1995 sundowner 195 with 302 volvo penta ford eng.

[sdw41lite]

I am going to look at a 1995 four winns 195 sundowner with a 302 volvo penta its fuel injected, does anyone know about these boats that can give me some information about this boat if its going to be hard to get parts or not. Thanks Steve

 

[JoLin]

Re: 1995 sundowner 195 with 302 volvo penta ford eng.

That 302 Volvo-Penta is a Ford engine. Ford has been out of the business of marinizing motors for more than a decade.

I'll take a guess that most common maintenance and repair parts are pretty available, but I'd be concerned about the 'uncommon' stuff that breaks or needs to be replaced occasionally. Do you want to spend your time boating, or haunting ebay for that intake manifold or alternator bracket you need?

I purposely stay away from motors and drives (OMC, Ford, Chrysler, etc) that are obsolete and have diminished or non-existent support. Others will have a different opinion.

My .02

 

[Dave1251]

Re: 1995 sundowner 195 with 302 volvo penta ford eng.

I would agree with JoLin. Volvo no longer supports the Ford engines. As parts run out of stock in their warehouses, you must go to the after market. Common maintenance will be available for a long time. However, some parts are already hard to find. We changed out a coupler last year for a customer. At that time Vovlo no longer supported the part and there were only a few in the dealer network at that time.

I would recomend that you stay with GM based engines with Volvo or Merc drives.

 

[benjh1028]

Re: 1995 sundowner 195 with 302 volvo penta ford eng.

I have the same motor in my 1995 Larson. I have not found parts to be an issue, but thankfully some of that is because of the reliability of the motor. The one item I needed that is no longer supported by Volvo, a throttle position sensor, I found made by several aftermarket parts manufacturers. I believe since the 302 was such a popular automotive engine, there will be plenty of aftermarket parts for years to come. The only other issue I had with my motor was a bad alternator. Other than those two items, its been rock solid since I purchased the boat in 1995.

Lastly, it is not the most fuel efficient motor.

Ben

 

[Slip Away]

Re: 1995 sundowner 195 with 302 volvo penta ford eng.

There are plenty of engine parts to be had for that motor. Your concern should be the OMC sterndrive. Parts are not readily available for that, depending on which OMC drive it is. Plus, once you have had your fill with the boat in a few years, it will be even harder to find parts, and harder to find some other sap to buy the boat.

 

[americaneagler77]

Re: 1995 sundowner 195 with 302 volvo penta ford eng.

if the price is right and the boats in good shape it wouldnt stop me. parts will be around for years to come. plenty of places remanufacture omc drives etc. so instead of one click on google search to find the part it could take you 6...big deal, a good running volvo omc beats a poor running gm merc setup anyday, now if the two boats were side by side, one omc one merc, same price and condition, then sure merc, but thats not the case usually.
PS i run a ford omc powered 20 footer and a merc powered 16 footer, so im not biased.

 

[The Famous Grouse]

Re: 1995 sundowner 195 with 302 volvo penta ford eng.

There are plenty of engine parts to be had for that motor. Your concern should be the OMC sterndrive. Parts are not readily available for that, depending on which OMC drive it is. Plus, once you have had your fill with the boat in a few years, it will be even harder to find parts, and harder to find some other sap to buy the boat.

I think Slip has a very good advice here. Considering how many of us boaters are stricken with Twofootitis every year and can only be cured by trading up, it's worth considering the impact of the powerplant and drive on resale especially 5-7 years down the road.

I agree, it's pretty unlikely that Ford 302 parts will become scarce anytime soon. That engine was the mainstay of the Ford F150 pickup line--the bestselling vehicle in the world--for decades, so the idea of alternators suddenly becoming unavailable . . . well. . . it isn't going to happen. It could get sticky with any parts that were exclusive to the "marine version", but then again there are probably hundreds of thousands of these engines out there, so aftermarket or salvage parts will probably be there to fill most needs, but at a possible cost of lots of time searching the internet and making calls.

If you're really in love with this boat, just go in with your eyes wide open and understand that you could take a bath on resale. If you're looking at other options as well as this boat, you could keep going and come back to this one at a later date.


Grouse

 

[sdw41lite]

Re: 1995 sundowner 195 with 302 volvo penta ford eng.

I thought the outdrive would be easy to get parts omc and volvo had a joint venture then starting in 94 I think. The outdrive is the same as a volvo I might be wrong does anyone know about this. I can get this boat for 5000 its in great shape

 

[sdw41lite]

Re: 1995 sundowner 195 with 302 volvo penta ford eng.

yes thas what it is , so I really dont see a big problem getting parts for this boat,

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: 1995 sundowner 195 with 302 volvo penta ford eng.

I don't think you'll have any problems finding 95% of the parts for the 302/volvo penta for that year. All of the normal maintenance/wearable items (manifold/risers, water pumps, etc) are readily available all over the internet.

 

[sdw41lite]

Re: 1995 sundowner 195 with 302 volvo penta ford eng.

Thanks I just wanted to be sure This will be my first boat, and everything I have read on here says four winns is a good boat