However they will specify the important performance parameters, like lph, pressures, decay rates, and expected life. So while you may find what looks like identical parts, they may not be built to Volvo spec. The same for Cat, Cummins etc. My Cats have Sherwood raw water pumps. They are sh!te. Really poor design with a huge moment on the bearing and seal from the impeller. I had to replace a shaft on my previous boat, having failed to get a replacement bearing and seal to work. ASAP sourced from the US. I don’t know which pumps Volvo use.
 
Volvo do not build pumps, they buy them in for new engines, and for after sales. However they will specify the important performance parameters, like lph, pressures, decay rates, and expected life. So while you may find what looks like identical parts, they may not be built to Volvo spec. The same for Cat, Cummins etc. My Cats have Sherwood raw water pumps. They are sh!te. Really poor design with a huge moment on the bearing and seal from the impeller. I had to replace a shaft on my previous boat, having failed to get a replacement bearing and seal to work. ASAP sourced from the US. I don’t know which pumps Volvo use.
Volvo use both Sherwood and Johnson but you never see the original manufacturer detail on them however for example you can buy the D9/11 from Watermota in Devon at a fraction of the Volvo price .
 
Top