Volvo D9 500hp

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beebok

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Hello all
I am planning to move from a sailboat to a semi displacement motor boat with these
engines installed.
If i buy new then i have a choice but these engines are fitted to all Aqua star 48 sold so far.
I will probably buy second hand.
So how good are these engines?
Are there any known faults from these engines?

Does anyone have experience of stabilizers that are fitted to these boats as standard or any other semi displacement hulls?
Do they reduce roll?
How reliable are the units?

Finally does anyone know an engineer who can check these engines over prior to purchase?

Thanks Alan
 
VolvoPaul is the forum VP expert. He is on hols this week, but logs into the forum now and again, to make sure we are OK.

There have been a couple of threads on stabilisers, and their efficiency. Generally the feedback is positive. I'm sure others will be along to comment.
 
VolvoPaul checked D9-575s for me a couple of years ago and has been maintaining them for me since, so worth talking to if you need any help.
 
I am on holiday , escaping the Solent bank holiday weather here in Majorca.

The d 9 is a commercial base motor and pretty good, at the start in marine app there were few mods carried out under warranty , mainly fuel hose issues though on survey of intraventure a pipe had ballooned on the turbo oil feed pipe which had it failed at a later date would have certainly wrecked the turbo if not the whole engine . Generally the engine is free from leaks both oil and water. There are 2 main issues that spring to mind. A catastrophic engine failure on a targa 47 which grabbed a liner wrecking the engine at very low hours , latestarter off the forum reported piston failures on bus engined versions. But broom 450 owners have had a battle with Volvo on the early zf 280 gearbox versions basically major failures of the gearboxes which were rated a 480hp then matched to the 500hp engine( what idiot at zf or Volvo married that one together) something to watch out for. To be fair after one of my customers had 2 failures before brooms and Volvo finally got there heads together and agreed to warrant all broom 450s fitted with these boxes and swapped them under warranty f o c
Why they didn't just fit the same box as the 575hp version in the first place I do not know.
Aquapower may answer this.

Anyway bar duties call......
 
Ref the gearboxes, it was what was offered as the package at the time from Volvo and was considered ok, but I wasn't involved in the original spec of these so cant say any more than i have been told. I have been informed it was ZF that have paid for the new boxes.
 
volvopaul said:
I am on holiday , escaping the Solent bank holiday weather here in Majorca.

The d 9 is a commercial base motor and pretty good, at the start in marine app there were few mods carried out under warranty , mainly fuel hose issues though on survey of intraventure a pipe had ballooned on the turbo oil feed pipe which had it failed at a later date would have certainly wrecked the turbo if not the whole engine . Generally the engine is free from leaks both oil and water. There are 2 main issues that spring to mind. A catastrophic engine failure on a targa 47 which grabbed a liner wrecking the engine at very low hours , latestarter off the forum reported piston failures on bus engined versions. But broom 450 owners have had a battle with Volvo on the early zf 280 gearbox versions basically major failures of the gearboxes which were rated a 480hp then matched to the 500hp engine( what idiot at zf or Volvo married that one together) something to watch out for. To be fair after one of my customers had 2 failures before brooms and Volvo finally got there heads together and agreed to warrant all broom 450s fitted with these boxes and swapped them under warranty f o c
Why they didn't just fit the same box as the 575hp version in the first place I do not know.
Aquapower may answer this.

Anyway bar duties call......
Click to expand...


Volvo FM9 trucks as well as buses have suffered unexplained piston failures and in one case the piston exited to atmostphere. I suspect the issue is not base engine but injector related, D9 injector is different from tried and tested D12 unit injector and there is still no functionality test for the D9 style unit injector.

Looked at the standard VP D9 exhaust riser and I am certain that the guy who put it together had a grudge against turbocharger designers. Luckily in most installations I have seen builders have had the sense to fit aftermarket risers from Hallyard or Manuflex.

As to putting a ZF 280A behind this engine................Simply nuts!
Suspect marketing bods may have been to blame as the clue is in the pricing, ZF 280 A retails at just over $5k, the ZF 286 A retails at $8k..............
 
Early Aquastar 48's such as mine were fitted with Volvo Penta 63L and 63P engines 310hp? and 370hp respectively then later boats were fitted with Volvo Penta 74 and 75's . The current boats are normally fitted with Volvo Penta D9 and the latest with the 575hp.

My boat a 2001 48S has no stabilisers, no roof over after deck and is fitted with the VP 63P engines at 370 hp and cruises at 19.5 knots.

D9's are fairly common in a range of boats and have a good reputation.

Give me a pm if you wish to discuss.
 
volvopaul said:
I am on holiday , escaping the Solent bank holiday weather here in Majorca.

The d 9 is a commercial base motor and pretty good, at the start in marine app there were few mods carried out under warranty , mainly fuel hose issues though on survey of intraventure a pipe had ballooned on the turbo oil feed pipe which had it failed at a later date would have certainly wrecked the turbo if not the whole engine . Generally the engine is free from leaks both oil and water. There are 2 main issues that spring to mind. A catastrophic engine failure on a targa 47 which grabbed a liner wrecking the engine at very low hours , latestarter off the forum reported piston failures on bus engined versions. But broom 450 owners have had a battle with Volvo on the early zf 280 gearbox versions basically major failures of the gearboxes which were rated a 480hp then matched to the 500hp engine( what idiot at zf or Volvo married that one together) something to watch out for. To be fair after one of my customers had 2 failures before brooms and Volvo finally got there heads together and agreed to warrant all broom 450s fitted with these boxes and swapped them under warranty f o c
Why they didn't just fit the same box as the 575hp version in the first place I do not know.
Aquapower may answer this.

Anyway bar duties call......
Click to expand...
Hey @volvopaul - I know your reply here is a dozen years old... but if you are still around on these forums...

We have dual Volvo Penta D9-575 in a 2006/2007 Cranchi Mediterranee 47HT with relatively low hours on the engines (under 1,000).

Issue we have - we need to find and replace the two mufflers (given their integral functions). We are having a heck of a time finding the core parts, and Volvo no longer appears to make any of the muffler elements. Do you happen to have any advice on how we best source D9-575 mufflers, since Cranchi is not being of much help? If we can solve that we should be able to get many more hours out of the current setup. Any advice from your long experience would be greatly appreciated!
 
BB-Cruiser said:
Hey @volvopaul - I know your reply here is a dozen years old... but if you are still around on these forums...

We have dual Volvo Penta D9-575 in a 2006/2007 Cranchi Mediterranee 47HT with relatively low hours on the engines (under 1,000).

Issue we have - we need to find and replace the two mufflers (given their integral functions). We are having a heck of a time finding the core parts, and Volvo no longer appears to make any of the muffler elements. Do you happen to have any advice on how we best source D9-575 mufflers, since Cranchi is not being of much help? If we can solve that we should be able to get many more hours out of the current setup. Any advice from your long experience would be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
Hi yes I’m still here , the mufflers would not be a Volvopenta part , I’m not sure what make or design the Italians would have used on the build , try posting a photo.
 
volvopaul said:
Hi yes I’m still here , the mufflers would not be a Volvopenta part , I’m not sure what make or design the Italians would have used on the build , try posting a photo.
Click to expand...
Will do.

Are there any standard mufflers used by most of the 45-50’ft cruisers that you are aware of - or - did each boat maker (Cranchi or Formula for example) fabricate their own custom ones?

We can grab photos of the mufflers for sure
 
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