I am looking at 28-32 foot 1986-1993 Beneteau sailboats and most of them have 18 hp Volvo diesels. Has anyone had problems with Volvo diesel engines? The reason I ask is that in my search I have noticed that the few boats I came across that have had engine problems were all Volvo engines.
Volvo diesel engines
- Thread starter Norm H
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Volvo 2003
After my experience with this engine in a new boat (1988) I vowed never to buy a boat with a Volvo engine again unless it was cheap enough that I could throw the darn thing out and replace it with a decent engine.
After my experience with this engine in a new boat (1988) I vowed never to buy a boat with a Volvo engine again unless it was cheap enough that I could throw the darn thing out and replace it with a decent engine.
Hard To Start
I had no problems in seven years other than it does not like cold starts. If you just keep cranking it; it will start. No difference between a 50° day or a 80° day. After a sail it will stat-up right away. I never ran the motor more than 2300 rpm.
I had no problems in seven years other than it does not like cold starts. If you just keep cranking it; it will start. No difference between a 50° day or a 80° day. After a sail it will stat-up right away. I never ran the motor more than 2300 rpm.
My experience
has been entirely positive. No trouble with it at all (except for the cold weather starting thing mentioned earlier--but it _does_ always start).
has been entirely positive. No trouble with it at all (except for the cold weather starting thing mentioned earlier--but it _does_ always start).
Thank goodness
Thank goodness I didn't buy a Volvo.... after reading the highly intelligent and informative post by Jose I finally came to my senses....
Thank goodness I didn't buy a Volvo.... after reading the highly intelligent and informative post by Jose I finally came to my senses....
Having had one
and having had to deal with the local Volvo distributor where they had to cable Sweden to get permission to do warranty work I agree with Jose. At least he's succinct and definitely not a fence-sitter.
and having had to deal with the local Volvo distributor where they had to cable Sweden to get permission to do warranty work I agree with Jose. At least he's succinct and definitely not a fence-sitter.
more seriously
I have twin Volvo 2030's on my boat. They are 8 years old with over 3,000 hours on them. I've just rebuilt one that had a scored cylinder wall from overheating due to a stuck injector. Things to watch for; 1) The exhaust elbo's eventually cake with carbon deposits and need to be cleaned out to keep good water flow. 2) Injectors need attention every so often. I would suggest using injectore cleaner/lube periodically 3) Tach's and hour meters are not reliable and fail regularly 4) Parts are a bit higher than with some other brands Other than the above the Volvos have run well and are reliable. At least as good as the diesels I have had previously. Pathfinder, Kubota etc.
I have twin Volvo 2030's on my boat. They are 8 years old with over 3,000 hours on them. I've just rebuilt one that had a scored cylinder wall from overheating due to a stuck injector. Things to watch for; 1) The exhaust elbo's eventually cake with carbon deposits and need to be cleaned out to keep good water flow. 2) Injectors need attention every so often. I would suggest using injectore cleaner/lube periodically 3) Tach's and hour meters are not reliable and fail regularly 4) Parts are a bit higher than with some other brands Other than the above the Volvos have run well and are reliable. At least as good as the diesels I have had previously. Pathfinder, Kubota etc.
Jim, 2030 is not all Volvo
I may be wrong but I think Volvo started using Japanese blocks with this series of engines. Their 2000 series (all Volvo) was a real disaster.
I may be wrong but I think Volvo started using Japanese blocks with this series of engines. Their 2000 series (all Volvo) was a real disaster.
Could be
You may be correct. I have heard of both Perkins and Shibaura involvement but I don't know the real story. I wonder what the Beneteaus are using... What problems did you have with yours?
You may be correct. I have heard of both Perkins and Shibaura involvement but I don't know the real story. I wonder what the Beneteaus are using... What problems did you have with yours?
No Problem here.
I have a 1989 Beneteau First 285 with the 18hp Volvo. I have had the boat for 3 yrs and have not had any problems at all... Sometimes slow starting in cold weather, but not a big problem in Texas.
I have a 1989 Beneteau First 285 with the 18hp Volvo. I have had the boat for 3 yrs and have not had any problems at all... Sometimes slow starting in cold weather, but not a big problem in Texas.
Problems?
My brand new Volvo 2003 would burn a quart of oil in four hours. Volvo said run it for a season and we'll see. Went back to them next season, they said it was out of warranty!! Finally they tore it out and rebuilt it, still lots of problems, wouldn't idle, hard start. Took it to about five Volvo mechanics along the east coast as I went south. Most of them told me it was a lousy engine. Nobody could fix the idle problem. Volvo said it was state of the art I thought it was experimental.Finally lost most of its compression. I replaced it with a Yanmar 3GM30F. I was told that the 2030 is a Perkins which is some type of Japanese small block engine.
My brand new Volvo 2003 would burn a quart of oil in four hours. Volvo said run it for a season and we'll see. Went back to them next season, they said it was out of warranty!! Finally they tore it out and rebuilt it, still lots of problems, wouldn't idle, hard start. Took it to about five Volvo mechanics along the east coast as I went south. Most of them told me it was a lousy engine. Nobody could fix the idle problem. Volvo said it was state of the art I thought it was experimental.Finally lost most of its compression. I replaced it with a Yanmar 3GM30F. I was told that the 2030 is a Perkins which is some type of Japanese small block engine.
My two-cents...
I have a Volvo/Perkins MD-2030 FWC Diesel in my Nonsuch 30 Classic. It has glow plugs for quick starts when cold and has never failed me. Hey Jose...how about some details to back up your claim. Or are you just another puppet who speaks from the "I heard from someone else" crowd? Or maybe you're just a troll. Bottom line is that all engines have their quirks. If you are dealing with a used boat with an uncertain history, you may be in for problems. The previous engine in my boat was a Volvo MD-11C with well over 9,000 hours on it; not bad for a two-lunger. I know of other well maintained high-time Diesels. Faxing Sweden for warranty work? Never heard of it. The furthest it would need to go, according to my local Volvo rep is Chesapeake, VA, or in Rick's case, Burnaby, BC. Any decision made by Sweden can be made in Chesapeake or Burnaby. Which raises another issue; Effectiveness of the dealer/distributor. There are just as many bad as there are good. The problem is, when a customer is given bad information, they don't follow-up on it. If my dealer had told me that warranty work had to be approved in Sweden I'd have told him to show me where it states that. Further, with the internet, it is extremely easy to find out all the info you need. Bottom line is that even the worst of Diesels will perform acceptably if properly maintained. Knowing the history of the engine is paramount. Short of that, every engine is equally suspect and capable of failure. Cheers, Bob
I have a Volvo/Perkins MD-2030 FWC Diesel in my Nonsuch 30 Classic. It has glow plugs for quick starts when cold and has never failed me. Hey Jose...how about some details to back up your claim. Or are you just another puppet who speaks from the "I heard from someone else" crowd? Or maybe you're just a troll. Bottom line is that all engines have their quirks. If you are dealing with a used boat with an uncertain history, you may be in for problems. The previous engine in my boat was a Volvo MD-11C with well over 9,000 hours on it; not bad for a two-lunger. I know of other well maintained high-time Diesels. Faxing Sweden for warranty work? Never heard of it. The furthest it would need to go, according to my local Volvo rep is Chesapeake, VA, or in Rick's case, Burnaby, BC. Any decision made by Sweden can be made in Chesapeake or Burnaby. Which raises another issue; Effectiveness of the dealer/distributor. There are just as many bad as there are good. The problem is, when a customer is given bad information, they don't follow-up on it. If my dealer had told me that warranty work had to be approved in Sweden I'd have told him to show me where it states that. Further, with the internet, it is extremely easy to find out all the info you need. Bottom line is that even the worst of Diesels will perform acceptably if properly maintained. Knowing the history of the engine is paramount. Short of that, every engine is equally suspect and capable of failure. Cheers, Bob
Volvo reliability
As far as reliability goes we recently sold our older Volvo with 260 thousand miles.We replaced it with a Mercedes and less than a year later went back to a Volvo.The current one has 160 thousand miles.Absolutley nothing has gone wrong.I was told that Volvo actually makes very few of their own motors.
As far as reliability goes we recently sold our older Volvo with 260 thousand miles.We replaced it with a Mercedes and less than a year later went back to a Volvo.The current one has 160 thousand miles.Absolutley nothing has gone wrong.I was told that Volvo actually makes very few of their own motors.
My Volvo Engine
We had a 260 with a PRV (Puegot Renault Volvo) six cylinder engine hated the damn thing. The dealer was always ordering stuff from Sweden for it. To bleed the brakes took all day there were three places on each caliper to bleed. I actually came close to dropping a 327 in it. Maybe it is a different story now that it is owned by Ford.
We had a 260 with a PRV (Puegot Renault Volvo) six cylinder engine hated the damn thing. The dealer was always ordering stuff from Sweden for it. To bleed the brakes took all day there were three places on each caliper to bleed. I actually came close to dropping a 327 in it. Maybe it is a different story now that it is owned by Ford.
Bob Todd
You may never have heard of having to get approval from Sweden for warranty work but the fact of the matter is that that was the procedure the distributor had to go through. That you never heard of it only means that you are lacking in knowledge or, as you put it, you never heard of it, not that it was not the case. If you had taken the time to read my posts you would have read that this was in 1989 and it was a brand new engine. Also the internet was no help- long before Volvo was on the web and long before there was a www. It amuses me to read posts from persons who seem to have all the answers, Burnaby? You got to be joking. I will not dispute your 9000 hours on a Volvo although that figure would take the average sailor 20 or 30 years to accrue. It's a shame your local rep in Chesapeake wasn't here to help when I was trying to get Volvo to fix my engine. Have fun with your Perkins.
You may never have heard of having to get approval from Sweden for warranty work but the fact of the matter is that that was the procedure the distributor had to go through. That you never heard of it only means that you are lacking in knowledge or, as you put it, you never heard of it, not that it was not the case. If you had taken the time to read my posts you would have read that this was in 1989 and it was a brand new engine. Also the internet was no help- long before Volvo was on the web and long before there was a www. It amuses me to read posts from persons who seem to have all the answers, Burnaby? You got to be joking. I will not dispute your 9000 hours on a Volvo although that figure would take the average sailor 20 or 30 years to accrue. It's a shame your local rep in Chesapeake wasn't here to help when I was trying to get Volvo to fix my engine. Have fun with your Perkins.
Rick...
I never said I have all the answers. I see where I erred in not putting your two posts together with regard to the year (1988), however, cabling Sweden in 1988/89 may have been the norm. That's not the way (according to Volvo) that it is now. I am dealing with a warranty repair as we speak and it is being handled locally. However, my confusion must have been when you went off on a 2003 Volvo engine. Just because I never heard it means it's wrong? Nope...I spoke directly with a Volvo rep. I don't state that I don't believe something someone said just because I've never heard of it. If you actually read MY post you would have found that my statement was made AFTER speaking to a Volvo rep who stated that that is not the case. I'm certain that when I next speak to him and tell him it was around 1988/89 he would not know as he was probably, judging by his age, in high school then. The old MD-11C that formerly powered my boat was indeed 23 years old. Boy, was it tired. Burnaby? Yep, that's right. Geographically speaking I understand there's quite a distance between Burnaby and Toronto. Well, Chesapeake, VA is quite away for me, certainly not as far as you'd have to deal with, but it still isn't a Sunday stroll. Funny thing that the HQ of an international company can't always be located exactly where you want it. Cheers, Bob
I never said I have all the answers. I see where I erred in not putting your two posts together with regard to the year (1988), however, cabling Sweden in 1988/89 may have been the norm. That's not the way (according to Volvo) that it is now. I am dealing with a warranty repair as we speak and it is being handled locally. However, my confusion must have been when you went off on a 2003 Volvo engine. Just because I never heard it means it's wrong? Nope...I spoke directly with a Volvo rep. I don't state that I don't believe something someone said just because I've never heard of it. If you actually read MY post you would have found that my statement was made AFTER speaking to a Volvo rep who stated that that is not the case. I'm certain that when I next speak to him and tell him it was around 1988/89 he would not know as he was probably, judging by his age, in high school then. The old MD-11C that formerly powered my boat was indeed 23 years old. Boy, was it tired. Burnaby? Yep, that's right. Geographically speaking I understand there's quite a distance between Burnaby and Toronto. Well, Chesapeake, VA is quite away for me, certainly not as far as you'd have to deal with, but it still isn't a Sunday stroll. Funny thing that the HQ of an international company can't always be located exactly where you want it. Cheers, Bob
Bob, the 2003 engine
was an engine wholly made by Volvo in the eighties (about 83 to 89), not to be confused with your 2030 which is a Perkins. Volvo made a 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2003 Turbo in the eighties. These engines had a very short run, as I said earlier, Volvo said they were state of the art, I would have said that were experimental. It is interesting to note that after this series Volvo stopped making small diesels and resorted to the Perkins you now have. Their parts still cost an arm and a leg. (Just starting along another Volvo pet peeve). I don't know how serious your warranty problem is but they had to haul my one year old engine out and rebuild it which could not be approved by the local distibutor. I wish you well in getting the work done. I have had Yanmars since 1992 and opted for the upgrade to Yanmar in my new (bought last year) boat.
was an engine wholly made by Volvo in the eighties (about 83 to 89), not to be confused with your 2030 which is a Perkins. Volvo made a 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2003 Turbo in the eighties. These engines had a very short run, as I said earlier, Volvo said they were state of the art, I would have said that were experimental. It is interesting to note that after this series Volvo stopped making small diesels and resorted to the Perkins you now have. Their parts still cost an arm and a leg. (Just starting along another Volvo pet peeve). I don't know how serious your warranty problem is but they had to haul my one year old engine out and rebuild it which could not be approved by the local distibutor. I wish you well in getting the work done. I have had Yanmars since 1992 and opted for the upgrade to Yanmar in my new (bought last year) boat.
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