2005 Volvo Penta Corrosion attn VP experts

[kcole683]

I have a 2005 VP 5.0 GXI with SX drive. The unit was put into service May of 2005. I have a Stainless Steel Laser II prop on it.<br /><br />I originally noticed the paint on the drive coming off on the sharp edges and all the way around the prop hub last season. When I looked at the boat the other day it reminded me. There seems to be alot of bare metal around the prop hub and quite a few other places on the drive.<br /><br />The boat has never been in salt water. The boat has never been left in fresh water for more than a few days.<br /><br />Should a new drive corrode this fast?(it looks worse than some 10 year old drives)<br /><br />Would the stainless prop make this happen?<br /><br />Would the finish be under warranty seeing that the unit is less than a year old?<br /><br />Should I change the anodes from aluminum to magnesium?<br /><br />Does anyone have any experience with the electronic corrosion protection system by Volvo?<br /><br />Any suggestions are appreciated,I am not happy anout this situation. Hopefully I can stop the problem and get the paint refinished.<br /><br />Thanks for the advice in advance

 

[tommays]

Re: 2005 Volvo Penta Corrosion attn VP experts

A stainless prop will make the protection system work harder.<br /><br />It really should look like new so there is a problem and should be solved before it gets really dammaged<br /><br />Whats your dealer got to say ? you should be lookng for some help from them with it so new<br /><br />I cant really say whats going on in your case stray currents from your boat OR a boat nearby with shore power can cause all kinds of problems<br /><br />a photo would be realy nice to see what your talking about ?<br /><br />tommays

 

[kcole683]

Re: 2005 Volvo Penta Corrosion attn VP experts

My dealer talked to the VP rep. today he wants me to have it looked at. My dealer is a little far away but I have tried to contact a local dealer to look at it. The local dealers don't seem to like to service anything they didn't sell.<br /><br />I will try a photo link: Pic

 

[kcole683]

Re: 2005 Volvo Penta Corrosion attn VP experts

I was hoping someone would know if the factory warranty would cover this. I have looked over the warranty paperwork and can not find any mention of the pain or finish.<br /><br />The sales brochures always mention how good the finish is though.LOL

 

[Don S]

Re: 2005 Volvo Penta Corrosion attn VP experts

I can tell you right now, Volvo doesn't cover Corrosion under warranty. Too many things that are out of their control. Could be the marina you had the boat in. Or neighboring boats. You could have electrical problems with your own boat systems somewhere causing excess corrosion.<br />I see salt water boats that stay in the water all year that aren't even close to problems like you have Even when using Stainless duo props.<br />Did that prop actually make contact with the housing? Sure looks tight in there. If it rubbed through the paint, and actually touched that would sure speed the corrosion problem.

 

[kcole683]

Re: 2005 Volvo Penta Corrosion attn VP experts

I will check the clearance. The prop was fitted by the selling dealer I hope it is installed correctly. <br />Well at least it sounds like this is not normal that is good.<br />There are alot of other places with the same problem the front edge of the drive and skeg are also bare in spots. The drive has never been bounced off the bottom or dragged bottom either.<br /><br />The area around the prop is bare all the way around.<br />Would you suggest Magnesium anodes?<br />Any paint tips for refinishing this so it lasts?

 

[rosey]

Re: 2005 Volvo Penta Corrosion attn VP experts

I purchased a Cruisers/yacht 320 express on April 13 2005. I too have excessive corrosion on my outdrives. I have twin 5.7gxi dps. My anticorrosion system has not worked properly at all. It was serviced 4 times with no improvement and finally the acp system was replaced still does not work. I involved my dealer and the cruisers/yacht factory on this problem. Finally after numerous phone calls and many sleepless nights, volvopenta has agreed to replace both TSK assemblies and install new outdrives. I give high accolades to cruisers/yachts for resolving this proiblem. Hurray for them, there are not many manufacturers who would go to these extremes to make a customer happy and satisfied.

 

[mmainelli]

Re: 2005 Volvo Penta Corrosion attn VP experts

I had a VP 4.3 GXi/SX installed in my 1976 21' Wellcraft 210 Nova last August. I took vacation and watched the yard staff like a hawk. As with most sterndrive propulsion systems, as a first line of defense against electrolytic corrosion, there is a whole nose-to-tail system of grounding ties, from out-drive to transom plate to engine. If you go ahead and install the main assemblies first, and then discover the plastic bag of stainless ties, some ties are a real pain to install. Could be you're missing a beginning, middle or end tie. But also could be you've got a real electrical problem, ties or not. You appear to have some very disturbing corrosion. And as everyone above suggests, a ss prop is a magnet for stray electrical currents. The factory finish on an SX is really impressive. It would take severe current leaks to blow it off.<br /><br />Another thought is that the corrosion is not electrically induced. If you have a prop with a severe design for your application (like a Laser II), you might be experiencing excessive cavitation where steam bubbles imploding on the drive surfaces will produce corrosion (eaten metal)looking just like electrically-induced corrosion. How does your boat perform? Any rpm ranges where there is no increase in mph despite say 4-500 more rpm?<br /><br />To Rosey - any signs of corrosion yet on your drives?

 

[kcole683]

Re: 2005 Volvo Penta Corrosion attn VP experts

I don't understand why this has happened so fast on this new drive. There is no shore power on the docks that the boat has been kept at. No power on any docks in the area either. The boat was never slipped for the season,it was kept in the water one time for 7 or ten days. Otherwise just weekend use & trailering. Never in salt water either.<br /><br />My dealer is investigating the problem for me now. Maybe they will find something.<br />I am considering going to magnesium anodes and or an electronic corrosion control system.

 

[Norm Malcosky]

Re: 2005 Volvo Penta Corrosion attn VP experts

Spark-chaser,<br /><br />I have a pair of vp sx drive that I maintain and I also have ss props. The progression of corrosion should be arrested ASAP - as it will only get worse with time. And yes my drives are in the water 6 to 7 months a year and they are 1997 drives. <br /><br />I would suggest touching-up/repainting the damaged areas and installing magnesium anodes instead of the zincs that probably came with the drives. In fresh water my mg anodes last about two years.<br /><br />This year I am cleaning the drives with air blasting with glass beads to remove surface corrosion defects down to fresh metal. Then I apply the three step interlux system: Step 1. Interlux 353 Viny-lux on any bare metal; Step 2. Interlux Primocon underwater primer; Step 3. Trilux antifouling prop and drive paint.<br /><br />There are drying time and temperatures that must be observed when applying the various steps. And the Viny-lux etching is a two-part system.<br /><br />The final resulting color is not correct gray for VP, but if this stops the algae build-up and stops the corrosion, I will have won a MAJOR victory. The last owner of this boat did no maintenance to the drives and never changed to mg anodes. The drives were in pretty sad shape when I started with their refurbishment - two years ago. <br /><br />I do get quite a bit of green stuff on the drives during the year and I have to often go to the beach to scrub it off the drives. It does affect the boat performance.<br /><br />Hope you can get ahead of your problem. I highly recommend the vp drives. Last year we put over 1100 miles on the boat in three weeks of vacationing with no problems - didn't even nick a prop. !!<br /><br />Time to get the shrink wrap off !!

 

[rosey]

Re: 2005 Volvo Penta Corrosion attn VP experts

As of this writing the boat is being transported by trailer to my Dealer 100 miles away so this work can be done. I trust no one to do this work but my dealer. Didn't experience any problems with the boat at all last year in various RPM ranges. Boat increased speed with 500 rpm increases. Never notivced any performance problems with drives. I put 175 hours on engines last year. My boat doesn't sit still very long. We have however changed the anodes on the drives to a soft aluminium per volvo's reccomendation and depending on how the ACP system works after all repairs are done, we plan on adding more anodes to tansom of boat. The boat is docked in a fresh/Brackish water with most of my boating being done in brackish to saltwater. Can't wait to be on the water burning fossil fuel as i say.Believe me , I will do several short hauls this season to inspect the drives and replace anodes as needed. Thanks for the input.

 

[seamegr]

Re: 2005 Volvo Penta Corrosion attn VP experts

Hi all, here is my VP SX corrosion story.<br />2001 FW 170 135HP SX VP Aluminum prop<br />Bought new in 2002 spends 5 months in the water each year. Fresh water lake (city drinking water).<br />No shore power, only 120v courtesy lighting on the docks.<br /><br />The first couple of years were with the standard zinc anodes. And I had some corrosion around the stainless pieces on the drive. It did get worse each year.<br /><br />In 2004 I installed VP's ACP system which comes with 2 Zinc anodes. The system installs in place of the rear anode (square one). I also installed a Magnesium anode in place of the front (rounded one).<br /><br />The corrosion seemed to get progressively worse. In hindsight I think what I should do is to refinish the drive and see what happens. I believe now, that once corrosion has started nothing short of a repaint will stop it.<br /><br />As for the prop, the one that came with the boat does not touch the drive, my brand new VP aluminum spare touched in one spot until it was clearanced. Shaft runout was ok.<br /><br />I will post pictures if anyone is interested after the boat comes out of storage mid May.<br /><br />Greg