How long should an engine last?

[owen-cox]

The car comparison is apt. Just using a car for an odd half-mile trip to the supermarket will wreck it very quickly, as it doesn't ever get up to a decent working temperature. On the other hand, cars in taxi use 24 hours a day (with multiple drivers) can do huge mileages without serious problems, because everything's operating at optimum temperature.

Just pootling around in and out of moorings, at tickover, as many boatowners do, is very bad for the engine.

Totally agree with this, I have been in a Mercedes Taxi in Germany that had done 8,000,000 km on the original engine. Sunsail had a fleet of boats that I worked with and we had 30 boats all with 8500 hours at least and they were all fine. a couple needed a cylinder head rebuild to get the compression back up but they were all in service for several years after that. in fact I saw one for sale recently and it still had the original engine and I worked on these about 20 years ago! they were the really solid Volvo Penta 2003 and they just run and run. the only thing you have to do is change the rubber water seals every time you undo a water pipe and then they don't leak.

 

[dom]

Totally agree with this, I have been in a Mercedes Taxi in Germany that had done 8,000,000 km on the original engine.

I'm guessing that's a typo?

 

[scottie]

Another piece of useless claptrap. The "MD" series of Volvo engines covers all the Marine Diesel range up until 2005 - including the tens of thousands of Peterborough and Japanese built Perkins based engines which will outlast most of the old clunkers you admire so much.

If you are going to correct someone then get your facts right
M D simply stands for Marine Diesel in Volvo speak

 

[EuanMcKenzie]

I re-engined 2 years ago getting rid of my 1972 MD21A. I drove it into the yard and the main engine was running fine. The oil cooler was held together with Epoxy, the lift pump was a peugeot hydrid made from bits, It ran hot in any sort of seaway, the heat exchanger had been botched back together after its last clean and rebuild and was in need of another stripdown. The engine itself ran nicely but needed injectors and would blow black smoke at lower revs under load.

I was sick of cleaning my dirty transom.

Couldn't agree more about the anciliaries killing an engine. Who needs a donk donk when that's not what dies.

I bought a Beta

 

[dom]

If you are going to correct someone then get your facts right
M D simply stands for Marine Diesel in Volvo speak

Tranona's point is substantively correct though - even if there's a small point of nomenclature at stake.

 

[Tranona]

If you are going to correct someone then get your facts right
M D simply stands for Marine Diesel in Volvo speak

That is what I said - I thought? Should also have added Peugeot base engines to the list.

The OP has a bee in his bonnet about the old Volvo designed engines being the only ones with the MD prefix. That is what I was correcting for him.

 

[owen-cox]

I'm guessing that's a typo?

no

 

[dinwood]

Beware the "smoke run" or "Italian tune-up". I was told to try a 8 hr run at 80-90% revs to deal with suspected glazing, but all I managed was to destroy the coolant pump. Plus it didn't do anything to reduce the high oil consumption that prompted it, so a very expensive day in all respects.

 

[Tranona]

Beware the "smoke run" or "Italian tune-up". I was told to try a 8 hr run at 80-90% revs to deal with suspected glazing, but all I managed was to destroy the coolant pump. Plus it didn't do anything to reduce the high oil consumption that prompted it, so a very expensive day in all respects.

Whoever suggested that as a "cure" for bore glazing was misleading you. However short periods (not 8 hours!) can be effective in dealing with deposits in exhaust systems that come from too much light load running. Long term light load running can also be a cause of bore glazing but the remedy is different.

 

[Heckler]

As said modern diesels have a life of 8,000 hours. Engines such as the Volvo MD series had no design life. I asked Volvo what it wold cost to build a modern engine to MD standards - £16,000 and that was about 10 years ago.

My MD22 is a basic Perkins Prima engine. Originally a petrol engine from British Leyland that Perkins and BL made in to a very successful diesel engine. They fitted it to the Maestro, Montego and early Leyland Daf 200 vans. VP marinised it, but the basic engine is exactly the same. I have just bought and refurbed a Maestro Turbo engine, parts are still available from www.parts4engines.co.uk at reasonable prices. I wrote the refurb up and it is in PBO in April and May editions.
Stu

 

[KellysEye]

>Another piece of useless claptrap. The "MD" series of Volvo engines covers all the Marine Diesel range up until 2005 - including the tens of thousands of Peterborough and Japanese built Perkins based engines which will outlast most of the old clunkers you admire so much.

Volvo made engines up to the MD7 series and that was what I was talking about, they had no design life, we had an MD17C. Nothing to do with Peterborough aand Japanese engines so I don't know why you bothered to mention that other than your normal and perpetual nastiness.

 

[scottie]

>Another piece of useless claptrap. The "MD" series of Volvo engines covers all the Marine Diesel range up until 2005 - including the tens of thousands of Peterborough and Japanese built Perkins based engines which will outlast most of the old clunkers you admire so much.

Volvo made engines up to the MD7 series and that was what I was talking about, they had no design life, we had an MD17C. Nothing to do with Peterborough aand Japanese engines so I don't know why you bothered to mention that other than your normal and perpetual nastiness.

Did Volvo build the MD7 or just buy it from Albin like the MD6 it derived from?