dwgoldsack
New Member
just purchased a sd with a volvo penta 2001 model 1994 with saildrive
can anyone tell me the pitfalls with this engine type
can anyone tell me the pitfalls with this engine type
volvo penta model 2001 1994
- Thread starter dwgoldsack
- Start date
Bilgediver
Well-Known Member
Did you check on the sailrdive diaphragm history. These are recommended to be changed every 7 years so yours may be due its second change....could cost an arm and a leg if done by Joe Bloggs at the marina .
The engine is fine though you may have to learn the cold start procedure.
This seems oddball but it is correct.....advance the speed control to about half out of gear. then pull the stop handle to the full extent of its travel and push back to normal setting then start the engine.
Some folk may tlk about drive problems with these engines however the 2001 is the least likely canditate and as it has a saildrive it is not likely to have drive spline problems on the engine which do occur when the engine is used with a gearbox and sail drive.
The engine is fine though you may have to learn the cold start procedure.
This seems oddball but it is correct.....advance the speed control to about half out of gear. then pull the stop handle to the full extent of its travel and push back to normal setting then start the engine.
Some folk may tlk about drive problems with these engines however the 2001 is the least likely canditate and as it has a saildrive it is not likely to have drive spline problems on the engine which do occur when the engine is used with a gearbox and sail drive.
Tranona
Well-Known Member
They have a reputation of being a bit marginal on cooling and don't like being run flat out for long periods. The saildrive is unstressed in this application (designed to go up to 70hp). Make sure you change the anode on the leg every year and that there ar no leaks from the seals at the bottom end.
EdEssery
Well-Known Member
As they're raw water cooled they can get bunged up inside. As the previous poster said, the symptoms of this is overheating after an about an hour or so under load. Mine suffered from this. The cure is easy. There's a pipe that carries cooling water from the front of the block to the back. Water runs continuously through this pipe from the water pump at the front of the engine through the pipe and then up into the exhaust elbow at the back. The pipe has a hole in it. When the engine gets hot the thermostat on top of the engine opens and allows water to enter the water channels in the block through the hole in the pipe; the water then passes through the thermostat into the exhaust elbow. The problem is that the hole in the pipe gets clogged up and restricts cooling water flow through the block leading to overheats.
The cure is to disconnect the water pipes from the front and back of the block and then knock the internal water pipe out of the block using a drift from the front of the block to knock it out the back. As you take it out note the orientation of the hole - it need to go back in the same orientation (I think, but am not certain of my memory here, that it should be in the six o'clock position). Clean up the pipe up, some people drill the hole out a little to make it larger and allow more cooling flow when the thermostat is open, put a new seal on the flange at the aft end of the pipe and reassemble. No more than an hour's work. Tools wise the only special thing you need is a drift - I used a deep socket (from a socket set) that would just fit in the hole in the front of the block (but was bigger than the internal diameter of the pipe). You can get a water seal kit for the engine from Keypart for a very reasonable price which has the right size rubber seal for the flange on the pipe - with that kit you can afford to change every seal as you come across it in disassembly.
Once this is done it'll run fine with no overheating problems - I once motored non stop from the Solent to Plymouth flat out with no problems.
Ed
The cure is to disconnect the water pipes from the front and back of the block and then knock the internal water pipe out of the block using a drift from the front of the block to knock it out the back. As you take it out note the orientation of the hole - it need to go back in the same orientation (I think, but am not certain of my memory here, that it should be in the six o'clock position). Clean up the pipe up, some people drill the hole out a little to make it larger and allow more cooling flow when the thermostat is open, put a new seal on the flange at the aft end of the pipe and reassemble. No more than an hour's work. Tools wise the only special thing you need is a drift - I used a deep socket (from a socket set) that would just fit in the hole in the front of the block (but was bigger than the internal diameter of the pipe). You can get a water seal kit for the engine from Keypart for a very reasonable price which has the right size rubber seal for the flange on the pipe - with that kit you can afford to change every seal as you come across it in disassembly.
Once this is done it'll run fine with no overheating problems - I once motored non stop from the Solent to Plymouth flat out with no problems.
Ed
EdEssery
Well-Known Member
Official Volvo say change the diaphragm after seven years. The diaphragm does have a month and year of manufacture moulded into it.
I had the engine out of my boat when it was 18 years old and changed the diaphragm whilst it was out. The date stamp on the diaphragm told me it was the original diaphrapgm from December 1986. Apart from some very minor surface crazing, it was in prefect order and I would have been quite happy about putting it back in for another 10 ot 15 years but I had the new one in the box beside me.
An engineer told me he had once been changing one and asked the boat's owner if he could stab it just before the boat was lifted to see what would happen. Apparently it took considerable effort to drive a sharpened screwdriver through it with a lump hammer. When the screwdriver was withdrawn, there was a little trickle of water but nothing a bilge pump wouldn't easily be able to easily keep up with.
In short, I wouldn't get paranoid about the sail drive diaphragm - there are hundreds of boats out there with diaphragms well past their scheduled change date. My advice would be to change it if it is over 10 years old if you have another reason to take the engine of it's mounts. Don't bother to move the engine solely for the purpose of changing the diaphragm unless it is 25 years old or more. If you do move the engine to change it or for some other reason, also change the engine mounts - they're a far more likely source of problems than the diagphragm.
The job of changing it is long and time consuming and really needs two people but is not difficult for somebody who is reasonably practically minded. If somebody does it for you it will be expensive because of the hours needed.
Ed
I had the engine out of my boat when it was 18 years old and changed the diaphragm whilst it was out. The date stamp on the diaphragm told me it was the original diaphrapgm from December 1986. Apart from some very minor surface crazing, it was in prefect order and I would have been quite happy about putting it back in for another 10 ot 15 years but I had the new one in the box beside me.
An engineer told me he had once been changing one and asked the boat's owner if he could stab it just before the boat was lifted to see what would happen. Apparently it took considerable effort to drive a sharpened screwdriver through it with a lump hammer. When the screwdriver was withdrawn, there was a little trickle of water but nothing a bilge pump wouldn't easily be able to easily keep up with.
In short, I wouldn't get paranoid about the sail drive diaphragm - there are hundreds of boats out there with diaphragms well past their scheduled change date. My advice would be to change it if it is over 10 years old if you have another reason to take the engine of it's mounts. Don't bother to move the engine solely for the purpose of changing the diaphragm unless it is 25 years old or more. If you do move the engine to change it or for some other reason, also change the engine mounts - they're a far more likely source of problems than the diagphragm.
The job of changing it is long and time consuming and really needs two people but is not difficult for somebody who is reasonably practically minded. If somebody does it for you it will be expensive because of the hours needed.
Ed
