Volvo S Drive Seal

[West Coast]

Hi - can anyone advise me when the gaitor seal on the Volvo 120S drive should be replaced - someone suggested to me after 7 years?

Has anyone ever heard of one failing? Is there any way of inspecting the seal, perhaps for signs that it should be replaced? Thanks in advance!

 

[glsg91]

Hi - can anyone advise me when the gaitor seal on the Volvo 120S drive should be replaced - someone suggested to me after 7 years?

Has anyone ever heard of one failing? Is there any way of inspecting the seal, perhaps for signs that it should be replaced? Thanks in advance!

Volvo says replace after 7 years. Also your insurance company maybe require this.

 

[AIDY]

yes 7 years.... but from personal experience after 10 years mine was as good as new... I'd be more worried about the 2 back to back shaft seals behind the ring anode, if they have never been changed.... i do mine every 2 years.

 

[Cantata]

That's the trouble, Volvo say 7 years so insurance companies will use that to cover themselves if you have a problem.
There's been no publicised incidence of a boat sinking because of a failed seal.
Not a difficult job to replace it yourself if you are reasonably handy. Did ours last winter, a darned sight cheaper than paying someone to do it. Parts kit about £145 from Keypart. There are write-ups about on how to do it.

 

[Dipper]

I agree with the others. My last one was 11 years old when I replaced it. It showed some very minor surface crazing but when cut through it looked perfectly OK with no signs of deterioration. The Volvo agent I bought the new one from said they had only ever heard of one failing and that was a new one. The owner had fitted it himself and greased it before fitting so it slipped in place nicely. It then slipped out!

If you don't know how old yours is, look for a date stamp on it but that really only indicates when it was manufactured and not when it was fitted.

 

[TonyS]

IMHO I think you will find the majority of owners don't change it. The rubber compound is good for 100 years. There is no heat and no stress on the part so why should it fail? If a rubber part is going to fail it will show deep cracks first so if there are no cracks it is most unlikely to fail which is why, with tens of thousands of sail drives out there no one had heard of a failure. Just my opinion and a discussion point with your insurance company, if you want to bother. The only rubber parts which fail are due to heat, temperature, ozone or flexing excessively. This application has no heat, no temperature and no ozone and the slightest movement as a result of flexing of the engine mounts. Just check for cracks annually and if there are any see how they grow - the component is quite thick. If you are still not sure ask the supplier of the rubber gasket to Volvo how long they think it should last and the likely form of failure.
Another point is that if you do replace it the engine will most probably have to be moved and the gearbox disconnected. This will disturb many 7 year old pipe and electrical connections which will then be far more likely to fail in the future unless they are also replaced with new.

 

[Cantata]

........they had only ever heard of one failing and that was a new one. The owner had fitted it himself and greased it before fitting so it slipped in place nicely. It then slipped out!.........

....which demonstrates that if you do change it yourself, you must not use grease of any sort on either face of the seal. Surfaces must be squeaky clean before assembly.
I changed mine after 10 years and as others have said, there was no discernable deterioration. What prompted me to do it was that for several years I had a tiny oil leak that I couldn't trace, and which ran into the groove around the seal, and I became concerned that the oil might degrade the rubber - but it hadn't.
The leak turned out to be around the O-ring that seals the backplate on the gearbox, and was cured by a new O-ring at the same time as the seal job.

 

[Dipper]

I agree entirely with TonyS. These gaiters are strongly made, multilayered and quite thick. Unlike an alternator belt (which often lasts for many years anyway) there is very little movement to damage them. Probably the most serious risk is weak or failed engine mountings resulting in excessive movement. If it wasn't for my insurance survey I wouldn't bother changing it.

 

[West Coast]

Many thanks to all for your comments - I will sleep better now This has been my first post on this forum and am amazed with the speed of replies and information - thanks all!

 

[scottie]

When the S drive was introduced with the diaphram a lot was made of the danger of the diaphrams failing .
In practice it has proved to be a very safe installation with very few failures.

So we are still paying the cost of the "Experts" caution

Surely by now Volvo should have some data to modify the original 7 year rule although I suspect that they have no real idea as nobody tells them
I suspect that the ave time ov replacement is 10-12 years and even that is because of fear of losing insurance