Volvo Penta life expectancy

[Delfini]

I am becoming interested in a 48 foot sailing yacht from 1996 with a Volvo Penta 57HP engine and 8,356 hours on the clock

Even if the engine has been well looked after in its lifetime, is that considered to be a lot of miles and likely needing replacement anytime soon ?

It feels like the equivalent of 150,000 miles but I don't know if there is any comparison/calculation for a marine diesel

Thanks for any advice

 

[Concerto]

Any well cared for and serviced engine should run for years and years. This is about 380 hours a year. When that is compared to a lorry or van engine, they will do 8356 hours in 4 to 5 years. The older diesel engines are relatively simple engines and easy to fix to compared to modern ones with turbos and electronics (both which are prone to fail).

 

[Ladybirdgaffcutter]

My Volvo 36 yacht engine lasted 45 yrs, they just need regular hard use, and basic maintenance.

 

[[70521]]

My 1986 VP 2002 is just run in. In the last 4 years it has done 60 hours. In the three years before that it did 20.

 

[Bobc]

I assume it's an MD22 engine. If so, it has a design life of 10,000 hours. They can and do go for much longer than this, but will probably be due a re-build (re-bore & new pistons, crank re-grind, head re-furb with new valves and seals, etc.). If you can do this yourself, you can buy the kit for £400 and after paying for the re-bore, crank re-grind, head plane, etc. you will end up spending about £1,000. If however you can't do it yourself, it will be more sensible and cost effective to re-power with a new D2-60, which is about £10k fitted.

 

[oldgit]

Viewed a 1978 Princess 33 with over 10,000 hours on a pair of 40A engines a few years ago
Both ran perfectly well, if bit smokey on start up.
Was oil tight and appeared OK to last for at least a few more years.
No obvious signs of having had major work done.

 

[Motor_Sailor]

It's really a little unhelpful to lump all old diesels into one category. If the engine is a Volvo MD22 then it's a Perkins engine as fitted to the Austin Montego, and was an early 'performance' diesel, rather than a plodder complete with rubber timing belts not mechanical gears, etc.

It had a reasonable reputation and there were stories of Montego taxis doing over 300,000 miles without an engine overhaul. If you multiply 8356 hrs by 50 mph (the equivalent road speed at a steady 2500 rpm) you get 417,800 miles. I don't think many people looking at an Austin Montego with 417,800 miles on the clock would be thinking the engine was still in its first flush of youth.

Everything will depend on its life history and the quality of its use and maintenance. However, as said, there are quite a lot of cheaper aftermarket parts available for the base engine (Parts 4 Engines amongst others), so if it starts well and runs okay, stick a new timing belt on it (and replace the engine water pump while you're there) and live with it for a while. A DIY complete rebuild is possible for under £2000, replacement secondhand engines are less than £3000 and a new replacement engine will cost around the £10000.

 

[KellysEye]

I asked a number of marine engine and generator repair shops in the Caribbean how long a marine engine will last the consensus was 8,000 hours so that engine is doing well, just keep to it's service schedule and it should last much longer.

 

[RichardS]

I asked a number of marine engine and generator repair shops in the Caribbean how long a marine engine will last the consensus was 8,000 hours so that engine is doing well, just keep to it's service schedule and it should last much longer.

A bit of a non-sequitur there, surely?

Richard

 

[macd]

If you multiply 8356 hrs by 50 mph (the equivalent road speed at a steady 2500 rpm) you get 417,800 miles. I don't think many people looking at an Austin Montego with 417,800 miles on the clock would be thinking the engine was still in its first flush of youth.

Sensible post. Average UK traffic speeds have been and are much less than that...rather less than 40mph. But 40 x 8356 is also far from youthful.

Worth noting that 380 hrs p.a. suggests regular use for significant times, rather than lots of short hops. That's much kinder to an engine...comparable with a Montego spending most of its time droning along motorways. Most wear occurs at start-up from cold.

I asked a number of marine engine and generator repair shops in the Caribbean how long a marine engine will last the consensus was 8,000 hours so that engine is doing well, just keep to it's service schedule and it should last much longer.

Only true for engines which have used a non sequitur oil additive since new. Your logic continues to astound.

 

[Motor_Sailor]

I asked . . . how long a marine engine will last . . .

What's a 'marine engine' ? Gardner, Sabb, Perkins 4108, Buhk, Vetus, Nanni, Mitshubishi, Lugger, 1GM10, turbocharged, non-turbo, seawater cooled, fresh water cooled, ?

They all have exactly the same life expectancy? Wow.

 

[jwilson]

Or it could be long hours running at a fast tickover to charge batteries. I'd prefer an engine that had done it's hours at decent load.

As to average speed by cars over their life: none of mine with trip computers have ever got past 25 mph average long-term despite regular long trips in with local shopping. Unless your use is a long motorway commute I'd say 25 not 40 or 50mph.

 

[prv]

Worth noting that 380 hrs p.a. suggests regular use for significant times, rather than lots of short hops.

No indication that it's the case, but presumably this calculation would be rather different if the yacht had been in charter use rather than private.

Pete

 

[lw395]

I assume it's an MD22 engine. If so, it has a design life of 10,000 hours. They can and do go for much longer than this, but will probably be due a re-build (re-bore & new pistons, crank re-grind, head re-furb with new valves and seals, etc.). If you can do this yourself, you can buy the kit for £400 and after paying for the re-bore, crank re-grind, head plane, etc. you will end up spending about £1,000. If however you can't do it yourself, it will be more sensible and cost effective to re-power with a new D2-60, which is about £10k fitted.

But if it's running OK at present, many owners will get several years boating from the remaining 1600-odd hours of design life. The 10k hours will be an average guide, some will die young some will go longer.
If it's running well now, it's likely to keep doing so. OTOH, any signs of wear it does have will slowly get worse.

So, I'd allow in the budget for work being needed at some point, or ending up selling the boat with a very tired engine. If I envisaged trotting off on a world tour and using the engine heavily for the next 2 years, that would be different from planning to visit France and Cornwall occassionally for the next 5 years.

Also I'd regard the hour meter reading as being about as dependable as the odometer on one of those taxis someone mentioned....

 

[macd]

No indication that it's the case...

Indeed not, except for the comparatively high annual average, which may be misleading. That's why I used "suggests" rather than anything dogmatic. The OP might be advised to try to pin down the typical cycle of historic use.

 

[Kukri]

A friend has a similar sized boat with a similar horsepower Yanmar with 9,500 hours on it; runs like a Swiss watch.

 

[vyv_cox]

When son Owen was engineer for Sunsail flotillas he worked out that some of the engines on lead boats had done 15,000 hours with no major issues.

 

[Delfini]

Thanks very much for all the helpful comments - assuming the lifetime of this engine is about 10K hrs, what should I look for to establish if all is as it should be or its knackered ?

I can only think to have a good inspection if it looks tidy and looked after and check for black (or is it white) smoke on startup ?

 

[Bobc]

Thanks very much for all the helpful comments - assuming the lifetime of this engine is about 10K hrs, what should I look for to establish if all is as it should be or its knackered ?

I can only think to have a good inspection if it looks tidy and looked after and check for black (or is it white) smoke on startup ?

If it smokes a lot at cold start, that would indicate that it might be due a re-bore. The MD22 is a low-compression engine to start with, and so when the compressions get towards the lower limits, there isn't enough compression to ignite the fuel properly when the engine is cold. Ask when the cambelt was last changed, they need to be done every 5 or 6 years (change bearings at the same time). Check the oil for emulsification, which will show if there is any problem with water or coolant getting into the engine. If the oil is particulary black, it might suggest blow-by (combustion gases getting past the piston rings, which is also a result of needing a re-bore). Otherwise if it starts and runs well, it's probably fine.

If I were buying this boat, I'd still be asking for at least £5k off the price towards the cost of re-powering.

 

[vyv_cox]

Thanks very much for all the helpful comments - assuming the lifetime of this engine is about 10K hrs, what should I look for to establish if all is as it should be or its knackered ?

I can only think to have a good inspection if it looks tidy and looked after and check for black (or is it white) smoke on startup ?

Look on my website. There is a page there that answers exactly this question.