Volvo or Yanmar

[Guest]

I'm having to re-engine a Nicholson 35 (don't ask why). The options are a Volvo MD2040 or a Yanmar 3JH3. Does anyone have strong feelings (or any feelings) about or experiences with either?
Many thanks.

 

[DepSol]

See Pist'n broe on Motor Boat forum.

Dom

I just want my boat back in te water ;-(

 

[HaraldS]

Can only offer my biased view.
Had to make the same decision three years ago and went for Yanmar, based on no experience with Yanmar, and not so good experience with Volvo.

So by now I had Volvo, Perkins and Yanmar in our boats. All of the boats started with a new engine. The first, with a Volvo MD2 we only had for 4 years and the Volvo caused more problems than the Perkins 4108 in the next boat which we had for 13 years. The Yanmar (4JH3-HTBE) is only three years old and has worked flawless so far.

Back then I found Volvo support not so great and the spare parts way overpriced.
Perkins parts were cheap as they are used in cars as well. Don't know about Yanmar parts (yet), only bought some consumables and key spares and they were within reason.

 

[billmacfarlane]

My last boat had a Yanmar 2GM , which I had for 12 years. Like one of the other postings I'm unaware of the price of Yanmar spares for the simple reason that I never had to use any apart from consumables. The engine ran flawlessly for 12 years. I now have a Volvo , not through choice , and reading other people's experiences on this site , don't expect another 12 years trouble free running. I'd go for a Yanmar every time.

 

[Aja]

Had a Volvo MD2B for 20 years and it ate alternators and starters with all consumables overpriced. Was fitted by Volvo approved agent - badly. Gave up the ghost due to raw water etching between cooling jacket and cylinder allowing water into the cylinder. Replaced with Yanmar 2GM20F 3 years ago. Fitted it myself. Runs sweetly if a bit jumpy at tickover. As per before with the Yanmar have only fitted impellors - widely available and reasonably costed.

My father has just recently replaced his engine with a Volvo 2030. Nice smooth engine. Again his consumables seem more expensive.

Donald

 

[Guest]

From my experience, Yanmar is the best bet as they are fantastic engines, don't suffer from corrosion of cooling pipes etc which I found with a volvo engine, after the first year, you can by oil, fuel filters and fan belts from a car shop. A snippet of the cost that you pay for Volvo parts. Plus as long as you regularly service the engine, including the injectors, you will never have a problem with them. If you do, 9 times out of 10 it will be something very simple such as a lose contact.
The only problem experienced with them were the mounts which suffered from fatigue at young age.
have fun

 

[salamicollie]

I have a 20 + year old Yanmar YSB12 - as long as you feed it fresh oil regularly it runs happily - they do need spares eventually - at 18 years it needed a the solenoid rewinding and at 19 years it needed a new exhaust elbow and union (the old ones were cast iron, replacements are bronze) but prices are not ludicrous.

Friend in Wales with a Nic 35 chucked out the Perkins and replaced with the Yanmar you are considering - v pleased with it.

 

[escape]

Re: If they are so bad...

I was just wondering, if volvo's are so bad, as repoted in this posting and many others then why are they still produced.
Surely market forces should have brought about their demise.
Could it be that you get what you pay for?
Just an honest question.I have no links to volvo or any other manufacturer.

 

[david_e]

Have never owned a marine diesel but might be doing in the near future. When looking at various boats, Brokers will say it has a Volvo but enthuse that it has a Yanmar. Reason being is that the Yanmar is a purpose built/designed marine engine.

Have read many negative comments about Volvo on here over the last 6 months, enough to make me cautious. What surpised me is that a brand such a Volvo, that once made bullet proof engines such as the the B18/20's in their cars and were the truck to have, could go this way. Then I learnt they were another manufacturer's diesel engine rebranded. Nuff said.

 

[bigmart]

Have you seen the price of Volvo parts. Their reputation for overcharging is well deserved.

My last boat has a Yanmar 2GM20F which I am now selling ( Having broken the boat) & my replacement vessel has a Yanmar, which must be as old as the boat ,(30 Years) & it starts like a dream.

There's no contest in my view.

 

[toad]

Re: If they are so bad...

Rumour has it that Volvo sold their engines to boat builders at cost price and made their profit on the spares. I've had both and Yanmar is by far the best engine in my opinion.

 

[chippie]

Re: If they are so bad...

I would go with the Yanmar as everybody I know who has had one has nothing but praise for it.
In fairness to Volvo, I think there are a lot more around so the number of problems will be correspondingly higher. There's no getting around the parts prices though.

 

[halcyon]

Re: If they are so bad...

Afraid the boatbuilders are treated with the same respect that the general public are, Volvo are a law unto themselves.
The old day they were not that bad, and then BMW, Mercruiser were worse. and the Volvo stern drive worked. Then Volvo had the sense to tie up with Perkins and got diesel technology from them, as Volvo at the time could not meet polution requirments. They then cornered the market, and became the law, did Ford get the marine side when they bought Volvo ?


Brian

 

[vyv_cox]

I'm not going to tell you any different. Both Yanmars I have owned, one very old the other now 1 year, have been excellent. My son was an engineer and later a skipper on a flotilla lead boat in Turkey, the Yanmar engine on that had done an incredible number of hours but still ran very reliably. He had loads of trouble with Volvos, especially the fresh water cooled ones. Ultimately they converted them all back to raw water cooled.

 

[Guest]

There is no question here..Yanmar. From experience of working on and rebuilding many engines, volvos needs more looking after and the parts....DAMN!!

A grands worth of spares can be held in one hand....

 

[Aja]

Re: If they are so bad...

The answer to that is Volvo offer their engines at ridiculously discounted prices to boat manufacturers. Both sides gain. Boat manufacturer reduces their overall costs. Volvo get money from selling expensive spares to owners.....

This is fine if you are the owner of a new boat, but as has been discussed elsewhere on this forum, new boat owners are quite happy to have ownership of a new boat for maybe 3 years or so and then move up. The problem arises after the boat has had a few owners and the engine starts to need attention.

IMHO of course...

Donald

 

[oldsaltoz]

G’day Redphillips.
If you need convincing try running a search to how many posts relate to complaints and problem with Volvo in this forum, then run the same search for Yanmar.
Also, note that both have expensive parts and consumables, however the Yanmar needs less of them. They do say you can pull a Yanmar apart and drop them in a bucket then put it all back together without problems, try that with a Volvo.
Another interesting point when looking at marine engines is the weight of the engine and predicted fuel usage as both can have a marked effect on performance.

Andavagoodweekend Old Salt Oz……

 

[PeteMcK]

Other Manufacturer

Yes, but the other manufacturer is Perkins. The core engine, and my only experience of it is as a 4-cyl Perkins in automotive uses, is extremely robust. If you do enough digging, I think you might find the Yanmars have some sort of automotive/agricultural/industrial engine links too.

 

[PeteMcK]

But PS

I'd go a long way to avoid being landed with an engine with the Volvo reputation, never having owned one.

 

[longjohnsilver]

In defence of Volvo!

They do paint them a nice shade of green!

Can't think of much else in their favour!!