Life expectancy of a Volvo Penta MD2020

[geem]

5hp per tonne is a pretty good rule of thumb. Looks like the engine size is perfect. It will get enough throttle to keep it free of coke and give you sufficient power for your needs

 

[lustyd]

should be good for 10,000 hours.

Funny how it's always such a nice round number that people make up. In reality a well maintained diesel will do 10,000 hours happily, but not if it's one a month. Just like Antifoul it needs to be used to be effective!

 

[Kinsale373]

A weakness on this series of engines is the exhaust elbow which corrodes on the inside and falls apart over a few years . This can cause big issues as in water getting into the head and poor cooling. Check that you have a good flow of cooling water. Insist on the owner replacing the exhaust prior to purchase or have it done yourself. Have it taken off and inspected at a minimum.
Another common problem can be the heat exchanger. These are very easy to disassemble, inspect and clean. This is well worth having done or doing yourself so you know the condition.

Kinslale 373

 

[gregcope]

I’ve got the 2020 in a lighter boat (Hanse 301, nominally 3 tonnes but she weighs in at 4 tonnes fully loaded for cruising). I’ve had the boat/engine for 10 years and they are 20 years old this year. To be honest the engine has been maintained more than it’s been run in my ownership- I’d be surprised if I’ve put more than 500 hours on it (of course the counter is not working) but I’ve always fully serviced it annually. No major issues apart from consumables and the water pump shaft and seals as far as I remember.

basically it has always started perfectly, run perfectly and pushes the boat along really well and that’s all I know or want to know about it

You can easily and cheaply fix the lcd display. Let me know if you want more info.

 

[Bobc]

A weakness on this series of engines is the exhaust elbow which corrodes on the inside and falls apart over a few years . This can cause big issues as in water getting into the head and poor cooling. Check that you have a good flow of cooling water. Insist on the owner replacing the exhaust prior to purchase or have it done yourself. Have it taken off and inspected at a minimum.
Another common problem can be the heat exchanger. These are very easy to disassemble, inspect and clean. This is well worth having done or doing yourself so you know the condition.

Kinslale 373

Same with pretty-much any VP engine. Most of these exhaust elbow/heat exchanger problems are as a result of the engine being too big for the boat and not being pushed hard enough.

 

[scottie]

Only really a problem since the used the “Perkins” based units and as it’s so well known you would think that they would have done something about it
I think that carbon buildup was more common with power loss than corrosion but not as bad to repair

 

[XDC]

Agree with that, easy job and you recover the actual engine hours.

 

[alexincornwall]

We used to have a Dufour 32C which was equipped with a 2020. It was a good little engine but to be honest, I always found it underpowered in anything more than a smooth sea. The engine runs at higher RPMs than many and we used to cruise between 2500-2700 and up to 3100 when we really needed to get somewhere. In any kind of a sea way we'd find the engine a bit sluggish although as others have said, lots of variables to consider.

 

[Tranona]

3600 rpm is common for this size engine. Yanmars and the Kubota based engines such as Beta and Nanni mostly run at those revs, although the newer Volvo (D1) peak at 3200. Cruising at 2400 rpm or so is expected (70% of maximum). The engines are best run at higher revs a they run hotter and minimise the deposits in the exhaust elbows that come from light load running and short runs. Yanmar recommend periodically running for short periods at maximum revs for the same reason.

As Bob suggested earlier many of the problems arise because owners choose the larger option which on some boats results in engines never being fully loaded. This is particularly true when motor sailing and if you do a lot of this fitting a Bruntons helps as it adjusts the pitch to load the engine reflecting the conditions.