Volvo saildrive gaskets

[Aries]

Has anyone ever experienced one of these failing? The recommendation from Volvo is that they should be replaced every seven years. We chickened out at 11 years and had ours replaced. It looked in good condition and I could see no obvious failure mode.

Has anyone experienced one of these failing, other than by damage? If so, at what age?

What are others opinions on the time to replace these?

 

[Dipper]

I've only ever heard of one failing and that was a new one where the owner had lubricated it before clamping it.

The first one I changed was eleven years old and I couldn't see anything wrong with it. In the last few days I've changed it again (after another eleven years) and this one has some visible bubbling on the surface so it is probably starting to degrade.