Volvo engine pics, opinions please

[steve930]

The hunt for a new boat continues and I viewed another candidate today. She has twin ad41's both engines started from cold easily, didn't smoke much and sounded really sweet. The bad news is they're quite rusty externally I'm guessing from previous owners not taking much care through winter months etc. I know all the hose clips and minor items can easily be renewed but I'd like people's views in general please, many thanks
https://www.dropbox.com/s/wexii1nzl47tc2a/2016-03-05 11.21.37.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/etcqf8pml23tn1n/2016-03-05 11.21.03.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3qkykk4dxao3k5c/2016-03-05 11.21.18.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9v2hmoum2.../w0ebq5pkqa5os64/2016-03-05 11.21.52.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/yzkzrrgdf2aivrz/2016-03-05 11.21.29.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/3dax3vxdzq54up1/2016-03-05 11.21.09.jpg?dl=0

 

[omega2]

Looks like salt water deposits, and no one has looked at them for ages, an oily rag would have kept them looking a lot better. However no apparent oil leaks, and the salt could have come from one or more of those rusty clips not doing it,s job. It looks like the oil filter is newish, and the oil filler cap has been wiped clean, maybe when a recent oil change was done.

 

[crazy4557]

They look a real mess and as you say the previous owners haven't lavished any care at all.

To do a proper job means engines out but that's an expensive option. If I were you I'd get some decent degreaser all over them and the bilges then flush them properly. Get some wire brush attachments on your drill, sling a sheet under the engine and just battle through it. It's hard graft and time consuming and a lot of the consumable bits can be changed quite cheaply. Surprisingly satisfying job, don't ask me why!

 

[superheat6k]

The rusting is IMHO superficial and very annoying that an owner has allowed the engines to deteriorate like this. As mentioned likely a water leak in the cover, rather than the engine itself.

However, if he neglected the outside he is likely to have neglected the rest of the maintenance. So what condition is the engine in ?

Are there any service records ?

I wouldn't run away from this one, but if you do take it seriously then be sure to employ an experience Volvo engineer such as VolvoPaul.

The other thing I would make sure you do is use the owner's neglect against him when it comes to the negotiations.

What's the boat BTW ?

 

[steve930]

I removed the engine on my last boat ( v8 mercruiser ) and gave it and the engine room a major birthday, the dust didn't worry me too much on that engine as they're cheap & plentiful!

The current owner has had her for 18 months, so he can't be blamed for their condition, to his credit he has sprayed copious amounts of grease on them ( the creamy white colouring on the engines) . he's had them serviced twice in that time and has receipts .

I've not yet had chance to view the boats paperwork, with regards to maintenance history

@superheat: it's a sports cruiser

 

[NormanB]

To be honest it does not look that bad and you can see this was a smart engine not that long ago. A salt water leak(s) spraying around can cause this level of damage very very quickly.

Before you do anything find and cure the SW leak. The remediation is a long and determined slog as indicated above.

 

[Piers]

It looks to me like salt water has flooded over the engines having taken green water at some point. What's the make/model of the boat? If a sportscruiser then that might add strength to my comment.

However, the AD41 Volvos were good engines when we had them in a Princess V39 many moons ago, so if you have access to give them a treat I'd be surprised if anything was specifically wrong. One thing I'd certainly do is to have an engine oil analysis which can tell you far more than a service history.

Last point. I say the engines were good for us. That only after we'd fitted the larger water expansion tanks to stop the cooling water overflowing!

 

[steve930]

The sumps on the engines are quite clean, certainly cleaner than the block so I don't think they've been submerged

The boat is a Larson sportscruiser

 

[Piers]

The sumps on the engines are quite clean, certainly cleaner than the block so I don't think they've been submerged

The boat is a Larson sportscruiser

In which case I suspect they've stuffed a wave at some time. With a good engineer to have a good look (volvopaul of the this parish?) I suspect you might to negotiate a good price.