Volvo Penta 290 dp pressure / vacuum test

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Neilthesparky

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Good evening all,
Does anyone know of someone who sells a pressure and vacuum test kit for Volvo Penta out drives ?
My boats out the water for winter maintenance and I've removed the legs today, brought them home and started by draining the oil. It's creamy in colour which suggests water ingress to me, it also smells pretty bad. I don't know when it was last checked / changed as I've only had the boat since September, may just be years of neglect but would like to pressure test it to be sure.
Many thanks
Neil
 
Neilthesparky said:
Good evening all,
Does anyone know of someone who sells a pressure and vacuum test kit for Volvo Penta out drives ?
My boats out the water for winter maintenance and I've removed the legs today, brought them home and started by draining the oil. It's creamy in colour which suggests water ingress to me, it also smells pretty bad. I don't know when it was last checked / changed as I've only had the boat since September, may just be years of neglect but would like to pressure test it to be sure.
Many thanks
Neil
Click to expand...

You need to do just more than a pressure test.
You must strip the drives , reseal the shafts and the
Gear shift seal, input seal, flush out every trace of the contaminated oil, check all the bearings and gears for damage to the case hardening etc then check the shimm up settings on the gears when you rebuild it, that way you might just stand a chance of some reliability in the forthcoming season.
 
Cheers volvopaul, I don't suppose your interested in quoting me to carry out the work?? I'm not too bad with a spanner but this could be beyond my skills.
Cheers
Neil
 
It isn't as scary as it sounds, in the several hundred VP drives I have replaced seals in due to water ingress only a handful required gears or bearings. I can honestly say on nearly every twin installation I have seen at least one drive had water in it, we used to take bets in the workshop before we drained the oil, would it be clear or would it be Baileys! until it got too predictable with 50% odds. It only usually gets expensive if its ignored i.e. gone for too long with water in the oil and then the lower pinion which is the smallest gear in the drive can start to shed teeth, then its very expensive! but in my experience 95% are fine with a good flush, inspection and new seals.
 
Cheers spannerman, the boat was dry stacked before I owned it, I checked gearbox oil level and it was correct and clear, I checked the second leg last night and the oil was still at the correct level and clear but when I drained it it's obviously got some water in it, not as creamy as the first leg but not in good condition. I would love to do the seal replacement myself but would it still need pressure testing after??
Cheers
Neil
 
Yes you need to do the vac/pressure test to be sure everything is tight and fitted correctly, and there aren't any leaks on the new seals and O rings before you fill it with oil.
 
Vac/pressure test is no big thing. There are tools you can buy, like this "http://drevdelar.se/tryck-o-vakumprovare-lackagetestare" Its Swedish though but there must be similar ones else ware.
This one comes with an instruction for vp drives.
 
spannerman said:
It isn't as scary as it sounds, in the several hundred VP drives I have replaced seals in due to water ingress only a handful required gears or bearings. I can honestly say on nearly every twin installation I have seen at least one drive had water in it, we used to take bets in the workshop before we drained the oil, would it be clear or would it be Baileys! until it got too predictable with 50% odds. It only usually gets expensive if its ignored i.e. gone for too long with water in the oil and then the lower pinion which is the smallest gear in the drive can start to shed teeth, then its very expensive! but in my experience 95% are fine with a good flush, inspection and new seals.
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This post should be printed/laminated and nailed to the mast of every boat with outdrives. :):):)
I personally would add a skull and crossbones or two for good measure. :)
 
Last edited:
oldgit said:
This post should be printed/laminated and nailed to the mast of very boat with outdrives. :):):)
I personally would add a skull and crossbones for good measure. :)
Click to expand...

Have you read the rials and tribulations of poor old VAS?

I know that shafts are simpler, and less prone to regular niggles, but having read about VAS's issues and having also spoke with someone at LIBs who had a £25k repair bill for a shaft drive gearbox problem, I wouldn't be so sure that you are immune. £25k buys a few spare outdrives. I hope it never happens to you, but if it does the big question is: would you come on here and admit it :p
 
Cheers for the replies, for my own curiosity I rigged up a Heath Robinson pressure test set up and the first leg I've tried it on has held 20psi for well over an hour now!! 5 psi higher than the Volvo manual states!!
 
I have used a Laser 3752 Pressure / Vacuum kit that seems to do the job for a modest DIY’er, I modified the end fitting with a Mercruiser oil pump fitting to screw into the oil drain plug.
May I ask... after a thorough flush - If you change the shaft seals and the gearshift seal, then the pressure and vacuum test passes with no problems – would you need to strip the upper gear housing? This is assuming only a mild case of water ingress. I can understand if the drives are new to you and history unknown, but what if regularly maintained?
Oh, and I was advised only to use Volvo Penta OEM seals.
 
Volvo OEM are not always the best. I have seen volvo split pins rot away in a matter of weeks and a Volvo seal that was immersed in salt water with a mild steel spring. The Spring lasted a year before the seal leaked.
 
moresparks said:
I have used a Laser 3752 Pressure / Vacuum kit that seems to do the job for a modest DIY’er, I modified the end fitting with a Mercruiser oil pump fitting to screw into the oil drain plug.
May I ask... after a thorough flush - If you change the shaft seals and the gearshift seal, then the pressure and vacuum test passes with no problems – would you need to strip the upper gear housing? This is assuming only a mild case of water ingress. I can understand if the drives are new to you and history unknown, but what if regularly maintained?
Oh, and I was advised only to use Volvo Penta OEM seals.
Click to expand...

If it passes the leak test and there is no sign of water ingress in the bellows then you don't need to strip the upper section. I have seen bellows with a small amount of water in the bellows but the U/J was fine, its only if the U/J gets rusty and notchy when you move it, or if the steel ring which the input shaft seal seats on behind the U/J gets rusty do you need to strip it as the input seal will get ripped up by the rust on the ring, this will let water into the drive and oil will come out but this will be pretty obvious either visually or by the hissing sound when pressure testing.
 
It should be OK for vacuum testing with the right adapter, the manual states a max vacuum of 355-405 Hg, it shouldn't lose more than 25 Hg in 3 minutes.
 
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