Why did Volvo Penta pull the plug on RK Marine Volvo dealership?

volvopaul said:
Like all companies the companies reputation, ability and customer care is borne on its staff .
when staff start to leave and set up on there own the knowledge disappears and along with it the companies ability to give good service .
They then employ people from outside the marine business and adapt them to the business, the problem with that is the fact the years of experience are missing .
when a company does not look after its staff things happen along with the manufacture decision to take away the support .
I supported this company for many years purchasing thousands of pounds a year in parts from them , then one day I was introduced to a new manager, one that replaced a previous guy of over 20 years experience behind the counter at this company selling this product.
It was t long before things changed , the phone wasn’t getting answered, the communication was zero , turned out other members of staff had left the company and there was no one with the ability to manage the dept . I then jumped ship to a rival dealer back to the 2 members of staff that gave and continue to give first class service .
Even through last years lockdown when I could get limited access to boats the supply And communication never dried up as they kept one branch out the group of Golden Arrow fully functioning, The doors were closed here .
I know most of the engineers that left and are on there own doing well .
I do find this very sad because I always had my boat out in this yard every year and was looked after by the service manager very well , he also jumped ship a few years before this happened.
I am sure running a company this size requires good management skills , dedication and patience with some clients , but as I’ve said it’s the staff that count not the sign above the door .
If it is for sale I’d love a boatyard .
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You are as good as the people you surround your self with.
 
Volvo changed their business model a little over ten years ago from what had been an evolved chain with a Watford based centre looking after the whole chain with main dealers and local dealers to a more efficient system of a few Super dealers looking after the rest
there were plenty of long established dealers who had niche markets that may not of had the experience ,financial backing or willingness to adapt to that model
 
scottie said:
Volvo changed their business model a little over ten years ago from what had been an evolved chain with a Watford based centre looking after the whole chain with main dealers and local dealers to a more efficient system of a few Super dealers looking after the rest
there were plenty of long established dealers who had niche markets that may not of had the experience ,financial backing or willingness to adapt to that model
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Well there was a time when Rk marine was the flagship dealer for many decades. And the Kemish family are not short of a few bob. When you consider the Rodger Kemish only paid £300,000 for that yard in 1985. And Sealine offered them many millions for it, including the Volvo dealership in the early 1990's but where quickly turned down .
 
Durley245 said:
Well there was a time when Rk marine was the flagship dealer for many decades. And the Kemish family are not short of a few bob. When you consider the Rodger Kemish only paid £300,000 for that yard in 1985. And Sealine offered them many millions for it, including the Volvo dealership in the early 1990's but where quickly turned down .
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D its time we started seeing your boat out on the water to take on the french.
 
Interesting MAIB report. As I read it, the approach to not removing the soft patches and taking the engine below in parts was agreed by RK and WL. At the very least, WL bear some responsibility for the consequences that rebuilding the engine in the engine room (but perhaps less so for leaving it on deck or on the harbourside prior to installation). Doesn't mean that RK weren't negligent, but may affect the proportion by which they bear the cost of rectifying it. However, from VP's perspective, they will no doubt have invoked a clause in the dealership agreement which obliges their franchisee (RK) not to bring the brand into disrepute. It won't be because VP have had to foot the bill themselves, because it was clearly out of their hands.
 
what surprises me more is that a commercial ship uses volvo penta engines. Maybe I shouldnt be surprised, but I always think of VP as a leisure marine brand.
 
julians said:
what surprises me more is that a commercial ship uses volvo penta engines. Maybe I shouldnt be surprised, but I always think of VP as a leisure marine brand.
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Also the hours ... "stripped down and examined every 16000 to 20000 hours".
I'm thinking that people shouldn't be worrying too much about an engine with 800 hours in a leisure boat being "a bit high".
 
FlowerPower said:
Also the hours ... "stripped down and examined every 16000 to 20000 hours".
I'm thinking that people shouldn't be worrying too much about an engine with 800 hours in a leisure boat being "a bit high".
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Often been siad that it's lack of use that kills leisure marine engines, and I agree. I have just rebuilt a boat engine that had only 100 hours on it. It was dead through lack of use. Seized solid.
 
FlowerPower said:
Also the hours ... "stripped down and examined every 16000 to 20000 hours".
I'm thinking that people shouldn't be worrying too much about an engine with 800 hours in a leisure boat being "a bit high".
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There are engines and engines as they say .
Lets use the D12 as an example , same base unit cooled by a radiator in a truck 480 hp .
Same unit with heat exchanger but using same fresh water cooled intercooler as the truck engine 775hp , the longevity of the truck engine is thousands of hours .
The ferry engines are the same de rated units for commercial use and these are 4 of them plus the generators on board which I believe are the D9 units , more likely purring away at 1500 rpm all day every day .
 
Solent Sailor said:
Interesting MAIB report. As I read it, the approach to not removing the soft patches and taking the engine below in parts was agreed by RK and WL. At the very least, WL bear some responsibility for the consequences that rebuilding the engine in the engine room (but perhaps less so for leaving it on deck or on the harbourside prior to installation). Doesn't mean that RK weren't negligent, but may affect the proportion by which they bear the cost of rectifying it. However, from VP's perspective, they will no doubt have invoked a clause in the dealership agreement which obliges their franchisee (RK) not to bring the brand into disrepute. It won't be because VP have had to foot the bill themselves, because it was clearly out of their hands.
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After the previous failures there was no way this one could be swept under the carpet , had the engineer not been injured it might never have been made public , the fire could have been put down to something minor for the accident book .
 
The Gold Plated way would be to have a spare engine , IIRC the ship has four and there are two identical ships so a ninth engine is not a big cost and a great backup.

An engine comes out complete with the soft patch removed, the spare is fitted. The engine is overhauled in a clean workshop and then dyno tested and checked over 24 hours or 48 hours as required and then refitted when the next engine comes out.

All this comes at a cost, perhaps the operator did not want to pay the cost?
 
A few discrepancies, the short block WAS assembled in the RK shop , that’s where the shells were fitted and crank bedded .

Yet they criticised ( by implication) the engineers for assembling the sump + placing the head in the ER . The shell placement , crank rods , sleeves and pistons were not done in the ER .
I can’t see how contamination could have got between the block and shell in a ready assembled block , with it sat on the deck or wiggled down into the ER .
The pick up pipe for the sump etc goes to the filtration system first.

I reckon it “turned “ because the quality control of the shell dimensions wise was wrong ........the new part was a duffer and did not fit .They admitted the torques and bolts were all within spec and crucially no debris could be found under the shell .
The 1 mm particles in the oil filter , freshly exchanged oil prior to the rod going on walk abouts they said came from the crank and inside of the turned shell .

Shell turned because it did not fit , wrong size . Embarrassing for VP !
The blocked journal is what we call a dustbin diagnosis to save VP s face .
They just dump it on RK because they could in a “ phew “ that’s was convenient kinda way .
Otherwise then what ? Issues a recall and strip every engine to check / hunt for other duff shells ......I smell a corporate cover up .

Sorry to put a spanner in the works guys ;) But you know me .
 
Portofino said:
A few discrepancies, the short block WAS assembled in the RK shop , that’s where the shells were fitted and crank bedded .

Yet they criticised ( by implication) the engineers for assembling the sump + placing the head in the ER . The shell placement , crank rods , sleeves and pistons were not done in the ER .
I can’t see how contamination could have got between the block and shell in a ready assembled block , with it sat on the deck or wiggled down into the ER .
The pick up pipe for the sump etc goes to the filtration system first.
Sorry to put a spanner in the works guys ;) But you know me .
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My guess would be that the damage was caused by debris in the oil channels, as per the report.
But ... most probably nothing to do with being stored with only a covering sheet ... the debris was probably there all along, maybe blown in when they blew the compressed air through.
 
FlowerPower said:
My guess would be that the damage was caused by debris in the oil channels, as per the report.
But ... most probably nothing to do with being stored with only a covering sheet ... the debris was probably there all along, maybe blown in when they blew the compressed air through.
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Page 12

“Volvo Penta’s finding, that debris in the oil channels was the likely cause of the bearing shells turning, was not supported by direct evidence, such as embedded debris in the shells. “

Pitty there was no independent engineers .
No mention of the RK guy(s) previous experience engine building, like an aircraft investigation along the lines of the pilot has 25000 hrs and 27 years type approval on [ insert plane make ] which sounds better in crash report than a newly qualified pilot with 18 months and 159 hrs on [ insert plane make ] .

It ran for 5 1/2 hrs too they comment it had been assembled correctly somewhere in the report .

Does not say if the other N sea one was after a rebuild either .Would have thought that would have been qualified?

Also three previous in all in very short time scale .Guessing new unbroken / un molested engines , it does not say
Now this 4 th and they place the blame on RK .Agree with you the soft patch thing is a diversion .

Blimey guys 4 , the Elephant is sat in the corner ......As per vid Shell QC

Its not ringing true to me .Odd report ?
 
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A friend of mine (real friend, not a “bloke down the pub”) had a TAMD63a rebuilt by them last year at a cost of £18k.
On the sea trial the engine destroyed itself.
The engine had to come back out to repair and it took months. This meant he was into lockdown and basically lost a year’s boating. He wasn’t charged for the second rebuild but he had to pay for he helm seat to be recovered. It was damaged during the rebuild but they denied responsibility.
The irony is he went to RK rather than an independent, despite the additional cost, because he thought a Volvo dealer would “do it right”
The above is factual.
The following is second hand info.
Something simply hadn’t been torqued up on assembly and it threw a rod destroying the block.
the parts for the second rebuild cost RK £20k.
My supposition - they let the trainee rebuild it and didn’t check it properly.
 
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