Volvo Penta D1-30

[andylipsberg]

Hello sailors.

Probably this questions has been asked number of times, but I couldn't find anything relevant in the previous posts.
I'm looking to buy a boat, going to view several. One of the boats is from 2007 with Volvo Penta D1-30 engine but unknown engine hours which I'm not really happy about because it's hard to determine approximate usage of this engine. Owner says around 2000 hours. But who knows.

I know that if the maintenance has been done annually and properly, probably engine will last another 5000 hours, maybe not.

Of course starting the engine, exhaust (black, white) etc and other visual checks.

Shall I walk away from this boat or what would you recommend on how to reliably to determine before I commit to survey this boat. There are at least 2 boats I like from pictures, but I can't do survey on every boat I like

Thank you.

 

[pvb]

The D1-30 is based on a common industrial engine, which in commercial use lasts many thousands of hours. With a used boat, it's often the case that more engine hours are preferable to few engine hours.

 

[peteK]

2007 engine so fairly new then in boat terms,its based on the Perkins engine which has a good reputation.

 

[Slowtack]

One positive is that a 2007 model should have the older relay based control unit unlike the more recent solid state unit that suffers from frequent failure as noted elsewhere on this and other fora.

 

[Tranona]

2000 hours is about right for a 14 year old engine. Typical leisure boat usage is around 100-150 hours a year. Boat engines rarely actually wear out - in commercial and industrial use 8-10000 hours is common. The main issues in marine use are the seawater pump, heat exchanger and exhaust elbow, so would look for evidence that these have had some checking or maintenance during the engine's life. The elbow is perhaps the most critical because clogging up is not immediately obvious, but not difficult to remove and replace with an aftermarket stainless one.

 

[Moodysailor]

There isn't much to worry about on those engines that can't be diagnosed or inspected by a reputable marine engineer.

If in doubt as to the condition, or if you have concerns, ask to see the maintenance logs/records, have a mechanical survey done by a marine engineer and ask them to take an oil sample.

As has been covered in plenty of threads, hours run in and of itself is not an indicator of the condition of an engine - it's just one metric.

 

[Never Grumble]

There isn't much to worry about on those engines that can't be diagnosed or inspected by a reputable marine engineer.

If in doubt as to the condition, or if you have concerns, ask to see the maintenance logs/records, have a mechanical survey done by a marine engineer and ask them to take an oil sample.

As has been covered in plenty of threads, hours run in and of itself is not an indicator of the condition of an engine - it's just one metric.

Three years ago when I bought our boat, which at the time was about 25 years old, the best I got was a handful of receipts showing how much the current owner had spent in the last two years. There wasn't a single clue as to when anything had last been serviced. I think that is more the reality in the leisure boat world.

 

[Moodysailor]

Three years ago when I bought our boat, which at the time was about 25 years old, the best I got was a handful of receipts showing how much the current owner had spent in the last two years. There wasn't a single clue as to when anything had last been serviced. I think that is more the reality in the leisure boat world.

That's a shame. I do the maintenance on our engine, and record this in the logbook. I do this as our engine is 50 yrs old and we don't have a manual for it. VP make it easy as there is a maintenance record in the back of the book - all it takes is for someone to note the work done each time. Some others write service dates on the filters, that would also indicate a certain level of care and attention.

But this is why I recommended getting a reputable engineer to attend and inspect if there are doubts.

 

[jackho]

Hello sailors.

Probably this questions has been asked number of times, but I couldn't find anything relevant in the previous posts.
I'm looking to buy a boat, going to view several. One of the boats is from 2007 with Volvo Penta D1-30 engine but unknown engine hours which I'm not really happy about because it's hard to determine approximate usage of this engine. Owner says around 2000 hours. But who knows.

I know that if the maintenance has been done annually and properly, probably engine will last another 5000 hours, maybe not.

Of course starting the engine, exhaust (black, white) etc and other visual checks.

Shall I walk away from this boat or what would you recommend on how to reliably to determine before I commit to survey this boat. There are at least 2 boats I like from pictures, but I can't do survey on every boat I like

Thank you.

Your engine hours will be recorded on the Hour counter on the control panel even though it may not be readable. A competent person could soon sort it for you. A lot of threads on doing this the most common being removing and placing in an oven at low temp,to dry out.

 

[Never Grumble]

That's a shame. I do the maintenance on our engine, and record this in the logbook. I do this as our engine is 50 yrs old and we don't have a manual for it. VP make it easy as there is a maintenance record in the back of the book - all it takes is for someone to note the work done each time. Some others write service dates on the filters, that would also indicate a certain level of care and attention.

I use the back pages of my yacht log book as a maintenance record.

 

[Baggywrinkle]

I have a D1-30 which I bought in 2016. If it is serviced by a Volvo authorised dealer then VP will have a record of the service intervals including engine hours.

 

[dunedin]

Your engine hours will be recorded on the Hour counter on the control panel even though it may not be readable. A competent person could soon sort it for you. A lot of threads on doing this the most common being removing and placing in an oven at low temp,to dry out.

Not sure if the D1 uses the electronic MDI that the D2 generally uses - but if so I wouldn’t rely on the hours showing.
Our D2 is now on its third MDI, and the engine hours get reset to zero with each change. I have noted in my records the hours before the last MDI change, but didn’t even know that the MDI wasn’t original (and hence hours low) when bought the boat.

 

[jackho]

Not sure if the D1 uses the electronic MDI that the D2 generally uses - but if so I wouldn’t rely on the hours showing.
Our D2 is now on its third MDI, and the engine hours get reset to zero with each change. I have noted in my records the hours before the last MDI change, but didn’t even know that the MDI wasn’t original (and hence hours low) when bought the boat.

I guess this was before the MDI control panel. My D1 30 2006 is the former (thankfully).