Volvo Penta D6 in 2006 boat. 700 hours.

What drive system is that then? and dont all gearboxes recommend an oil change yearly?
IPS. :(
Did contact the local Volvo Penta dealer about the labour and parts cost of the mandated shaft seal change, they have not replied.

Never actually "changed" the gearbox oil in any of my shaft drive boats including Perkins Velvet Drive or Volvo Penta.
Purely gone on condition, if its bright and sparkly its OK.
Generic fluid normally used costs around £5.00 a litre and need less than 5 litres.
 
IPS. :(
Did contact the local Volvo Penta dealer about the labour and parts cost of the mandated shaft seal change, they have not replied.

Never actually "changed" the gearbox oil in any of my shaft drive boats including Perkins Velvet Drive or Volvo Penta.
Purely gone on condition, if its bright and sparkly its OK.
Generic fluid normally used costs around £5.00 a litre and need less than 5 litres.

fair enough to reject , but I wouldnt have rejected it on the basis that it required an oil change yearly with volvos oil , I'd just not have considered it because it was IPS with all the other complexity they bring.

I'm surprised with your well known dislike of outdrives that you'd even bother to look at a boat with IPS - IPS makes outdrives look simple and cheap
 
1500 ish hrs now on our D6 435s. Broom 425 2007, mixture of slow Broads cruising and extended fast coastal work, very happy.

Well matched to the boat, great spread of torque, 22kn cruise and 34kn WOT. 110-120LPH combined at cruise.

They eat belt tensioners every couple of seasons, so we change them before it becomes an issue. Have the heat exchangers flushed every season for additional peace of mind. EVC throttles started playing up end of last year, which we have stripped and rebuilt. Don't forget to change engine anodes, favourite is the old one rots out and falls into the cooler, reducing flow.

As said above watch for leaking end caps, leaking fuel coolers, leaking rear main oil seal, usual Volvo stuff.

Other than regular general servicing and the above, no scary bills as yet. Provided that engine bay access is good, self-servicing is certainly possible, just bare in mind most electrical issues require a Vodia tool to interrogate the system, so you're likely to be friends with the local dealer one way or another!
There's a guy on Facebook who sells very nice stainless steel D6 pulleys with interchangeable (i.e. cheap) bearings. Might be worth considering if the boat is a keeper for you.
 
fair enough to reject , but I wouldnt have rejected it on the basis that it required an oil change yearly with volvos oil , I'd just not have considered it because it was IPS with all the other complexity they bring.

I'm surprised with your well known dislike of outdrives that you'd even bother to look at a boat with IPS - IPS makes outdrives look simple and cheap

The interest was the 3 cabins and 2006 boat, no broker involved and an actual physical vessel that you actually got to stand on that had not been sold weeks previously .
Suspect it was within my price range simply because the IPS dragged the price down.
Enquiries about the cost of maintenance on the the D6 and the IPS was the final coupe de grace.
 
IPS. :(
Did contact the local Volvo Penta dealer about the labour and parts cost of the mandated shaft seal change, they have not replied.

Never actually "changed" the gearbox oil in any of my shaft drive boats including Perkins Velvet Drive or Volvo Penta.
Purely gone on condition, if its bright and sparkly its OK.
Generic fluid normally used costs around £5.00 a litre and need less than 5 litres.

You were considering an IPS boat? After everything you've said in the past!!?

Well I never. :D
 
IPS. :(
Did contact the local Volvo Penta dealer about the labour and parts cost of the mandated shaft seal change, they have not replied.

Never actually "changed" the gearbox oil in any of my shaft drive boats including Perkins Velvet Drive or Volvo Penta.
Purely gone on condition, if its bright and sparkly its OK.
Generic fluid normally used costs around £5.00 a litre and need less than 5 litres.
The oil for IPS is the same as for outdrives . Its 75w-90 fully synthetic
I guess if the VP dealer does the job he will want to use the oil that comes from a bottle with VP printed on it.
Alternatively the correct spec oil can be purchased at a more sensible price

below prices exclude VAT
1644507578463.png
 
The oil for IPS is the same as for outdrives . Its 75w-90 fully synthetic
I guess if the VP dealer does the job he will want to use the oil that comes from a bottle with VP printed on it.
Alternatively the correct spec oil can be purchased at a more sensible price

below prices exclude VAT
View attachment 130159
Think we had this debate before ?
VP reckon there’s has something added in there gear oil(s) to mitigate the inevitable water intrusion from busted seals .
I had a few times at the annual service emulsified oil drain out of the DPH outdrives.
Nothing exceptional added to the bill apart from fresh seals and the odd €100- €200 extra part deemed out of spec .
Thing is i will never know if they leaked at week 1 or 51 between the service.
Point is it wasn’t catastrophic.

Anyhow you need to take a bigger “brave pill “ to tackle aged IPS ownership .
I get brand new or nearly new avec warrenty .

But then what when it’s out of warranty ?

But I heard of horror stories of rows between VP owner over prop strikes .VP claim busted drive gears are prop strikes thus wear n tear and not covered by warranty .Also water ingress found at the annual leading to big bills of replacement gears .VP try and cop out saying “ you must have hit a submerged something or other “ despite a perfectly looking props .
Your ins Co says no ! We will not pay for a damaged prop and there isn’t any according to our assessor who’s seen the boat in the yard .
The leaky seal / gear issue is VP s responsibility.

Boat running up yard fees while the tennis match ensures between VP and owners ins Co .
VP agent in paralyses until the bill payer stands up .Highly likely to be the owner in the end .

I understand unlike the DPH drive which could survive emulsification of its gear oil with a 3 figure tidy up bill , IPS can’t survive .Water ingress kill them = big bills running to 5 figure .

Well that’s my personal experience with DPH and 3 friends with IPS , with the D6 .
One new gears .Two new pods ….too far gone to repair .All three various faults one a show stopper got stuck in Italy en route back to the SoF .Took 5 months if argi bargi to resolve .Final bill €25 K +


Anyhow i wonder will happen with aged IPS boats residuals ?
Pity you can’t get the seller to put €40 K in an escrow account for 24 months or something.Or do asking prices reflect the risk ?
 
"ari said:
You were considering an IPS boat? After everything you've said in the past!!?
Well I never. :D "



A Momentory Lapse of Reason !

The mere thought of even having considered IPS in order to get an actual boat , now adds a new terror to the hours of darkness around 04.00 .
Memories of sitting on the dock in the sun as shaft drive boats glide past on the glistening waters, while my outdrives yet again dripped a mousse of milky oil onto the concrete and the spanners lying underneath , it all comes flooding back. :)
1644570147440.png
 
Last edited:
Top