Volvo engineers? Necessary?

[Goldie]

Firstly, I've never had a Volvo 2003 so don't have first hand knowledge! However, at the back of my (very small) memory is something about there being a problem with the drive splines fretting and wearing on the 2003. It may be that it was earlier engines only and the link mentions a particular serial number as being the last affected but also says that that may not be definitive. There is a link to previous discussion on this: http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?14988-VP-2003-spline-problem

I'd want written assurance that the modification /repair has been completed, the engine is a later model that won't be affected or factor this job into the price.

 

[Ripster]

Yet another who has used and knows Volvopaul. Very good knowledgeable reliable chap with no BS. He will tell you how it is. Recommended.

 

[Daedelus]

Firstly, I've never had a Volvo 2003 so don't have first hand knowledge! However, at the back of my (very small) memory is something about there being a problem with the drive splines fretting and wearing on the 2003. It may be that it was earlier engines only and the link mentions a particular serial number as being the last affected but also says that that may not be definitive. There is a link to previous discussion on this: http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?14988-VP-2003-spline-problem

I'd want written assurance that the modification /repair has been completed, the engine is a later model that won't be affected or factor this job into the price.

Another vote for joining the Moody Owners, the detail of the spline problem is on their site and if I remember correctly was also available on the Westerly owners website which you could access without being a member.

Worth checking the hoses - especially where they go through bulkheads (of any size), I found one of my hoses had nearly been severed by a sharp edge on the GRP. Another hose delaminated which caused a right old panic when the overheat alarm went off.

The 2003 tended to smoke a bit, so get it nicely warmed up - not just idle but powering ahead (or astern according to taste and circumstances) then from idle open up the throttle and see how much smoke you get and what colour. Usually black but watch for white. (Refer to one with a better memory than me for what it all means).

The 28hp is far more than you need, but Moody's got a good deal on a job lot at the time and it went into just about every boat they were making including some much larger ones. This means that in order to give it a good workout you really need to push the speed.

Finally, they are lovely boats, enjoy.

 

[Bobc]

How old is this boat again?

Perhaps a reality-check is in order...

 

[alant]

How old is this boat again?

Perhaps a reality-check is in order...

???

 

[Bobc]

???

All I'm saying is that it's a 30-odd year old boat FFS.

If it looks ok, sails, ok, and the motor starts and runs ok, and it's what you want, just buy the bloody thing.

It's not like it's a £100k+ job, it's the boat equivilent of a 10 year old Mondeo for £2k.

Not wanting to be demeaning, but...

 

[jac]

All I'm saying is that it's a 30-odd year old boat FFS.

If it looks ok, sails, ok, and the motor starts and runs ok, and it's what you want, just buy the bloody thing.

It's not like it's a £100k+ job, it's the boat equivilent of a 10 year old Mondeo for £2k.

Not wanting to be demeaning, but...

But if you buy the 10 year old Mondeo and the engine dies you lose £2k.

If the engine on this is truly shot then you could be spending £5k - £10k on replacing it.

 

[MoodySabre]

But if you buy the 10 year old Mondeo and the engine dies you lose £2k.

If the engine on this is truly shot then you could be spending £5k - £10k on replacing it.

Quite. The cheaper the boat the more important engine condition becomes. There are thousands of Volvo 2003 engines out there and I bet most are still going strong. Mine is 25 years old and starts very well and runs just fine. These are not engines to be afraid of - get it running and you'll soon know if it's OK.

 

[Bobc]

Quite. The cheaper the boat the more important engine condition becomes. There are thousands of Volvo 2003 engines out there and I bet most are still going strong. Mine is 25 years old and starts very well and runs just fine. These are not engines to be afraid of - get it running and you'll soon know if it's OK.

being my point exactly.

 

[Bobc]

So, let me put some more meat on the bones in respect to my comment:-

It's not a new boat or a new engine. Now, you don't want to buy a pup, but how far do you really go on this?

Some people will tell you that lots of engine hours is bad, some will tell you that a small number is bad. Some will tell you that genuine parts are necessary, other that it makes not difference. People will tell you all manner of horror stories of things that "can" and occasionally "have" gone wrong with this type of engine.

You get a surveyor, and he will be completely non-committal

So you get a Volvo engineer, and he'll just say "seems ok, but not guaranteeing anything (i.e. won't tell you anything that you can't work out for yourself by looking, listening, and trying it).

So, your options are:-

1./ You can spend a load of money on advice, which I suspect won't tell you anything that common sense doesn't tell you

2./ Use your noddle and your mates, and take the risk.

At the end of the day, if an engine is shot, you'll know pretty quickly. But as I said before, if it starts, runs, has good drive, and doesn't smoke lots, then it's probably fine.

These engines are pretty agricultural, and take a lot of abuse.

 

[alant]

So, let me put some more meat on the bones in respect to my comment:-

It's not a new boat or a new engine. Now, you don't want to buy a pup, but how far do you really go on this?

Some people will tell you that lots of engine hours is bad, some will tell you that a small number is bad. Some will tell you that genuine parts are necessary, other that it makes not difference. People will tell you all manner of horror stories of things that "can" and occasionally "have" gone wrong with this type of engine.

You get a surveyor, and he will be completely non-committal

So you get a Volvo engineer, and he'll just say "seems ok, but not guaranteeing anything (i.e. won't tell you anything that you can't work out for yourself by looking, listening, and trying it).

So, your options are:-

1./ You can spend a load of money on advice, which I suspect won't tell you anything that common sense doesn't tell you

2./ Use your noddle and your mates, and take the risk.

At the end of the day, if an engine is shot, you'll know pretty quickly. But as I said before, if it starts, runs, has good drive, and doesn't smoke lots, then it's probably fine.

These engines are pretty agricultural, and take a lot of abuse.

1. Its not my money.

2. Would you want to spend around £30k, only to find that something fundamental needs expensive attention?

 

[alant]

Yet another who has used and knows Volvopaul. Very good knowledgeable reliable chap with no BS. He will tell you how it is. Recommended.

Got any contact details?

 

[Bobc]

Would you want to spend around £30k, only to find that something fundamental needs expensive attention?

No, and that's why to have a good look, listen, and dig around. You're never going to get a cast-iron guarantee that nothing's going to go wrong from anybody, all you're going to get is "in my opinion from what I can see without taking it all apart, it seems fine". So you're still taking a risk, it's just a calculated risk.

If you buy without seeing it, then you are taking a punt, but what I'm suggesting is that paying lots of people for lots of advice may not tell you anything that your gut doesn't, but I guess may give you some re-assurance.

At the end of the day, it's all money either way, and you must decide what you want to spend it on. I was simply giving my opinion (but then I'm not particularly risk-averse).

Best of luck

 

[Stemar]

No, and that's why to have a good look, listen, and dig around. You're never going to get a cast-iron guarantee that nothing's going to go wrong from anybody, all you're going to get is "in my opinion from what I can see without taking it all apart, it seems fine". So you're still taking a risk, it's just a calculated risk.

If you buy without seeing it, then you are taking a punt, but what I'm suggesting is that paying lots of people for lots of advice may not tell you anything that your gut doesn't, but I guess may give you some re-assurance.

At the end of the day, it's all money either way, and you must decide what you want to spend it on. I was simply giving my opinion (but then I'm not particularly risk-averse).

Best of luck

+1

An engineer's report will be so hedged about with caveats that it won't give you any more guarantee than using a bit of common sense. as others have said, if it starts from cold, runs sweetly with plenty of power and no smoke once warmed up (all the 2000 series smoke like a Victorian factory chimney when just started from cold) and has good stable oil pressure and temperature, the chances are it's a good'un. An engineer won't be able to tell you any more.

An engine can appear to be in perfect condition one minute and the oil pump can fail the next, reducing it to scrap. That's slightly more likely in a 30-year-old one than one that's just out of warranty, but only slightly. If someone doesn't want that gamble, they'd better buy new.

As for the drive shaft issue, I'm no expert, but I think it highly unlikely that an engine of that age won't have been sorted out. It would have gone pop a long time ago.

 

[Tranona]

1. Its not my money.

2. Would you want to spend around £30k, only to find that something fundamental needs expensive attention?

Agree. You need to take the precautions you think necessary to protect your interests as once you have the boat you have no comeback. Matter of judgement what sort of precautions to take. You can get Volvopaul by a pm on here. He posts regularly on the Mobo forum.

 

[Birdseye]

My SIL, has bit the bullet & is buying a Moody 31, currently in Gosport.

The current owner, has only had the boat a very short time (getting divorced) & previous owner has shed his mortal coil, but seemed to take some care with the boat whilst alive. Boat has not been heavily used.
During discussions with the broker, the question of the engine arose & several options have been suggested.

This is one reply from a dealer

"Thank you for the email and email with information of service/ work carried out, I can see from the service history that this vessel hasn’t had the best of service, the Volvo invoices are for none service items the knowing XYZ marine they would possibly have obtained genuine Volvo parts but they are not Volvo engineers and ABC marine have used none genuine parts completely.

With this in mind and we have never had any dealing with this vessel I would strongly suggest a full major service using genuine Volvo parts and engineers.

Please find below what we could be doing for you as a Volvo super centre,

1, carry out an engine inspection at Gosport £53-£424 the range is from visual inspection to full inspection and sea trial with oil analysis.

2, Full bi annual service as listed below

Oil Filter 22057107 1 £13.80

Fuel Filter 829913 1 £11.70

Impeller 21951342 1 £20.20

Service Kit (contains above) 877194 1 £38.20


Anode (RWC only) 838929 1 £6.70

Pre-Filter 3581078 1 £9.50

Drive Belt 973534 1 £12.70


R/cover Gasket 859043 1 £12.60

R/cover Seal 840442 2 £10.00



Oil 1ltr 3840002 4 £25.60

Oil 5ltr


Coolant 5ltr 1141674 1 £11.70

Total engine parts £127.00. if sail drive a further £74.80 in parts, labour engine saildrive £53 per hour @ 5hrs £265 all plus vat.

I hope this is of help to you and if you have further question please feel free to contact me at the office or by email."


Bearing in mind, feelings with some on here, regarding Volvo's, how would you proceed if buying?

I would totally ignore the carp from the volvo dealer. Who on earth is daft enough to get a main dealer to do the routine service on whats likely a 20 year old boat engine? What sort of response would you expect if you took your 20 year old car into a main dealer but something very similar.

You can try to use the comments as a way of haggling, then do a simple oil, filter and anode change on the engine itself. Check the cooling system. Check tappets,. And start the engine noting the smoke emitted. All the usual common sense checks in other words.

 

[Fossil]

It has been a few years now since we bought our Jag 27 which was fitted with a Volvo 2002. What I do remember is that Volvo Marine ran a day course for owners which I attended. Somewhere in the Watford area as I remember. Covered everything, or pretty much everything an owner could do with a Volvo diesel and was, I thought, very good VFM.

If the eventual purchase does go through, and if you can find a course, getting trained up will immensely add to your peace of mind

On the latter point, I agree with the comments above. If it starts reliably and runs well, there is very little reason not to go ahead. In 10 years of owning a 2002, nothing major went wrong with it. I serviced it regularly and winterised it properly myself, using the knowledge I gained on the course. Those motors last forever if given the bare minimum of TLC.

 

[Plum]

If you need a good "independent" Volvo engineer (he does other makes too) I have had very good service from Jim Davis who works in the Solent area. Excellent work at a fair price very experienced, conscientious and does not try to talk you into doing stuff that is not really necessary. He came recommended to me and I now recommend him to you. Contact him on 07896 367379 or at davismarineservices@live.co.uk

Plum