Hi all,
My Vega still has the original Volvo 2cylinder engine in it. It
runs good and I really like it. I know that the pistons and bearings
will at some point get sloppy and the engine will need to be rebuilt or
thrown away. I have heard on this list and by some others that they
would buy a new engine if it cost too much to rebuild the Volvo. I find
that surprising! One of the big reasons for buying Volvo in the first
place was that it could be rebuilt probably several times or more. It
should be the last engine a person ever needs to buy especially when you
own a boat that like that with care should need to be replaced.
I would not even concider replacing my engine with a new engine.
I have owned a couple of them and they are as good as a cheap little
engine can be. But they are only half as good as an expensive engine
like a volvo is. If I had a yanmar I would definitly not rebuild it
unless I was going to do it myself which is what I would do. The
Volvo with it's heavy flywhell and the carry trough of that weight makes
the engine run smooth but the heavy flywheel also provides the cary
through to make it possible to hand crank. MY 5ft 3inch wife can do
it. That is a huge amount of insurance when off in a distant spot and
need the engine and with me nursing a broken are gotten in a fall in
heavy seas. The batteries are to dead to crank an engine. If you are a
big man and strong as an ox you may be able to crank a very small modern
engine. I'll bet your wife won't.
The Volvo would likely have cost double what the yanmar costs and
with good reason. It's twice the engine where quality is concerned. The
big flywheel controls the banking , slugging and ratteling that yanmar
does that causes them to self destruct. A big flywheel is the most
important part of a one or two cylinder engines in giving it a longer
life. The bearings have to be bigger to carry the heavy flywheel and
they cost money.
I am not putting the littl light engines down they are good
serviceable engines and the price is definitely right. The Volvo twin
cylinder engine is not a good engine it is and excellent one.
If I have the choice of rebuilding my engine for the same money as
a new small engine I will choose to rebuild. My engine has been slowly
rusting away for 35 years and it's block is still heavier than a modern
small diesel. After all their is nickel in that cast iron.
I live in a small town where we have a lawn party every year and
there is a tractor pull and a display of old engines. Some of them are
marine engines and they are all running. I talked to a diesel mechanic
that brought his engine in to display and run. His engine had been in
his Grand fathers boat and in the family nearly a hundred years his
Grandfather and his father used the engine to fish for a living. It is a
small single cylinder gasoline Grey marine. That engine pushed their
work boat everyday six days a week for close to a hundred years. They
rebuilt it about every 10 years. If Stan had to get rid of his wife or
his engine, guess who would go? His Grand kids are after him to build a
boat to put it in. He found another engine of the same make to use. He
dosen't want to risk the original to a possible sinking.
I think the Volvo is just such an engine and if she is retired
befor fifty years of use it's a shame. The good news is if you don't
want to rebuild, there are hundreds or thousands of good Volvo engines
laying around diesel shops that were pulled out and replaced years
before they needed to be. If your Volvo is blowing some blue smoke and
the mechanic tells you its worn out, keep it in the builge another
several thousand hours. As long as she starts Ok she likly is OK. A
Volvo runing at 1700 rpm don't blow up, they finally just get impossible
to start. This is because the rings are worn and their is just not
enough compression to fire up the engine. They only need three things
,air, fuel and compression. Just be sure that is when rebuilding is
neccissary. It might be that the injector or the fuel pump might need a
little work.
Doug
My Vega still has the original Volvo 2cylinder engine in it. It
runs good and I really like it. I know that the pistons and bearings
will at some point get sloppy and the engine will need to be rebuilt or
thrown away. I have heard on this list and by some others that they
would buy a new engine if it cost too much to rebuild the Volvo. I find
that surprising! One of the big reasons for buying Volvo in the first
place was that it could be rebuilt probably several times or more. It
should be the last engine a person ever needs to buy especially when you
own a boat that like that with care should need to be replaced.
I would not even concider replacing my engine with a new engine.
I have owned a couple of them and they are as good as a cheap little
engine can be. But they are only half as good as an expensive engine
like a volvo is. If I had a yanmar I would definitly not rebuild it
unless I was going to do it myself which is what I would do. The
Volvo with it's heavy flywhell and the carry trough of that weight makes
the engine run smooth but the heavy flywheel also provides the cary
through to make it possible to hand crank. MY 5ft 3inch wife can do
it. That is a huge amount of insurance when off in a distant spot and
need the engine and with me nursing a broken are gotten in a fall in
heavy seas. The batteries are to dead to crank an engine. If you are a
big man and strong as an ox you may be able to crank a very small modern
engine. I'll bet your wife won't.
The Volvo would likely have cost double what the yanmar costs and
with good reason. It's twice the engine where quality is concerned. The
big flywheel controls the banking , slugging and ratteling that yanmar
does that causes them to self destruct. A big flywheel is the most
important part of a one or two cylinder engines in giving it a longer
life. The bearings have to be bigger to carry the heavy flywheel and
they cost money.
I am not putting the littl light engines down they are good
serviceable engines and the price is definitely right. The Volvo twin
cylinder engine is not a good engine it is and excellent one.
If I have the choice of rebuilding my engine for the same money as
a new small engine I will choose to rebuild. My engine has been slowly
rusting away for 35 years and it's block is still heavier than a modern
small diesel. After all their is nickel in that cast iron.
I live in a small town where we have a lawn party every year and
there is a tractor pull and a display of old engines. Some of them are
marine engines and they are all running. I talked to a diesel mechanic
that brought his engine in to display and run. His engine had been in
his Grand fathers boat and in the family nearly a hundred years his
Grandfather and his father used the engine to fish for a living. It is a
small single cylinder gasoline Grey marine. That engine pushed their
work boat everyday six days a week for close to a hundred years. They
rebuilt it about every 10 years. If Stan had to get rid of his wife or
his engine, guess who would go? His Grand kids are after him to build a
boat to put it in. He found another engine of the same make to use. He
dosen't want to risk the original to a possible sinking.
I think the Volvo is just such an engine and if she is retired
befor fifty years of use it's a shame. The good news is if you don't
want to rebuild, there are hundreds or thousands of good Volvo engines
laying around diesel shops that were pulled out and replaced years
before they needed to be. If your Volvo is blowing some blue smoke and
the mechanic tells you its worn out, keep it in the builge another
several thousand hours. As long as she starts Ok she likly is OK. A
Volvo runing at 1700 rpm don't blow up, they finally just get impossible
to start. This is because the rings are worn and their is just not
enough compression to fire up the engine. They only need three things
,air, fuel and compression. Just be sure that is when rebuilding is
neccissary. It might be that the injector or the fuel pump might need a
little work.
Doug