volvo steering rams

[andy59]

Be gentle , first post , This is my first year full time in marina with Bavaria 30 sport with single D4 300 . Loving it so far and have crossed channel for first time . Now the question , steering rams are leaking and volvo are changing them but front prop is going green and steering hoses are perishing , ( they are changing them as well ) also bonding cables are being changed . Is this going to be a regular maintenance problem , only been in water 9 months and swmbo thinks holiday fund will disapear . thanks in advance for any tips .

 

[[2068]]

The new steering rams should have rubber gaiters (either integral, or installed as add-ons) to protect the shaft of the ram from growth or fouling. This is a well known problem.

As to the other parts that are dissolving, I'm not sure, other than to make sure you have the correct anodes, disconnect from shore power when not in use, try asking to change marina berth in case another boat close to you is causing a problem.

Props on DP-H drives should be a sort of dark grey / brown colour. Green doesn't sound good.

Even being close to a steel wall / breakwater can cause corrosion problems sometimes.

dv.

 

[volvopaul]

Ive just been discussing this with a client, he had under warranty in september this year,

New steering hoses,
New trim pipe hoses,
All new anodes,
New steering rams.

He has reported to me that the hoses are already perished, balooned and need replacing already, hes not happy, plus he had to have his starboard engine removed as sea water was entering through the transom shield gasket.

In my opinion Volvo really need to get there act together and re emburse everyone every penny they have had to spend, also compensate them for loss of there boat, as clearly the product is clearly not capable of the task its set out to do.

He had according to his dealer a well known dealer that all these parts were replaced under warranty in sept this year.
The boats now out of the water and has these problems, clearly 4 months in the water should not show up these problems again and to top it off, he thought the dealer had fitted the well publicised gaiters that are on offer and they clearly didnt, hence new rams/ repairs again after 4 months.

 

[NEB]

I agree the ram problem is not being well handled by Volvo but the leaky transom could well be an installation fault by the boatbuilder.

 

[Pendana]

I had the transom shield removed to have the trim cylinders replaced a couple of years ago and upon launching the water weeped in from the transom - not much, about half pint per week initially but dried up completely after about 2 months. I guess it can take a bit of time for the seals to settle on an old boat. Shouldn't happen to a new one though.

 

[spannerman]

Can't imagine why they had to remove the whole shield for this job, we have shifted lots of trim cylinders, its about 2-3 hrs per side. Volvo make a special tool to push the inner retaining pins back so that you can get the cylinders out. Just did both drives on the local plods Botnia Targa, 5 hrs for the whole job.

 

[RobWales]

Would a simmilar tool be required to remove them on my 290 drives?
Starboard drive tends to creep down in heavy sea's
Not experienced this myself yet (recently purchased) but former owners notes suggest this happening.
Thanks and apologies for hijacking the thread.

 

[Pendana]

I'd bought the trim cylinders with a view to doing the job myself but on removing the retaining bolt from the inside of the transom shield and fitting the grease nipple on the outside and pumping up with the grease gun the pins wouldn't budge so called in the local Volvo man to do it. Out came the engine and off came the shield and warmed up in the workshop.
Ive since seen the tool that you fill with grease and twat with a hammer. Does it work?

Eddie

 

[oceandrive]

I have had all the same problems and ended up esculating my concerns to Volvo head office. they hate this but you can find all the main people and their e-mail addresses on the web. after lituraly hounding them for about a month with no less than 50 e-mails and a similar amount of phone calls . I eventualy got new rams, and pipes. My props were changed on the first lift as they had pitting, this was put down to a faulty batch so you need to check this out. All seems Ok now but was quite a nightmare. Also watch for overheat problems it is absoluitly neccessary to remove the inlet covers on the front of the leg and clean any barnicles / weed out as you would not belive how a slight blockage here will cause overheating.