SQ 58 (2008) servicing and maintenance

[Tony W]

I’m just thinking about carrying out this years service and maintenance myself, everything from engines, generator, batteries, antifouling and polish! A big task but with all the other worries in the world at the moment something I’d really like to have a go at, it could well be the first and last time I consider it but fortunately I have the time (and appetite) so am tempted by the challenge and the satisfaction I’d get from it?

Is there somewhere I can get the all the parts from one place without me providing a list as I must say I don’t really have the intricate knowledge of exactly what the list would look like in detail, for example, I’d just like to ask someone the following, “ I’m going to service my VP D12’s 800’s, can you provide me with a list of parts required and how much you can you supply them for?”

 

[volvopaul]

I’m just thinking about carrying out this years service and maintenance myself, everything from engines, generator, batteries, antifouling and polish! A big task but with all the other worries in the world at the moment something I’d really like to have a go at, it could well be the first and last time I consider it but fortunately I have the time (and appetite) so am tempted by the challenge and the satisfaction I’d get from it?

Is there somewhere I can get the all the parts from one place without me providing a list as I must say I don’t really have the intricate knowledge of exactly what the list would look like in detail, for example, I’d just like to ask someone the following, “ I’m going to service my VP D12’s 800’s, can you provide me with a list of parts required and how much you can you supply them for?”

Are you in the uk ?

 

[Tony W]

Sant Carles, Spain

 

[volvopaul]

Oh that a shame .

 

[Portofino]

I started to do my own for peace of mind primarily.

Scratched the date once on a out of sight hard to reach oil filter .Invoiced for it but it had not been changed .

Belt snapped in a chop with little kids on board .Its not funny changing a belt on a KAD 300 with a hot engine and the boat rolling about .Again it’s supposed to have according to the recent invoice that I just paid been replaced .

Generator hassle ..partly it was a Fisher Panda , partly it was in tight spot .

Again I ended up DIY ing it ....was working then .

This was on a S/Sker Porto 35 .

How ever in the end around Easter I figured out I could take a few days off and DIY the lot inc haul out + AF anodes.....the lot .

I was paying €3400 for the annual haul out AF , anodes + hull polish .

Then on top another Fr tech the engine service .iirc ave €2 K .

So man maths = easy fund myself + mate for a weeks jolly of DIY ....saved €1000 .....but had fun .

Fast fwd to the current boat with a cavernous engine room , easy access no outdrives I have always DIY d it .Whole lot with a mate who I fund his travel .Now iam retired so time is my own to fiddle about on the boat .





You are right huge job satisfaction and you know it’s done to your spec .

So answering your Q it’s best to source stuff locally .

Maybe more so with the current C19 travel hassles .

E- mail the yard (s) and book a lift and block off for about 5 working days min .

Ask the yard where they get there oil from or again contact local suppliers and have it del on the yard of better marina to the boat .

Give your boat a run around the bay to get the engines up to temps .

By the time it’s on the hard the engines will be cool enough to work on and crucially oil warm enough.Hot warm oil is miles easier to pump out than clap cold .

Fortunately with MAN s they have pumps fitted to empty both sumps G box and engine so oil removal is a doddle .



I find a small gery can of fuel is handy refilling the fuel filters ....just makes bleeding faster .

There should be a manual lift pump and a 10 mm breather bolt near the engine filters .

Also I find bleeding is easy for the racors ( or what ever your primary s are ? ) with the fuel levels in the tanks higher than the filter housing lid .

Just open the tank cock with a loose lid and it fills ...simultaneously tightening the lid down when it starts to overflow .



Gearbox oil is normally a straight W say 40;W , don’t be tempted to used your regular 15/40 W engine oil .....normally a every 200 hr job so it might not be annual ?



Air filter ....again no absolute cut off date ....fortunately I have air suction pressure delta so can tell from the dash if it’s clogged and ready for change.



.

Anodes again you don’t want to be carting theses from the U.K. ...ask the yard where they get there’s from inc the bow thruster .



For AF use what everyone else is using ..locally .

Again the local Chandlery will sell all the stuff ..like a 6 inch roller + tray .

Use blue masking tape at the boundary as it comes off without leaving a sticky residue .

You are gonna need a mechanical polisher .I have two cheap E bay silver lines .

So in the yard enquires you need shore power .Open the port holes to find a plug .If you buy in the U.K. remember to get some local plugs or adapters etc .



As far as which polish ....just like soap powder adds they all think they are best Daz , Percil , Omo ....washing powder ..they all work .



Just U tube about re boat polish ...don,t want to start a “ my polish is better than yours “ thread .

Aside if what you pick turns out crap ...pick another the following year .



While you are in so to speak ...check all belts tension , battery contractions valseline up , jubilee clips ....yup they stretch, rubber hose integrity .

Impeller ...for me it’s every 1000 hrs , so not necessarily every year .



Work the seacocks all of them if in doubt change them now while it’s on the hard .



Use acid ...to clean the “ shells “ of the sterngear .Wear PPE ,

Just paint it with a brush with a long handle ( see them in the chandlers) and agitate it and it literally dissolves away the crud .



Personally I don’t bother with any prop protection...happy diving in during the season with a scraper .

How ever feel free to paint on the latest internet wonder solution to Med prop fouling .Asking locals what works might be a start .



Grab the prop and try to wobble it ....should only be a mm or so of play in the cut less bearing , same with the rudder stocks .

This is not a binary thing they gradually wear .If they wobble a lot seek professional local advice.



Keep a bit of AF + brush handy at the lift in .They normally hold it in the slings for a bit so you can put AF on the tripod pads .



Finally I tend to close the geny and Airco seacocks before the lift to keep them primed .Depending on the individual install , relative water height between the impellers and WL ....there is a risk of an airlock if they run dry ...with your geny it will shred it’s new rubber impeller that you have just put in !

If in doubt familiarise yourself with how to prime it ?



When it’s dunked back in view the strainers and see them fill up .

With mine I have fart pipes ( as well as UW exhaust) , the lift man gives me the thumbs up when water starts to run out .....always reassuring after it’s been stood on the hard .



The first time everything takes 2 or 3 x long ....but after a few times you get it off to a fine art .



Keep a note of all the x references for filters like “ inline filters “ for the future .

 

[Portofino]

Last year I did the tappets, although access is dead easy and the gaskets are reusable .
Standard inline 6 rocker method ....all on u tube .About 1 hr for the first and 1/2 hr for the second .
No idea what the charge out time from aMAN agent + travel would be ?

 

[jrudge]

I buy most of mine from keypart. They are generally cheaper than Volvo but not always.
The only non Volvo parts I use are air filters. They are 30% of the price

the challenge with an s58 is access down the sides. The port water pump is a bigger

the stbd side is simple as the floor comes up in 5 min.

the rest is not hard but it becomes a fair job. You don’t need to remove the sofa

I would suggest you pay an engineer to do a once over. The service is not hard ( other than getting rid of 120l if oil ) but an engineer may see things you don’t

 

[Tony W]

Oh that a shame .

A shame? I could always take the parts over but not even sure what would be on the list? Do you know any expat engineers over their?

 

[Tony W]

Nice crib sheet for me to work with there, much appreciated, I’m looking forward to it.

I buy most of mine from keypart. They are generally cheaper than Volvo but not always.
The only non Volvo parts I use are air filters. They are 30% of the price

the challenge with an s58 is access down the sides. The port water pump is a bigger

the stbd side is simple as the floor comes up in 5 min.

the rest is not hard but it becomes a fair job. You don’t need to remove the sofa

I would suggest you pay an engineer to do a once over. The service is not hard ( other than getting rid of 120l if oil ) but an engineer may see things you don’t

Would keypart have a list of standard s58 bits do you think?

 

[jrudge]

Sort of. You put in your engine and year and it gives the parts available.

fule filter
Oil filter
Oil bypass filter
Air filter
Coolant filter
Anodes ( large for exchanger small for block )
Oil
impellers ( I don’t habitually change mine but they are on board )
Separ filters ( primaries )

off the top of my head.

gen is just impeller, oil filter, fuel filter and primary fuel filter, anode and oil . I don’t change impeller but keep many spares and do inspect it. They are quick to change if they go ( 10 min )

 

[volvopaul]

I have serviced a few SQ58s they are a delight to service because the fuel tanks are not outside the engines so you don’t need to lift the floor unless you are doing the valve check , have your engines touched 1000 hours , if so you need to have the valves checked which requires special tools .
if you were in the uk I’d have taken it on , your could have been my runner for the day . My days abroad working are over I can’t stand the heat inside a boat .

 

[jrudge]

Yes but. It depends on your size.
Most marine engineers are slight ( I have never met Volvo Paul) as if not I am not sure they could do their job!

if as owner you are not the simplest thing to do (and for the stbd engine this is a no brainer as it takes minutes ) is to lift one floor panel.

the port engine filters are in the central area. The only reason to go the other side is exchanger anodes and the water pump. this is made worse by going under the exhaust. It is not impossible and indeed I had two air con engineers in that space - but I would find it a tight squeeze ( maybe not given I have just lost 4 stone )

 

[volvopaul]

Yes but. It depends on your size.
Most marine engineers are slight ( I have never met Volvo Paul) as if not I am not sure they could do their job!

if as owner you are not the simplest thing to do (and for the stbd engine this is a no brainer as it takes minutes ) is to lift one floor panel.

the port engine filters are in the central area. The only reason to go the other side is exchanger anodes and the water pump. this is made worse by going under the exhaust. It is not impossible and indeed I had two air con engineers in that space - but I would find it a tight squeeze ( maybe not given I have just lost 4 stone )

At 56 years old I am still the right size for the job .

 

[Tony W]

I have serviced a few SQ58s they are a delight to service because the fuel tanks are not outside the engines so you don’t need to lift the floor unless you are doing the valve check , have your engines touched 1000 hours , if so you need to have the valves checked which requires special tools .
if you were in the uk I’d have taken it on , your could have been my runner for the day . My days abroad working are over I can’t stand the heat inside a boat .

It’s got 485hrs on her so hopefully no valve checking required in the foreseeable. On a more serious note though if you have a similar job on in the uk in the near future I will be your runner, anything that gives me that little extra knowledge to perform this job well is welcome, that goes for anyone else reading this post too, I can get under both exhaust elbows no problem!!

 

[Tony W]

Sort of. You put in your engine and year and it gives the parts available.

fule filter
Oil filter
Oil bypass filter
Air filter
Coolant filter
Anodes ( large for exchanger small for block )
Oil
impellers ( I don’t habitually change mine but they are on board )
Separ filters ( primaries )

off the top of my head.

gen is just impeller, oil filter, fuel filter and primary fuel filter, anode and oil . I don’t change impeller but keep many spares and do inspect it. They are quick to change if they go ( 10 min )

Thanks J Rudge, I’ll have a good look at keyparts, I suppose I‘ll have to double up with everything with 2 engines but I guess their customer service will help if I have a call with them, any experience of that?

 

[volvopaul]

It’s got 485hrs on her so hopefully no valve checking required in the foreseeable. On a more serious note though if you have a similar job on in the uk in the near future I will be your runner, anything that gives me that little extra knowledge to perform this job well is welcome, that goes for anyone else reading this post too, I can get under both exhaust elbows no problem!!

I have sent you a pm

 

[Portofino]

It’s tempting or was without travel restrictions to buy at home ....use U.K. websites etc and ship parts to the Med either by car or a parcel to the marina office .I have done both .
But imho .....you really need to start dialogue/ account with you local to the boat Volvo agent .
This is because stuff crops up and saves you the hassle ..
Eg I removed the exhaust lagging one day ( too windy to go out I was told by Mrs Porto ) ....so did it out of curiosity to see what state the risers where.Saw a brass threaded bolt in one and a steel corroded bolt in the other engine.Hmm?
The steel one has soot traces around it so I thought it was loose.Indeed it was ..perhaps previous engineers/ bora scope hole ?
I unscrewed it and it would not refit .So I contacted the local MAN agents , three on the CdA within 10 miles of the marina and none of them could supply the part as the riser is not there problem .There domain boundary is the flange on the turbo .
Anyhow VP Frances HQ is 3 miles away , they have a trade counter open to the public ( used them when I had VP outdrives ) so I took the offending bolt in ...they recognised me ( read into that what you will ) and went away into the stores and came out with something from a D12 which has some pre coated sealant on its thread .Worked a treat ,

I have found ASAP for mail order to the marina office emergencies .
Again fiddling around in the ER noticed a slight weep from a racor water sender wire .Went to tweet up the bolt and the blumming thing started to piss out fuel .I cracked the bowl ,
This time the sea was flat in Italy and Mrs Porto wanting to get out ..to swim to cool from the heatwave .
” Sorry luv ....I’ve buggered up a fuel filter “
Fuel cock off , racor removed ..in a bucket on the cockpit table .
Quick google I phoned ASAP around lunch time ..they had the part a new bowl which bolts on .
Thought nothing of it ..few days snail mail through Italy to new to me marina office ..oh hum .
4 pm email “ your order is dispatched “
Wake up next morning amother email with a tracking box .
Press it to see the trail .
Stanstead to Turin , Turin to Genoa on the van to marina .
By the time I walked to the marina Office say 10,30 am it was there .

ASAP ......odd name but now I see why .

 

[starfire]

I have serviced a few SQ58s they are a delight to service because the fuel tanks are not outside the engines so you don’t need to lift the floor unless you are doing the valve check , have your engines touched 1000 hours , if so you need to have the valves checked which requires special tools .
if you were in the uk I’d have taken it on , your could have been my runner for the day . My days abroad working are over I can’t stand the heat inside a boat .

That's the afternoons here.
Aircon on if inside, big industrial fan if in the engine bay!