Volvo 280 new to me

[ashedd]

My head is spinning... this is my very first outdrive boat, all others have been straight inboards or outboards, but no inboard/outboards.

Just bought a boat with a Volvo 280 drive and AQ135. I was told and can see that the boot/bellows for the driveshaft is starting to tear. I can easily google that procedure to replace it, it looks straight forward. Guess I’d buy a kit and replace both bellows and the raw water hose for poops and giggles.

my questions are:

Whats the difference between the 270 and 280?
What seal or part literally keep the water out of the boat? I’m gonna moor this thing and want to be sure that’s good.
Whats up with the tilt/trim? It has the motor inside on top of the transom mount. Is that just to tilt the drive completely up or down for trailering etc? Can it be used for trim while underway?
Is there an impeller in the drive?
Can I run it on muffs?
Can I smear grease on the new rubber to keep the critters from settling up shop when moored in salt?
How about bottom paint for the drive?

Google isn’t really isn’t much help thus far

thanks

 

[Scott Danforth]

your new to you boat is 30-50 years old?

are you sure you have an AQ135? not a 125, 131 or 140? the AQ135 was built from 1964-1968

270 and 280 are slightly different types of AQ series of drives drives

the bellows keeps the water out of the u-joints and the PDS shaft. the PDS donuts seal the PDS to the transom sheild.

yes, its the motor on top the transom mount.

No there is no impeller in the drive on a volvo

yes, you can run it on the correct muffs. make sure to plug the bottom port

grease is not recommended to smear on rubber. it makes the rubber soft

the correct anti-fouling paint is recommended for moored boats.

 

[ashedd]

Boat was built in ‘81. Engine and drive look original to me. Engine had the black plastic piece on top of it that looked like a silencer to me. I’ll know more once I have it home. Was a very clean engine

alternator was on the port side, fuel pump port side, oil cooler starboard. And of course manifold on starboard. That’s about all I remember

 

[kenny nunez]

In addition to what Scott says the tilt is for beaching only and not a trim. The trim is held by the stainless setting pin on the lower transom . The basic difference between a 280-270 is the shape of the exhaust outlet. If your engine has an oil cooler then it is probably a twin carburetor model rated around 145 hp.
You do not have to remove the drive to replace the drive shaft or exhaust bellows and water hose.
​​​​​​​Get a genuine Volvo service manual for your model. There should be a metal tag on your engine with the model #.

 

[Maclin]

If you are taking the top of the drive off to do drive bellows, order up the raw water outlet fitting that is on the intermediate drive unit. Those corrode early and often.

 

[ashedd]

If you are taking the top of the drive off to do drive bellows, order up the raw water outlet fitting that is on the intermediate drive unit. Those corrode early and often.

I was just gonna order the bellow tonight... I’ll look for that fitting.
I saw in one parts diagram a stuffing box someplace on the drive? Don’t recall exactly where, but I would imagine the drive shaft. Do those go bad often? Are eBay rubber parts acceptable?

 

[Maclin]

No stuffing box.

There is a Primary Drive Shaft housing, or PDS housing. That has one or two bearings depending on model of drive. It attaches to the engine bellhousing and the transom mount inside the boat. It has the splined coupler that the driveshaft from the drive slide into. This is way different than Merc drives or later Volvo SX/Cobra drives, no gimbal bearing.

Usually if those PDS bearings are bad that housing needs to be removed with the engine and serviced. I have seen instructions on how to replace the bearing from outside the boat in the drive model that has just one bearing.

I believe there is a lube zerk on the bellhousing inside the boat. Not sure if that is for the one bearing or two bearing model.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Get factory parts

 

[QBhoy]

As mentioned, you can get away with only taking the top part of drive off to do the belows.
Have a look for signs of wear on the reverse gear locking catch mechanism (not sure of proper name). Well known for failing.
Also worth noting that if your engine is what I think it is, it’s a timing belt for valve timing. Change it ASAP of condition is unknown. Carb set up important on these too.
In my opinion, these engines aren’t great for boats, but they do have a lot of power for their weight and there are likely loads in scrap yards available all over should it fail.
If it’s related to the engine I know anyway. The 4 clylinder 151 and 171 engines are related I think and came later. They are used in the old Volvo cars.

 

[ashedd]

It’s an AQ140A. Got it to kick over a bit on starting fluid, after I soaked rings with marvel mystery oil and ran it through by hand. Replaced plugs, brittle plug wires, cap and rotor. CleNed point and re gapped so it would spark. Replaced the bad fuel pump. Now I’ve dug into the Solex carbs. This thing sat for awhile with crappy gas in it. Damaged a jet and can’t find a new one, didn’t know these carbs were such a PITA. now I’m reading about hard start issues etc. so I may go with the Weber single carb conversion just to have a modern carb with choke.

Also waiting on someone to put on a barrier coat and bottom paint.

So its slow going lol

 

[ashedd]

Actually it didn’t kick over until after I reset the points gap... duh

 

[kenny nunez]

Most boat companies do not use the genuine Volvo wire harness which has the ignition “by-pass” circuit in the ignition switch.
Look at the starter solenoid and there will be an unused male spade connector. Add a wire from that terminal to the + side of the coil and it will start easier.
If you replace the manifold and use a Weber carburetor make sure it is for Marine use and not automotive.

 

[ashedd]

It’s got the Volvo panel, so I’m thinking it’s using the Volvo harness. I can check though. I know there are three wires going to the coil. I’m familiar with marine vs auto carbs from my mercruiser 350 days, but am finding it hard to see a difference in these smaller non v8 carbs. The auto kit is cheaper than the marine kit for sure.