volvo kad 43s

[zingaro]

can anyone tell me if i can replace the antifreeze mixture in my kad 43s with a good quality antifreeze designed for a car or do i have to stick to the one premixed for volvo.had my first 50hr service last july and the volvo enginners just changed the oil and filter without even bothering to get the engine warm, which in my opinion is not the correct way to change your oil. but unfortuanately i had to let them do that service because of the 1 year warranty that you get with the engines. but now the engine is out of warranty i am going to replace the filters and oil myself this year along with the fuel filters and impellors, but not 100% sure whether the antifreeze mixture will need replacing this year as you dont know how long it has been in the engines pri to the boat been commissioned,the engine are dated as 2004,but the hull was dated 2005 yet the builders certificate and title deed states that the boat retailer owned the boat since september 2004, i bought the boat at the london boat show in january 2005 and the engines where commissioned by the retailer in march 2005,so i thought i will test the mixture with my antifreeze tester to see if it does need changing first, but would appreciate any feed back from other forum members as to what sort of antifreeze that they have used in the past and at what time intervals you have changed it. at least if i service the engines myself i know that they will be done correctly.

 

[Andrew_Fanner]

I use decent antifreeze out of the local car shop. Not had troubles yet. Likewise take your filter business to Lucas or similar, should get filters for a much lower price. Oil too.

 

[FlyingDutchman]

I use VP anti-freeze and oil.
They are not more expensive than a good quality from the local car shop. The filters are more expensive but compared to the total cost of boating it is nothing. The real money saving is in doing it yourself!
It gives me peace of mind knowing what I have done and knowing that I have used the original parts.

 

[Nautical]

I would check with VP about the warranty, I know for sure that they upgraded the D series at Southampton show last year to two years and could be retrospectively added to all D's bought that year. Not sure about the Kad's but worth checking.

 

[ChrisKaye]

Supposedly the Volvo antifreeze mix 50/50 will last for 2 years and need to be replaced then, For orig (luminous green) volvo antifreeze try the volvo bus and truck service, there's one in most major towns, much, much cheaper, they have a huge tank of it and will decant as much as you want into your own container for you. (bring your own container!)
Oil, i use texaco mixed fleet (from the bus company parts comes in 20litre plastic containers(for diesels, its the right spec) and again its much cheaper at @ £1/litre. I tend to use original volvo parts, but fit them myself, although I have just bought a copy exhaust elbow for an AD41 for £50 from the US (I didnt realize you could get copy parts like that) but havent fitted it yet

 

[danielbroad]

Oooh! Chris do you have a link for the AD41 exhaust elbow?

One of mine has already been replaced and i've been watching the other one looking steadily rustier....

 

[ChrisKaye]

Hi Daniel
I got it off ebay some months ago, then had it shipped to one of our US customers for them to include in a package next time they shipped to us (sounds complicated I know). Havent fitted it yet but looks exactly same as one I bought from volvo. Very faded packaging and I can just read "Big Blue ?????? (could be marine?) Part No 104033 " , have done a few googles to find them on the web but couldnt find anything anywhere on them otherwise I would buy a few more for stock !

 

[KevB]

If an engine went faulty within a reasonable amount of time (up to six years possibly), the sale of goods act would protect you. Any warranty supplied with the boat is in addition statutory rights.

So if your engine went pop after only one year I'd imagine you'd still get it repaired foc because of your statutory rights. And because of the block trading agreement I don't think Volvo can force you to get it serviced by an 'authorised dealer'

 

[duncan]

agreed but if they are anything like Yanmar (Barrus) they require a full list of all part numbers and dates for all work carried out on the engine before they will even look at it.

this even for a non moving part (power steering fluid cooler) that failed within the warantee period!

they seem to take the view that warantee issues are a matter for the supplying dealer.........and they sort of loose interest when you no longer use their services.

 

[zingaro]

thanks for the info, i have allready got the filters and oil from keyparts which are original volvo parts at a far cheaper price than my local volvo dealer and included free delivery, i tried my local volvo dealer to see if he would match their prices but he would only sell them at rrp. i will have to find my local, volvo truck and bus agent to see if i can get the original green stuff as i like to use orignal parts as much as possible then if i did have a issue with the engines then volvo could not blame the service items used. if anyone knows the nearest volvo commercial agent to blackpool would be grateful for info

 

[marcusgillies]

unless Volvo penta have changed there ways, which i very much doubt. All there angines are supplied dry which means no oil and no coolant!! The Builder, commisioner add his own oil, coolant mixture.
So long as you use the types (not makes) of oil, antifreeze written in the owners manual for these engines you should not have a problem.
You will probably find the boat builders used bog standard bluecol or similar in these engines.
However do not mix the red/yellow coolant with the blue/green coolant as the red/yellow has different inhibitor characteristics and the two should not idealy be mixed!