Dreaded volvo 290 issues

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Mike scott

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Hi guys, firstly my poor boat has been in & out the water more times than a duck in the last few months. luckily I have not been paying the constant lift charges or work. But its now out of Warranty & broke again. To give a quick summary I had a loss of drive on one of my drives, A company i have a lot of respect for that I purchased the boat quickly diagnosed cone clutch failure & promptly sent the drive to a local repairer. Now this is where it gets interesting after a few days up the river it became hard to select fwd without selecting reverse. boat back out adjustments made told all was good. nope. So next thing was the control box with a brand new unit. Nope still broke. Boat pulled again & a new cable fitted did improve things but guess what lasted about a day. So here goes i got grumpy & drive was then sent too a very well respected company for overhaul. ( sorry should mention the drive went back twice to original local company to recheck clutch) Any how drive after being returned from very respected company perfect. Until this weekend damnnnn. now it seems to be sticking again and eith drops into gear with a massive clonk at 1200 rpm or go back & forth on lever a couple of times. this though is not all the time. Should i just buy a different drive & recycle this back in to something usefull like a coke can or do i send it somewhere else . I know the company I purchased it from spent a fortune & never grumbled once so i in know way blame them and even feel gutted for them too. Anyhow 20 hrs aprox & two months after latest strip down am really wondering my options . Any thoughts apart from scuttling her very much appreciated.

mike
 
It seems that sometimes you get a rogue unit. I should ask for a replacement from the supplier - they should be able to return it to Volvo without loss to them. I've no idea what Volvo 290 is so can't comment technically. The warranty should have been extended by virtue of the first occurrence of the fault occurring during the original period.
 
ghostlymoron said:
It seems that sometimes you get a rogue unit. I should ask for a replacement from the supplier - they should be able to return it to Volvo without loss to them. I've no idea what Volvo 290 is so can't comment technically. The warranty should have been extended by virtue of the first occurrence of the fault occurring during the original period.
Click to expand...

290 is an old drive, so Volvo would have no obligations here.
 
You really need to post this on MoBoChat to get a decent response.There are years and years of bitter experience over there regards sorting outdrives.
 
Worth rechecking oil level as too much oil in drive makes clutch slip. Should be half way up flat on dipstick.
Its possible that this may have been caused by water ingress
 
Was this a new boat's first sale with its maker's warranty, or a secondhand boat sold with a dealer's warranty ?

If the former then warranty cut off after 12 months is not cut and dry, EU law would be your friend in this situation, but if the latter then you are probably on your own, although in view of the repetitive problems you have endured arguably it's not fit for purpose, so I would still demand the seller sorts it out or ask for a refund.
 
I'd start by checking the control box and cable adjustments.
At the point where "forwards" is engaged, the gear shift cable should have moved the selector to the point where it's fully in gear, and the throttle cable should not have moved at all. Same for reverse.
This can be checked quite easily on land with just the upper drive cover removed (two long screws).

If gear selector isn't fully engaged, and the engine starts to rev before the gear selector arm is fully home, it means there's something wrong with the control box / cable setup.

If the gear selector is fully engaged, but the drive isn't actually going into gear, or is slow to engage gear, then it's a drive problem (oil, cone clutches, shims, whatever).

Before you unscrew the old drive and heave it into the sea, bear in mind that a new drive from Volvo will cost around £8000, or £2500 for a "reconditioned" drive from other vendors.

.
 
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Thanks everyone, I think my frustration speaks for itself in this post, even though this problem has made me find this great forum full of great ideas in lots of boating topics. My boat is a mid 90s Targa 30/33 on ad41b so I think it will have to go back to the dealer . My issue is I bought it with a 3month warranty last spring and my use of it with this constant drive problem has not allowed us to really use as much as we liked or end up depressed & stressed out. In fairness to the dealer they have replaced the control box with a brandnew unit,brandnew cable, new cone clutch then finally sent it to a major refurb company for them to have a go. So thats why i am becoming what do I do. she has done about 20hrs since last profesional teardown & rebuild so guessing everyone is missing something or maybe a new seal has failed allowing some water in. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr
 
what does the company who did the last work say ,but the dealer has the contract with them so you need to deal with them realy ,it might be time to name
 
Have not spoken to anyone yet ,really wanted some advice before speaking to the dealer who i know will be devastated & I do have a great relationship with. I want too have some ideas in my own head to discuss rather than getting upset which achieves nothing in my experience. I think its just screaming of something obvious is being missed or just plain bad luck . guess she will have to be pulled out again & water in oil first check (incase new seal failure) (all be it wife has just pointed out that I did say the lever appeared stiff when it failed to engage each time ) then new cable /control box adjustments. I am just getting frustrated that since last spring 20hrs is about the max its ran before failing
 
have you kept a detailed log of times and dates and the work done by who ,and the loss of enjoyment time ,
 
You don't say who or where the drive has gone to for its major refurb .
Give us some idea because if it's either the 2 companies I think it is then that's your problem for a start
.
Fitting of a cone clutch isn't a straight forward job if it needs the vertical shaft and bearings setting up , then the shift actuator will need setting up .
 
Oh jeez...
Literally just been dealing with the same issue today....
Helping my friends boat out earlier.
Although the VP 290DP is a superb engineering achievement and to be respected as such, it's a feckin nightmare when she goes wrong.
Today we spent a few hours, in and out the slip way and adjusting the gear selection. Having had a good few years taking these these drives to bits, I've found that 7/10 times I've found water in the oil. Recently I've found it best to change oil with Mobil 1 75/90 fully synthetic and to seal the 3 openings with silicone afterwards.
Also, make sure the shift adjustment is decent.
allan
 
I don't wish to say publicly but am happy to disclose in private but volvo Paul you are on the mark and what you are saying is my gut feeling.
 
QBhoy said:
Oh jeez...
Literally just been dealing with the same issue today....
Helping my friends boat out earlier.
Although the VP 290DP is a superb engineering achievement and to be respected as such, it's a feckin nightmare when she goes wrong.
Today we spent a few hours, in and out the slip way and adjusting the gear selection. Having had a good few years taking these these drives to bits, I've found that 7/10 times I've found water in the oil. Recently I've found it best to change oil with Mobil 1 75/90 fully synthetic and to seal the 3 openings with silicone afterwards.
Also, make sure the shift adjustment is decent.
allan
Click to expand...

Where are you based Paul
 
Mike. Can be very frustrating in cases like this and you will not be the first or last bloke sitting on the quay side pondering wether this will ever end and just wanting the thing fixed...at whatever cost.
Having a half dozen dis-interested parties all circling round does not help.
It does not help not knowing where the fault is, at least if you did you could throw some money at it. :(
You need one bloke to take overall charge, you may have just one problem or many fiddly minor ones.
Somebody needs to give this a bloody good shake and see what falls out.
Unfortunately the nature of the drive system can result in any new owner reaping the results of the previous owner(s) neglect.
Some of us have been there .:)
OG.
 
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