Volvo Penta AD41 prepurchase

Cresco750

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Jul 7, 2012
Messages
192
Hi As my search for another boat continues, I will be looking at one this weekend which has the above engine and drive combination, however both are currently removed from the boat; the drive: because of a hydraulic tilt leak, and the engine: supposedly because it had to come out in order to remove the drive inner and outer transom assembly to get at the source of the leak. I'm not sure yet whether the leak was from one of the rams or a hose, etc? While the engine was out it was discovered that the exhaust elbow was looking a bit gritty and so it also needs replacement. All were otherwise running ok prior to removal - supposedly. I have some experience with maintaining my own petrol Mercruiser engine / drive, but no experience with anything Volvo or diesel. Can someone please give me a few pointers of some obvious things that I should check on this engine and drive when I have a look in a few days? Is an engine like this the sort of thing that a diesel mechanic could do any sort of meaningful static tests on? I'll CC this post to the VP forum as well. Thanks in advance.
 

alldodge

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Mar 8, 2009
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40,581
Hi As my search for another boat continues, I will be looking at one this weekend which has the above engine and drive combination, however both are currently removed from the boat; the drive: because of a hydraulic tilt leak, and the engine: supposedly because it had to come out in order to remove the drive inner and outer transom assembly to get at the source of the leak. I'm not sure yet whether the leak was from one of the rams or a hose, etc? While the engine was out it was discovered that the exhaust elbow was looking a bit gritty and so it also needs replacement. All were otherwise running ok prior to removal - supposedly. I have some experience with maintaining my own petrol Mercruiser engine / drive, but no experience with anything Volvo or diesel. Can someone please give me a few pointers of some obvious things that I should check on this engine and drive when I have a look in a few days? Is an engine like this the sort of thing that a diesel mechanic could do any sort of meaningful static tests on? I'll CC this post to the VP forum as well. Thanks in advance.

You could do a compression test while it's out but I would probably wait until it was reinstalled and did a test drive. Volvo's are good engines but parts are expensive, but on the good side a well taken care of diesel will last a long time without issues most times. Is this a twin or single engine setup?

I hope the folks doing the work are good and know the prop shaft alignment should be within .003 of an inch. Check the status of the prop shaft seal, and if it does not have dripless, may want to find out what it would take to have it installed. Most everything else you need the engine running to check.
 

Cresco750

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jul 7, 2012
Messages
192
Thanks for the response. It will be me doing the reinstall, if I go ahead with the purchase, so I will be drawing upon all the good info here! It's a single engine install, on a fresh water boat. I'm not familiar with the 'drip less' shaft; can you please enlighten me? Is the engine:drive alignment a similar process to aligning a mercruiser, ie alignment bar through the gimbal bearing and adjustable engine mounts? Is there a source of good quality aftermarket parts available for these engines and drives? There is countless different ones for mercruiser but some seem to have quality issues? Thanks.
 

alldodge

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Staff member
Joined
Mar 8, 2009
Messages
40,581
Thanks for the response. It will be me doing the reinstall, if I go ahead with the purchase, so I will be drawing upon all the good info here! It's a single engine install, on a fresh water boat. I'm not familiar with the 'drip less' shaft; can you please enlighten me?

Google dripless shaft seal and it will come up with several items. The older style used packing and required just enough pressure to allow them to drip every so many seconds. The water was used to keep the packing from drying out and to help lubricate. Later they started using the dripless and it used a carbon finber disk with a stainless steel rotor. The combination works very well. Here is one which discusses maintenance.
http://www.powerandmotoryacht.com/refit-and-upgrade/maintaining-dripless-shaft-seals

Is the engine:drive alignment a similar process to aligning a mercruiser, ie alignment bar through the gimbal bearing and adjustable engine mounts?
No, there is no alignment bar. The engine and transmission sit on their mounts and the propshaft faces are aligned to within .003 before bolts are tightened. This is initialy done with the boat out of the water, once boat is floating give it a few days and a some light running, then recheck alignment. The pdf below from Merc is for gas engines but the alignment is the same for diesel. Google propshaft alignment
http://www.ebasicpower.com/faq/alignib.htm
http://www.mercurymarine.com/media/mercury/drawings/inboard.pdf

Is there a source of good quality aftermarket parts available for these engines and drives? There is countless different ones for mercruiser but some seem to have quality issues? Thanks.
Some yes, but for the most part No. Volvo parts most the time have to come from Volvo. Items such as turbos, injectors, filters and some other parts can be found, but engine parts most often have to come from Volvo.
 
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