Volvo 280 bearing replacement

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lewlew100

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I have just bought a boat with a Volvo aqd40 engine and 280dp leg. Water has found its way into the bell housing so the bearings to the short drive shaft need replacing. I have been told that this is an engine out job, which will probably be quite difficult for me to achieve. It has been suggested that it may be possible to remove the flywheel cover and bearing housing if the rear of the engine is supported and the transom shield removed to give access through the transom hole. Does anyone have any experience of this please - is it a practical solution? Thanks Geoff.
 
lewlew100 said:
I have just bought a boat with a Volvo aqd40 engine and 280dp leg. Water has found its way into the bell housing so the bearings to the short drive shaft need replacing. I have been told that this is an engine out job, which will probably be quite difficult for me to achieve. It has been suggested that it may be possible to remove the flywheel cover and bearing housing if the rear of the engine is supported and the transom shield removed to give access through the transom hole. Does anyone have any experience of this please - is it a practical solution? Thanks Geoff.
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OK buckle up.A cheapskates guide.
Having done this job the plan should be as follows.
You need boat out of water.
The leg needs to be removed.
The engine only needs to moved forward (if there is space) for you to have space to get at the stuff at rear of transom assembly.If you are lucky no need to disconnect a single pipe or wire.
An enterprising and inventive chap will be able to rig up a tripod with block and tackle or similar, to lift engine and move it the distance need to clear the jack shaft.
From memory,the jack shaft is removed from leg side or engine side depending on model.
Having removed jackshaft and bearings,they may remain rusted onto jackshaft depending on state of corrosion,you will need to identify bearing numbers.
You can then bother every bearing outlet near you for prices, they can be purchased at a fraction of the price that your VP outlet will charge.
Do not be dismayed if the jack shaft looks worn or manky or bearings are loose in casing,all is not lost.
A bit of peening and or shimming + locktite can save to day.
Work on day to get out and another to refit.
Worst job is lining up engine with jack shaft .
You can add expence by hiring hi ab or buying new bearings/jackshaft at any point in the repair sequence.
Or you could get VolvoPaul to do the whole job.
If you do decide to have go,pretty certain have some useful photos of the job in bits.
Ps This particular job was the final nail in the coffin of outdrives for moi............
Was warned so many times about outdrives...did I listen . :)

Good luck.Will try to find and post those pix on here..
Is it a "T" version ie.trim and tilt... do have a few spares lurking in garage.
 
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Hi, thanks for your reply. The boat is already out of the water and on my trailer. The reason I am trying to leave the engine in position is because it is shoe horned in and it looks to me that trying to move it will probably require the fuel tank to be removed. I am under the impression (could be wrong) the the jack shaft (thanks for the correct name) and its seals/bearings are fitted in a nosing bolted to the flywheel cover. I do not know if the leg is a "T". There does seem to be a small electric motor to lift the leg. I do hope that you will be able to find and post your pics, and am sorry you learned the\hard way about outdrive legs. Geoff.
 
You don't have to touch anything inside or the engine to pull out the shift shaft , remove the seal inside the bobtail housing where the bellows attach, there is s circlip holding the bearing in and a plastic sleeve , you will need to attach a slide hammer to the shaft , I gave a home made tool but good grips will do the job taking care not to damage the splines .
If you have a lot of water inside the bellhousing the starter motor may require an overhaul.
 
Hi VP, thanks for your reply. I do hope that it will be possible to get the bearing out that way. I was under the impression that the jack shaft had a bearing at each end and that one went in from each end. The water in the bell housing has indeed found its way into the Bosch starter, but I have had that reconditioned now. The bell housing has water trapped in there, but I guess that there must be a blocked weep hole in the bottom of the BH which has become blocked, or even perhaps sealed up.
 
lewlew100 said:
Hi, thanks for your reply. The boat is already out of the water and on my trailer. The reason I am trying to leave the engine in position is because it is shoe horned in and it looks to me that trying to move it will probably require the fuel tank to be removed. I am under the impression (could be wrong) the the jack shaft (thanks for the correct name) and its seals/bearings are fitted in a nosing bolted to the flywheel cover. I do not know if the leg is a "T". There does seem to be a small electric motor to lift the leg. I do hope that you will be able to find and post your pics, and am sorry you learned the\hard way about outdrive legs. Geoff.
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The "T" refers to trim or trim and tilt.This was a sort of abortive test rig at the customers expence for the later 290,an improved version using hydraulic rams to alter angle of leg and to trim whilst underway,instead of the electric motor purloined from a Electrolux vacuum cleaner.
Have searched high and low for my pix of the jackshaft bearings in situ ...no luck so far.
However somebody else did post some pictures when they previously did the deed on this forum,however have failed to find those as well.If for any reason you do need to replace jackshaft, there are a couple of places you could source a decent S/H unit.Make sure the number of splines or your replacement is the same as your original item.
You can also not push the seals in as far into the casing to get the seal to run on a decent bit of jackshaft if any serious wear.
 
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Thanks for your help VP and OG. I have now removed the leg and the rear circlip. The jackshaft has a tiny bit of side waggle (forgive the technical terms!!!), but allows no movement along its length. I have found an exploded diagram of an AD41 which appears to show only one bearing which I assume can be withdrawn through the transom shield, but my engine is an AD40 and the only diagram that I can find for that seems to show two bearings with a seal and circlip at each end of the shaft, which I think probably means engine removal. The engine is such a tight fit that I think there is not room to move it back 6" without removing the fuel tank. I have read that it may be possible to disconnect the bellhousing from the engine. I think that if so it may be possible to tilt the engine and rotate it by 90 degrees as the engine bay is the full width of the boat. Any thoughts please, and if VP is available to undertake the job I would be most pleased. I was born in august 1943 and am desperate to get this boat in the water as I do not know how many more seasons I have left (lots I hope). Geoff.
 
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lewlew100 said:
Thanks for your help VP and OG. I have now removed the leg and the rear circlip. The jackshaft has a tiny bit of side waggle (forgive the technical terms!!!), but allows no movement along its length. I have found an exploded diagram of an AD41 which appears to show only one bearing which I assume can be withdrawn through the transom shield, but my engine is an AD40 and the only diagram that I can find for that seems to show two bearings with a seal and circlip at each end of the shaft, which I think probably means engine removal. The engine is such a tight fit that I think there is not room to move it back 6" without removing the fuel tank. I have read that it may be possible to disconnect the bellhousing from the engine. I think that if so it may be possible to tilt the engine and rotate it by 90 degrees as the engine bay is the full width of the boat. Any thoughts please, and if VP is available to undertake the job I would be most pleased. I was born in august 1943 and am desperate to get this boat in the water as I do not know how many more seasons I have left (lots I hope). Geoff.
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VP may correct me but seem to remember buying two bearings (different sizes inner and outer) one for each side of the transom casting.This means moving engine back ????
Mind you it was several years ago.
Still cannot locate those blimming photos tho. :(
 
lewlew100 said:
Thanks OG. Please keep looking for those photos. Geoff.
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pix ARE lurking somewhere here on the MoBo forum..... previous forumite took a few when he did the job about ten years ago. !
Cannot for the life of me find them despite sometime spent in the search box searching under outdrives/bearings and 280.
:(
 
Ok, thanks OG. I know you mean about trying ti find archive pictures, I have an old Sunseeker "COCKSPUR" that I bought to use its volvo GXI/DPS-a engine/leg for one of my Carrera projects and there was a build log on this forum which I accessed about a year ago, but after hours of searching I am unable to find it. Guess why that boat was for sale??? Water
ingress to the leg!!! Geoff.
 
I feel your pain..
I have an identical problem on my Sealine 255
Aqa41a with same drive..Bellows were fine.
I had an exhaust elbow and heat exchanger drain corrosion problem.
I also seem to have also wrecked a 2 year old starter motor
I am going to pull the engine out..
Its going to be quicker for me, and I can respray the motor.
Upgrade the engine compartment, and sort out some bilge pump pick up pipes.
All of above have all contributed to the problem in the first place.
Lucky for me I cant use the boat at the moment as I have a couple of projects to complete.
Pleasures of boating.
Ian.
 
Thanks for your sympathy. Like you I seem to have too many projects, but not enough time. Nice to hear that you are being positive and intend to carry out other engine and bilge work. Good luck. Geoff.
 
While we wait for bearing pix to appear how about some Volvo heat exchanger grief
DSCN1766.jpg


DSCN1767.jpg


Or perhaps a corroded riser ?

DSCN3976.jpg
 
In the search for the old pictures, this thread seems to have become mixed up with the similar, but much older thread
"IS MY OUTDRIVE SCRAP". On that thread in I did ask OG if when he removed the engine, was the split made at the bellhousing (engine end) or at the the flywheel cover. As it is possible that I may get access to some lifting gear this weekend, I would love to get an answer to that ASAP. - Thanks OG. I have accessed marinepartseurope.com site and the exploded diagram under AD40/280DP transmission does not show a grease nipple, but does show part 81 on that diagram described as a plug at the top of what I believe is the bobtail, I wonder if that is where an extended transom mounted lube point could be fitted. Geoff.
 
Lifting Gear looking doubtful for this weekend, but something I do not understand. The water in the bellhousing seems to have no way of escaping. On roadcars there always used to be a weep hole maybe with a loose split waggle pin to allow any oil that finds its way past the crankshaft seal to escape (usually on MY drive!!!)> I cannot find any such hole in the volvo bellhousing - Is there one that has just filled with grot and blocked? In the absence of such a hole is it worth drilling one? I have pumped the water out of the bellhousing (nice little pump from Lidl@ £12.85). I am a bit desperate to get this boat on the rive (in land waterways only this year) this year. I have ordered the leg bellows and hose from Volspec and I wondered in the previous post and try to get away with leaving the jackshaft repair untill the end of the season as it is almost certain that the fuel tank must be removed as the there is no space to move it forward with the tank in situ. Geoff.
 
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