Volvo Penta MD2020 dumped all coolant in bilge under engine

[LittleSister]

My concern is that the VP website seems to say that a new core for that engine is not available any more, and ‘has been replaced by a different part’. Might I have to buy a whole new heat exchanger, at VP’s legendarily expensive spares prices? In which case it won’t be worth it on a 22 year old engine, I might as well have a new engine fitted, which will then do for me until I’m in my box (I’m 70 this year……)

Am I misreading the website, and a new heat exchanger core is in fact available?

The marine engineer says they can be repaired sometimes. Does anyone please know a firm that can repair them?

if push comes to shove, and you do need a new heat exchanger, you can probably fit a remote one. Bowman (and perhaps others) make a range of such things.

Alternatively, Bowman might perhaps make a core that will fit, or can be adapted to fit, your current housing. (They may even have made, and perhaps may still make, the original core, which Volvo are not stocking for some reason.)

 

[david_bagshaw]

My 2002 Beneteau Oceanis 281 has a Volvo Penta MD2020. I bought the boat new, and for the first seven or eight years I had the Volvo dealer service the engine every year, including winterising and spring recommissioning, then I used a local highly regarded ‘one man band’ marine engineer to do the same jobs.

On Monday last we found the bilge full of green coolant after our sail. The engine did not overheat and in fact we thought it might be running cooler than normal, as the domestic hot water from the calorifier was not as hot as it usually gets. The engine had clearly dumped all its coolant.

I’m a lawyer, not an engineer…….so I asked the marine engineer we use to take a look. He found that the cooling system was still full, so we think that raw salt water has got into the system somehow - he says most likely through a leak in the heat exchanger letting raw water into the cooling system.

He has dismantled the heat exchanger and taken the core off to pressure test it, which he believes may find the leak,

My concern is that the VP website seems to say that a new core for that engine is not available any more, and ‘has been replaced by a different part’. Might I have to buy a whole new heat exchanger, at VP’s legendarily expensive spares prices? In which case it won’t be worth it on a 22 year old engine, I might as well have a new engine fitted, which will then do for me until I’m in my box (I’m 70 this year……)

Am I misreading the website, and a new heat exchanger core is in fact available?

The marine engineer says they can be repaired sometimes. Does anyone please know a firm that can repair them?

Thanks!

I would suspect your calorifer, which has a leak on the engine coil, that heats the water. so it is pressurising the engine, and your coolant is escaping to the bilge, which has a little salt water in it.
Easy to check, , disconnect the plumbing to the engine, and run the domestic water system. check for a small water flow from the pipes. Common fault , winter frost damage.

 

[TimfromMersea]

It was the calorifier. A new one has been ordered - £805…….

 

[PaulRainbow]

It was the calorifier. A new one has been ordered - £805…….

Seriously ? On an 8m boat ?

That will buy a 65ltr calorifier and have some change !!!

 

[TimfromMersea]

Seriously ? On an 8m boat ?

That will buy a 65ltr calorifier and have some change !!!

Here’s the link:-

Calorifier Quick Nautic Boiler 1200 or 500 Watt 25 litre or 40 litre

That price is plus VAT and it’s one of the lowest ones……it’s the only one that will fit in the space it has to go in

 

[PaulRainbow]

Here’s the link:-

Calorifier Quick Nautic Boiler 1200 or 500 Watt 25 litre or 40 litre

That price is plus VAT and it’s one of the lowest ones……it’s the only one that will fit in the space it has to go in

That's a rip-off Tim, nothing here that would fit ? Surejust > Surecal Calorifiers

 

[TimfromMersea]

That's a rip-off Tim, nothing here that would fit ? Surejust > Surecal Calorifiers

Thanks, but it’s not a job I’m confident to do myself, so by the time I’ve paid the marine engineer to adapt all the pipework, I might as well simply fit the direct replacement for the original one that Beneteau fitted.

 

[TimfromMersea]

A new calorifier has been fitted and all is now well.

But I was interested to see what had happened, so the engineer who fitted the new one took the old calorifier ashore and left it for me to pick up to investigate.

We all met at my Yacht Club friend’s workshop, and four retired men spent a happy morning, on a wet day, doing what men do in their sheds, tinkering with things……

The casing was riveted on, so after drilling out the rivets, we got the outside casing off, prised off the foam insulation, took the heating element out, and looked inside. It was very rusty in there but we couldn’t see any obvious leak.

We sealed up the engine coolant outlet pipe, filled the unit with water, and started up the compressor which the engineer amongst us had in his workshop, then applied air pressure to the heating coil – and voila! – air bubbles from a rusty patch on the bottom of the heating coil, where it sits in the little bit of water that stays in the unit even after it has been depressurised for the winter. It definitely wasn’t frost damage – just old age.

Thought might be of interest to someone with the same problem.

The old one lasted 22 years. I’m 70 this year – the new one doesn’t need to do another 22……….

 

[Nessy]

Many thanks for telling this very interesting experience!

I own a Beneteau Antares 9,80 motorcruiser built 2009 and the calorifier looks very similar……

Cordilally!

Stefan

 

[TimfromMersea]

Many thanks for telling this very interesting experience!

I own a Beneteau Antares 9,80 motorcruiser built 2009 and the calorifier looks very similar……

Cordilally!

Stefan

It was a Quick Nautic square BX25 water heater, fitted by Beneteau when the boat was built in 2002 - we’ve owned the boat from new.

It has been replaced by the new model BXS25, the S standing for ‘inox’ as it’s now made of stainless steel - this one:-

Calorifier Quick Nautic Boiler 1200 or 500 Watt 25 litre or 40 litre

 

[Nessy]

Thank you very much!

I‘ ll store this info in my archive.

Cordilally! Stefan