Should I be concerned with this Volvo Penta MD2020 engine?

M

Men a vaur

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Hi everyone,

I’m looking at a boat and this is a picture of the engine. I’m a total novice when it comes to engine maintenance/knowledge and would really value any thoughts members of this forum may have. As you can see there is some rust in many places, mounts, impeller housing etc. Would you be concerned by this engine and if so what should I be most concerned about?

1614549118168.jpg

thanks very much

M
 
That surface rust can appear over a few weeks in a damp swanky boat. The real question is, considering that it would take a few minutes with some rust treatment and a spray can to make that engine look really smart, do you think that the owner has bothered to do any maintenance on the engine over the years?

If he says he has, then a compression test and an oil analysis will tell you a lot and shouldn't;'t break the bank.

The next question is how cheap the boat is and do you know any friendly engineers?

(At least someone's taken the impeller out, so some winterising was done...)
 
The engine is probably 20 years old or more. The surface rust will clean up. The impeller has been removed. Cheack that there is no sign of weeping from the seals at the back of the water pump - streaks of rusty water. The pump is no more prone to this than any other raw water pump but is a bit of a pig to remove and replace. The only other weak points, and then not unique to this engine are blocked heat exchanger tubes and bunged up exhaust elbows. These are robust and long lived engines.
 
Obviously an imaculate engine would look better than a rusty one as you see it. I suspect however that you will get a price reduction more than the cost of cleaning up the rust and replacing the impeller. As said any good engine can get that way pretty quickly. A bad engine can be made to look good and a cruddy engine can be quite ok. If you buy a boat with this kind of engine you will always have to carefor the engine incl;udiong keeping rust at bay. ol'will
 
There is no reason, at all, for an engine to look like that. The suggestion is the yacht has been continuously damp and nothing has been done about it. I would wonder where the dampness has come from (and don't say 'the sea') as modern yachts should be relatively dry inside, or if they take a rogue wave they should be dried out afterwards.

It looks a strange installation as the engine 'feet' are too wide for the surface to which they are attached - but maybe that's normal?? The water hoses seem larger, or ours are small - and changing the oil filter is going to a real bundle of laughs - unless you can remove that left hand panel.

Our 2020 is also 20 years old - and looks nothing like that, the one illustrated looks awful, unloved and uncared for. But our yacht is dry, has never sunk.

BUT

If the yacht is cheap and the engine starts up easily, runs without smoke, reaches 3,500 revs (under load - check there is a prop :) ) then some rust is simply cosmetic. Check for the source of dampness, leaks in skin fittings? Check for the wiring - is the wiring tinned - if not you may find some poor connections (especially in the engine wiring loom). Has the Saildrive gasket been replaced (if it has a gasket, from looking at the engine it will be the original)

But have a look at the rest of the mechanical devices, especially windlass, but also winches - have they been serviced. What is the state of the anchor chain. Has the standing rigging been replaced, have you seen the receipt/invoice for new rigging.

If its listed at a price comparable to other yachts of the same vintage - either expect a, big, discount - or walk away.

If its listed with a big discount - it could still be a bargain as has been said these engines are indestructible and last longer than owners. A little TLC and the engine could look lovely (if you fancy that sort of thing).


As a separate issue - go and find a mate with a yacht who services his own engine. Tell him you'd like to learn and you could help him when he does his next service. As you have found out - its worth learning (servicing these engines and caring for them is really not difficult (but paying for a service will empty your wallet very quickly and you will earn brownie points from your partner if you do it yourself).

Jonathan
 
My MD2020 has done circa 5000 hours & runs really smoothly. following some new injectors etc However, 3 engineers have told me that they have seen them with as little as 1500 hours scrapped due to poor maintenance. I would suggest a full service along with a check for all the leaks suggested above & a compression test.
As for the rust- a tin of heat resisting green paint & primer can work wonders if one is prepared to put the effort in.
I would be inclined to examine why that engine has been allowed to get into that state in the first place though.. I bet the engine wiring loom is a nightmare of connection problems. More so if there is no access via the side panels. It makes one want to look at the rest of the boat more closely.
As Neeves has commented above the mountings are not right. It suggests that it is a replacement for an earlier engine, so may be some dodgy one just stuffed in to solve a problem. The studs holding it down are small. Mine are 16mm That suggests they had a shortage of room to get the right size in
I would be inclined to walk away
 
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can't see why you would want to entertain this 'project'

+1 'I would be inclined to examine why that engine has been allowed to get into that state in the first place though.. I bet the engine wiring loom is a nightmare of connection problems. More so if there is no access via the side panels. It makes one want to look at the rest of the boat more closely.'
 
Some of that rust has been there a while, looking at the starboard engine mount and the area around it, looks like it has a seawater leak. The inside of the pump looks like the impeller has been out for some time. The whole thing looks nasty and neglected, the hoses look odd (as Neeves said) likewise the engine mounts, looks like the boat has been re-engined and it's bigger than the engine bed was designed for.

I wouldn't touch it without a decent mechanic giving it a good look over, including a compression test and i'd want a good discount to allow for the engine to be tidied up and re-wired, at the least.

Would be useful to know the boat and asking price.
 
As the others have said, get someone who knows to look it over. It may be in fine internal order, or not.

On the subject of engines in general, very few people looking to buy will say: "Great, it's got a Volvo engine ."

.
 
When I bought my boat about 20 years ago the only thing that I had surveyed was the engine - a Volvo 2001. A Volvo main agent came out with a battery and a starting switch panel, got it running and gave me a detailed report. Generally, it was in acceptable condition (needed a new engine mount) but his report was very reassuring so I went ahead and bought the boat.
 
Dont judge a book by its cover springs to mind ?
Whilst I agree with the reasoning and thoughts expressed here my engine is a 56 yr old bmc, very well cared for, cam chain, injection system all serviced/changed when due.
I painted it when I got my boat 28 yrs ago but lots of light surface rust on various parts now.
I've better things to do than painting engines, for what purpose ? It's only going to deteriorate again ?
Do people regularly clean their car engines ?
There is enough boat to keep on top of without polishing something that's not seen but in perfect working order.
 
Something common to us all is the need to have confidence in our boat as we put to sea. If this engine is typical of the whole vessel it is hard to see how that standard can be assured. Price doesn't come into it at this stage. I agree with comments above, the engine installation, setting and accessibility look like a lashup. Why believe the rest of the vessel is a striking contrast?

Many of us have visited a boat for sale and wondered what kind of person could have owned it, let alone gone to sea in it. Neglect and carelessness evidenced everywhere , barely serviceable equipment, shot running rigging, signs of rushing off for the winter leaving the boat unserviced and in a mess etc What else - groundings and hard landings? There are some strange folks out there and they don't seem represented on this forum.

Entry cost is important for us all; but how much better is it to look further and find a more reliable boat, with a vendor showing some pride of ownership. Safety and joy of ownership at a knockdown price are unlikely bedfellows.

PWG
 
Rappey said:
Do people regularly clean their car engines ?
Click to expand...
Probably not. But do people's engines get into that state in the first place? I would suggest probably not, certainly in the majority of cases.
However, I do make the effort to wipe over my yacht engine during the season & more intense clean year end. It is a question of pride in my hobby.
 
To me it looks unloved. If the owner takes this little effort in keeping the engine bay clean and tidy, it would suggest to me that he/she probably has the same mindset with the rest of the boat too.

I would suggest that there is a high likelihood that the entire boat has lacked care and maintenance and you will find one thing after another which needs money spent on it.
 
Daydream believer said:
Probably not. But do people's engines get into that state in the first place? I would suggest probably not, certainly in the majority of cases.
Click to expand...
The engine of my Herald looked pretty manky after the car had been laid up for fifteen years. I had to rebuild the distributor and carb from scratch, and I did an alternator conversion, but after all that it started first turn of the switch and runs beautifully, having done only 85,000 mile or so since I built it in 1990. If the boat has been laid up for some time I really would not worry unduly about a scruffy outward appearance of the engine though I would certainly want to know that it turned over and had compression. On the other hand, if that's how its been kept in service I'd be a little more concerned.
 
Many others have given eminently sensible suggestions about testing & general condition. For my tuppence, my 1st boat had one of these - it was reliable, parts were very easily available & relatively inexpensive, every mechanic was completely familiar with it & it was free of complex computer chips & the like. The odd touch of primer & paint kept it looking ok.
 
Most of the problem looks like rubber dust from the alternator belt - says you need to keep a couple of spares. Somebody bothered to remove the impeller before lay-up, so if the oil filter looks new and the oil is clean, I wouldn't be too bothered.
 
Given that the majority of rust seems to be around the front of the engine I would hazard a guess that the raw water pump has been leaking and spraying salt water around.
 
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