survey cranchi zaffiro 34

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sia20

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Can anyone offer advice? I have just had a pre-purchase survey done on Cranchi Zaffiro 34 2008 in South of France Volvo Penta d4 engines DPH out drives surveyor took oil samples although have not got results back yet. I have been told there was milky oil in both legs -suggesting water in oil . What damage may it have done and could it do before being sorted. The boat was services in May 2015. Would it be expected for the seller to get this done prior to selling or up to me to re-negotiate the deal. (can anyone give me a quick idea of costs involved) thanks for any advice...
 
Yep, definitely water in the oil. Regular failure mode for the VP drives, seal failure. Impossible to say how much damage has been done if any, until the drive is stripped. Standard strip, new seals etc, £1500 per leg.
 
An issue with the leg is not the fault of the boat builder!

The newer Volvo leg's seem to be prone with issues. Firstly, start with the simple things... O-rings on the drain/fill plug. I admit, I don't know much about the more modern legs, apart from that they're full of trouble (funny, i've never had any issues with my 290 DPH / DPG legs).

I did have to replace seals for a friend on his KAD 43 (So I think 290 DPH legs??)... I cannot remember the price of the seals themselves, but I replaced them in an afternoon. Took a bit of work and "ffs" moments, but got there in the end and all well since :)
 
alt said:
An issue with the leg is not the fault of the boat builder!

The newer Volvo leg's seem to be prone with issues. Firstly, start with the simple things... O-rings on the drain/fill plug. I admit, I don't know much about the more modern legs, apart from that they're full of trouble (funny, i've never had any issues with my 290 DPH / DPG legs).
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That is a sweeping generalisation Alt. I had DHPs for 9 years, never a problem with water in the drive oil and I don't know of anyone else (personally) that has had this problem.
 
thanks for your replies. It seems odd to me that the boat had a full engine and out-drive service in May by a Volvo dealer in France and strange that both legs have water in them? although one worse than the other? Any ideas please?
 
wakeup said:
That is a sweeping generalisation Alt. I had DHPs for 9 years, never a problem with water in the drive oil and I don't know of anyone else (personally) that has had this problem.
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Yes sorry, a little harsh on my part. I'm not going to edit it as you quoted it. I take it back :) That said, most owners I know with those newer legs have had various issues (all fixable, though)
 
sia20 said:
thanks for your replies. It seems odd to me that the boat had a full engine and out-drive service in May by a Volvo dealer in France and strange that both legs have water in them? although one worse than the other? Any ideas please?
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As I said, could be as simple as O-Rings not sitting in place properly. Check around the prop-shaft seals for oil weeping - these seals can get buggered with fishing line.

Failing that, pressure test.
 
sia20 said:
thanks for your replies. It seems odd to me that the boat had a full engine and out-drive service in May by a Volvo dealer in France and strange that both legs have water in them? although one worse than the other? Any ideas please?
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The guy who did the service did a sh!te job and screwed something up.

There are countless tales of boats going wrong because the spanner monkey at the last service forgot something, or didnt do something up etc etc
 
Whitelighter said:
The guy who did the service did a sh!te job and screwed something up.

There are countless tales of boats going wrong because the spanner monkey at the last service forgot something, or didnt do something up etc etc
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Love your terminology of a Marine engineer, well done Jez top man.

Maybe he didn't have time to strip the drive and reseal the prop shaft seals, maybe he did but didn't change the gearshift seal so that let water in, maybe he did report it along with an eye watering quote for new shafts and seals, a full drive stop to clean out all the emulsified oil, for the owner to think no way I'm selling the boat, let it be someone else's problem,

Great reply Jez really helped the OP in his quest for info.
 
I answered the question as to how a recently serviced boat could have such issues.
Of course a decent marine engineer wouldn't have made a hash of it.

Can't speak for one with a massive chip on his (or her) shoulder.
 
sia20 said:
Can anyone offer advice? I have just had a pre-purchase survey done on Cranchi Zaffiro 34 2008 in South of France Volvo Penta d4 engines DPH out drives surveyor took oil samples although have not got results back yet. I have been told there was milky oil in both legs -suggesting water in oil . What damage may it have done and could it do before being sorted. The boat was services in May 2015. Would it be expected for the seller to get this done prior to selling or up to me to re-negotiate the deal. (can anyone give me a quick idea of costs involved) thanks for any advice...
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If the boat has been run for many hours with milky oil in the drives you could be looking at buying new drives in a few years as milky oil has little in the way of lubricating value.
The bearings, cone clutch, shafts and seals will all wear out quicker if it's been used for many hours since service.
I'd be asking for a good amount off in order to carry out the necessary strip and rebuild of both drives.
I see probably 40/50% of drives I service every year with milky oil in, it's not the end of its life if the drive has been serviced every year properly, so don't be put off buying it.
 
Whitelighter said:
I answered the question as to how a recently serviced boat could have such issues.
Of course a decent marine engineer wouldn't have made a hash of it.

Can't speak for one with a massive chip on his (or her) shoulder.
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I surveyed a pair of drives in the last two weeks, the drive had been stripped and rebuilt by a south coast Volvo agent in April this year a£1500 invoice, 6 months later it's emulsified again yet the 99% reason they do this was repaired with new shafts and seals , so why has it reoccurred again? It just does and can be dealt with. Stating its the engineers fault is plain rubbish.
 
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volvopaul said:
I surveyed a forum members targa 34 in the last two weeks, the drive had been stripped and rebuilt by a south coast Volvo agent in April this year a£1500 invoice, 6 months later it's emulsified again yet the 99% reason they do this was repaired with new shafts and seals , so why has it reoccurred again? It just does and can be dealt with. Stating its the engineers fault is plain rubbish.
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Are you suggesting it's 100% not the person who did the service fault
 
Whitelighter said:
Are you suggesting it's 100% not the person who did the service fault
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No idea I didn't see him service the drives, so no , but how can you say it was stating he did a shite job and screwed something up, you typed that . When you find problems with your new boat are you going to blame the last engineer for what goes bang?
 
volvopaul said:
No idea I didn't see him service the drives, so no , but how can you say it was stating he did a shite job and screwed something up, you typed that . When you find problems with your new boat are you going to blame the last engineer for what goes bang?
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The OP asked specifically how it could be faulty after a service - I suggested one option.

I forgot that all marine engineers can walk on water as far as you are concerned
 
Whitelighter said:
The OP asked specifically how it could be faulty after a service - I suggested one option.

I forgot that all marine engineers can walk on water as far as you are concerned
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Far from it Jez, although I do have enquiries from new clients all the time stating who they used to use and why they won't anymore , maybe they thought they could walk on water.
 
volvopaul said:
I surveyed a forum members targa 34 in the last two weeks, the drive had been stripped and rebuilt by a south coast Volvo agent in April this year a£1500 invoice, 6 months later it's emulsified again yet the 99% reason they do this was repaired with new shafts and seals , so why has it reoccurred again? It just does and can be dealt with. Stating its the engineers fault is plain rubbish.
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Paul, irrespective of whether it was bad workmanship or bad luck, would you consider the owner to be within his rights to expect the job to be re-done FoC?

Also, was that one or two drives?

Pete
 
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