survey cranchi zaffiro 34

[Portofino]

Pete even with the best will in the world -old out drives servicing is like playing Russian Roulette with ££££
Relying in parts being true ,correctly fitted + Age -wear out -
That's why I was pointing you in the direction of a Pershing 37.
Seals leak the change out s arbitrary
New at a boat show -that's totally different

 

[volvopaul]

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?

One drive, being the owner I'd certainly have expected the drive to be stripped cleaned out and rebuilt with new seals and warranted again. Anything else pm me.

 

[A_8]

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...

My experience is that when a seller says "the boat was serviced" it can mean a lot of different things and I would not take for granted that the drives were serviced as they should. Even if the seller produced an invoice I would check for evidence that the work was actually performed. An old seal will be hard and perhaps even have cracks in them, not conclusive I know but an indication and together with a wider check it will tell you if you can trust the seller or not. If they skipped one service item they very likely skipped more of them.
To VP's point, It may not have anything to do with whoever did the so called service on the boat or drives.

 

[petem]

Pete even with the best will in the world -old out drives servicing is like playing Russian Roulette with ££££
Relying in parts being true ,correctly fitted + Age -wear out -
That's why I was pointing you in the direction of a Pershing 37.
Seals leak the change out s arbitrary
New at a boat show -that's totally different

I don't doubt that stern drives can have problems but there's 10's of thousands of stern drive boats in the UK and I don't constantly hear or read about tales of woe concerning them. If well looked after, I think the older DPE drives remain fairly robust. And I'm sure there's plenty that have had emulsified oil in them and have gone on to give a few more years of service. and at the end of the day, a recon unit is only a few £thou.

I'd love a Pershing 37 but the extra berthing cost, fuel use and repair costs if you get an issue with the engines puts me off. I'll buy a cheap T30 and review the situation after a year. If its too small / problematic then I should be able to sell it on for a profit and get something else.

 

[gjgm]

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.

Wow !
Mind you also very interesting to read that does not automatically imply disaster, which is what I had always understood.

 

[scottie]

There is range of milky oil from a little oil in the water to a little water in the oil a rub between the fingers can tell a lot

Causes could range from external damage ie a split casing due to striking an object which is totally no fault of previous work on drive also fishing line or rope round the shafts to the other extremes of loose drain plugs or even not clearing previous water ingress which is totally down to poor workmanship.

 

[KevB]

What may help to determine how bad the leak is, is to empty the leg and see how much fluid comes out compared to what should be there. If it's a negligible amount I'd just ask for whatever the going rate for a full leg service is to be knocked off the price of the boat. I think I'm right in saying that the oil used in the legs is made to keep close to it's properties even when 'some' water has got in.

 

[About Time]

Milky oil in drive is never good .... however if it is only slightly milkish it should not be something to worry about. Just have the oil drained and pressure test the leg. If good fill with new oil and change seals on drain plug and dip stick. Never use the seals after an oil change. I take it that the Volvo guy who did the service few months ago used the proper Volvo drive oil. Volvo drive oil will allow up to 5-10% of water in the oil and still do the job. One of the reasons that you should go for the Volvo drive oil even it is very costly.