Volvo Engines - avoid or not?

[Akestor]

I have an MD2B from 71'. It was seized because the boat had sunk. I spend many days pounding the pistons out of the cylinders, then we machined it and installed bigger pistons. Everything else was in good condition and now runs like a clock. Having examined the state of corrosion inside the manifold, the paths are pretty good after 50 years and the metal is still thick. I just unclogged them and after 2 years the flow is still very good! Filling the cooling system, with vinegar for one night will dilute salt deposits, have already done this with the thermostat and it was shining like new! Haven't heard of an MD raw water corroding so much that water will get in the head or cylinder ( am not an old boater though so i might just dont know about it!)... The renovation cost about 1000 euros. Much less than a used Kubota at 2800...

 

[[70521]]

I have a 36 year old VP2002. Starts first time every time. A simple mechanical engine that needs no fangled electronics to confuse things.

I can buy an awful lot of spares for the price of a new engine.

 

[Laysula]

Volvo Penta MDI Black Box D2 -55 problems ?

 

[sur-la-mer]

Yes, I had to laugh when I read of the 2010s being described as an old engine. That's a really new engine for many of us still on single figure MDs.

Which engine does it have, or did it have from new?

I'm finding that parts for early A series and some B series MDs are utterly unobtainable now even if they were affordable. For example, at one point I found there was only one piston kit left in Europe for a MD B series and it was something ridiculous like £450, for what is basically a taxi piston.

I actually like the utterly simple, no electricity required, older engines and I think it's a damn shame that they've been allowed to die. It's a shame no one's keeping them alive, like they are VW Beetle or vintage Harley-Davidson engines by making pattern parts.

I think there's a few folk attempting to keep alive vintage British engines. And the Volvo Penta MD10 is still being kept alive by a Marna agent who actually, like Perkins, supplied them in the first place. There's a great guy in the UK upgrading and restoring Vire engines, that also appeared in early Westerlies.

There's an old saying that Volvo just painted them green and charged 5 times as much. I'm not sure that's completely true but I did also read a Volvo rep being quoted that if there were to remake the old MD A/B/Cs at today's prices, they'd have to sell them at around £16,000. Illustrative rather than factually accurate, I presume, so don't quote me on it.


I was looking at alternative for a while and electric drives are clearly out for mere mortal with average sized wallets. They'd cost more than the boat.

Something I've not seen explored though are hybrid set ups, of dual purpose generators powering electric drives. There are some really quiet, compact, vibration-free diesel generators on the market now.

Has anyone, or any company, hooked one up to an electric marine drive?

 

[erich27]

We also have a Sigma with a VP2003 raw water cooled engine , we did have an over heating problem when we first bought the boat but that was traced to a worn out "wear plate" in the pump housing ( basic lack of maintenance ! ) The engine mounts needed replacing this winter and astonished to find that the front set were twice the price of the rear set even though they were identical apart from the shore hardness ?
PS need to find out where the anode fits on the raw water version of the VP2003 ?

 

[sur-la-mer]

Which mount did you go for? Volvo's own or third party?

I am writing this without knowledge of the mounts a VP2003 uses, eg whether just the round rubber one or complex v-ed double mount ones.

Vibration mounting technology has moved on a lot in other fields and the stock one for my engines are ridiculously over priced for what they are, like £50 each or more. I know some guys who've used Rover ones costing less than £20. Another who went for solid wood mount without breaking his boat, and found these the other day.

https://www.avmountsonline.co.uk/marine-engine-mounts

 

[Stemar]

PS need to find out where the anode fits on the raw water version of the VP2003 ?

IIRC, it hides behind the alternator.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

Our BC boat had a Volvo Penta 2030 with sticker on rev counter saying dont exceed 2000rpm, and eventually over heated and destroyed itself after 6 years. As others have said in many ways its a chinese copy of the Perkins.

However while struggling against bad weather and headwinds as it finally faded I discovered the most appalling cooling circuit. The seawater come from inlet to go round geabox and only then went to circulating pump which pushed it to heat exchanger and then out of exhaust. This meant that it was very vulnerable to having poor priming and thus no cooling at startup and especially vulnerable to worn impeller blades. Pumps cannot suck. I jury rigged it to improve flow (and that was fun in a rolling sea) and we nursed it to safe haven.

Once home Agent said thats normal for that engine - try a Yanmar. He was a Volvo dealer. The Yanmar he sold us is doing very nicely.

Worse still the exhaust itself has a spiral siphon on the engine which could fill up with Bristol Channel mud and then bake solid from the exhaust heat. Twice in six years we had to take it off to get it cleaned out professionally at £200 a go. (we may have been overcharged)

There are probably better and worse examples. The water intake was only half inch not 19mm, but our Bukh manages fine on that as did the Yanmar. I changed it anyway for the Yanmar.

 

[erich27]

IIRC, it hides behind the alternator.

Thanks for that and will take a look!

 

[peteK]

The 2030 is a Japanese engine sold by Perkins and later marketed by Volvo it has nothing to do with the Chinese.

 

[Cantata]

The 2030 is a Japanese engine sold by Perkins and later marketed by Volvo it has nothing to do with the Chinese.

And my 2040 has a Perkins plate on it.

 

[john_morris_uk]

As does mine.

 

[sur-la-mer]

I am looking for a Westerly - Berwick would be ideal, but similar is good - but have been told to avoid Volvo engines. Not sure why, but I've been avoiding some good sounding boats because they have Volvo engines. Am I correct? Or is this just hearsay?

Just to back on track, the Berwick generally came with an Volvo MD2B engine original.

If one still had the original engine, you would want to know if it had been religiously well maintained or completely renovated, but I am a great fan of that generation's simplicity. No electrics required to run, no black boxes. One thing to look at, though, would be whether it had an auxiliary generator for "modern" use. They are big, heavy lumps that vibrate more than a modern one, but ones that used to be SOLASed for lifeboat use and could even run under water. Service parts and online manuals etc for the Bs still exist (but not the As).

That generation often came with dynostarters (combined chargers/starters) which put out a weak supply of electricity, hence people putting in - and Volvo offering - aux generators.

Dealers aren't so keen on them though as most of the staff were born after they were made and it's like asking a Lexus dealership for help fixing a Morris Minor. They'll just want to sell you a new one at the same price as the boat.

On a higher value boat like a Berwick, I'd be surprised if it is still original though.

So it's not so much about the engine, but likely costs. They early MDs were very over engineered and could not be made to the same standard now.