Sail Drive Servicing

[chrisgee]

Bought our first yacht with a Saildrive late last season. It,and the engine were fully serviced in A ug and we have done about 200hrs and then lifted out.
Do we really need to re service for this season such low usage. Very impressed with the Saildrive by the way.
Thanks

 

[duncan99210]

Check the Saildrive oil. If it's clear (ie no water) and at the correct level, then I'd not bother to do anything else to it. Check and replace the anode if required. Job done.

 

[Seashoreman]

Check the Saildrive oil. If it's clear (ie no water) and at the correct level, then I'd not bother to do anything else to it. Check and replace the anode if required. Job done.

Totally agree with this. I have had the prop off a couple of times to replace anode on VP 120s saildrive. New washers/bolt etc are fairly inexpensive to replace if you want. Managed to get a new line cutter at a discount price, probably fairly ineffective for anything but fishing line.
Clean out water intake holes if you are still using them to cool engine.

 

[VicS]

Bought our first yacht with a Saildrive late last season. It,and the engine were fully serviced in A ug and we have done about 200hrs and then lifted out.
Do we really need to re service for this season such low usage. Very impressed with the Saildrive by the way.
Thanks

MD22L and 120s drive ??

Check the leg anode and if appropriate the prop anodes. Replace if necessary. It would be better to start the season with new anodes rather than having to lift to replace them part way through

200 hours is the recommended oil change interval for the drive oil but if the oil in there is still " clear and bright " I would not bother.

If you do indeed have an MD22 engine be aware that it has an isolated DC system , ie the engine block is not used as the common negative return, except for the glowplugs and the stop solenoid when it is earthed to DC negative by a relay.
This is because the engine and saildrive are not insulated from each other. Care is needed not to compromise this isolation of the DC if adding "extras " etc

 

[chrisgee]

MD22L and 120s drive ??

Check the leg anode and if appropriate the prop anodes. Replace if necessary. It would be better to start the season with new anodes rather than having to lift to replace them part way through

200 hours is the recommended oil change interval for the drive oil but if the oil in there is still " clear and bright " I would not bother.

If you do indeed have an MD22 engine be aware that it has an isolated DC system , ie the engine block is not used as the common negative return, except for the glowplugs and the stop solenoid when it is earthed to DC negative by a relay.
This is because the engine and saildrive are not insulated from each other. Care is needed not to compromise this isolation of the DC if adding "extras " etc

thanks Vic it is an Ms 22l and 120 SD I am changing the 240v Charger and adding a 12v - 230v Inverter will that cause a problem then?

 

[ashtead]

Not as technical as many others on this forum but have had saildrives for many years and they seem to gobble anodes so we have always replaced annually . Always check the drive oil .

 

[scottie]

Even if the anode is in excellent condition or is changed to split type take the prop off and grease the splines as if you don’t then they bind on!!!

 

[Jabs]

And I'm sure you are aware that you can use engine oil in the gearbox!

Tony

 

[VicS]

thanks Vic it is an Ms 22l and 120 SD I am changing the 240v Charger and adding a 12v - 230v Inverter will that cause a problem then?

No problem as such. Just remember that the DC system is isolated from the engine block.

It also means that your DC negative should not be bonded to the shorepower earth

 

[VicS]

And I'm sure you are aware that you can use engine oil in the gearbox!

Tony

Are you sure

I think you may find that the SD is in fact a 120S-E . In which case although most VP saildrives now use engine oil ( previously ATF) I believe the 120S-E uses a GL5 sae 75/90 synthetic gear oil

 

[duncan99210]

Are you sure

I think you may find that the SD is in fact a 120S-E . In which case although most VP saildrives now use engine oil ( previously ATF) I believe the 120S-E uses a GL5 sae 75/90 synthetic gear oil

+1. I went through this a few years back and got the definitive answer from a listing held by the local Volvo dealer.

 

[VicS]

+1. I went through this a few years back and got the definitive answer from a listing held by the local Volvo dealer.

I used to be able to locate the VP service bulletin on the subject but the link I have no longer works.

Likewise I cannot now locate the lubrication schedule for all the VP sail drives and out-drives which they had on their website at one time.

 

[Quandary]

Are you sure

I think you may find that the SD is in fact a 120S-E . In which case although most VP saildrives now use engine oil ( previously ATF) I believe the 120S-E uses a GL5 sae 75/90 synthetic gear oil

Are you sure that VP have not issued a relaxation for this saildrive too.
Some Moody S31s use the S-E gearbox and the advice on the MOA website suggests that VP now recommend engine oil as they did for S-D. This advice was posted in 2013 and has not been challenged since but it may be worth checking with VP to be absolutely sure?

 

[VicS]

Its possible but the earlier change was from ATF in many/most sail drives to engine oil but the oil for the 120S-E was, and remained, GL5 gear oil.

Keypart list GL5 oil for the 120S-E

 

[Tranona]

I used to be able to locate the VP service bulletin on the subject but the link I have no longer works.

Likewise I cannot now locate the lubrication schedule for all the VP sail drives and out-drives which they had on their website at one time.

I have a print out of the bulletin 7745608 12/2006 in front of me. Definitely gear oil for the 120SE. This drive would not be fitted to smaller engines - only the MD22 variants as it has a beefier gearbox and a different reduction ratio to cope with the higher output,higher revving engine.

There is a later change (around 2011) affecting the 130 drives changing it from ATF to engine oil. This did not affect any of the 120 drives which (apart from the E suffix) or the MS25 were always engine oil.

 

[SteveGorst]

Even if the anode is in excellent condition or is changed to split type take the prop off and grease the splines as if you don’t then they bind on!!!

+1 for that through experience

 

[Quandary]

Thanks for that, I suspect on that basis that the S-E variant never actually was used on MD2020s so the misinformation was never challenged, hardly worth trying to correct it on the MOA site it as it is probably not relevant.

 

[sailaboutvic]

Are you sure

I think you may find that the SD is in fact a 120S-E . In which case although most VP saildrives now use engine oil ( previously ATF) I believe the 120S-E uses a GL5 sae 75/90 synthetic gear oil

we use to have the 130 S and Volvo did recommend not using ATF and use engine oil , we now have the 120E and as far as I know and the info we got from Volvo was to use as you say 75/90 synthetic oil.
lastly if the boat out of the water , that the opportunity to drain the oil from the bottom of the SD , its only a few euros to change it .

 

[Yngmar]

If the boat is already out of the water, definitely do the oil change! The cost is a bit of oil worth €15. Simple and cheap job and silly not to do it. Fresh oil reduces wear on the shaft, because there is no sump or filter and the shaft seals are on the lowest point where all the worn metal collects around them (there's supposed to be a magnet in the drain plug on some revisions to reduce this a bit).

The oil you're wiping off the dipstick at the top is no indication of the actual state of the oil at the bottom of the saildrive. Drain it into a clear container (PP water bottle), let it settle over night and you'll see what's in it. If water separates out, the seals are gone (or the shaft is worn and needs sleeving), only then you need to take further action.

The correct oil for the 120S-E is ~2.8 litre API GL-5 SAE 75W/90 synthetic.

 

[Trident]

I would do the anodes regardless of condition whilst its out - a friend has just had to pay out £7000 to replace two sail drives on his 3 year old Lagoon because they corroded in the 18 months since he changed anodes - admittedly too long to go but to go from fine to unserviceable in that time makes me cautious enough to now diary note to do mine every 6 months - its cheap and easy to do so why risk it...