Mercruiser or volvo

[tpirate]

Currently kicking around the idea of getting rid of my old boat and buying a newer old boat. I Currently have a mercruiser 4.3 alpha one.
Thoughts on Mercruiser vs Volvo??
One better than the other?

 

[Scott06]

Currently kicking around the idea of getting rid of my old boat and buying a newer old boat. I Currently have a mercruiser 4.3 alpha one.
Thoughts on Mercruiser vs Volvo??
One better than the other?

Both are very good systems with generally reliable long lasting power plants.

Biggest concern you consistently hear is lack of availability of Volvo mechanics and parts. Depending on where you are or if u maintain your boat this may or may not be an issue.

Bottom line either one with some care and attention to preventative maintenance will
Last for decades

 

[Grub54891]

Both use the Chevrolet motor. As far as wich one is good, to me they are fairly equal. I think volvo parts are pricier, but having a boat isn’t really cheap either. Most Volvos have the seawater pumps right out in front of the motor, so easy to change impellers. Mercruiser has the seawater pump bolted under the left side of the motor and harder to monkey with, depending on the what style of drive, some you have to remove the drive to change impellers. You should remove the drive every couple years to check thing over anyway.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Mercruiser quit using GM motors in 2015, making their own 4.5 liter V6 and 6.2 liter V8 motors in-house .

Volvo Penta still uses GM motors.

as far as drives go, the Alpha drive uses a dog clutch, the Bravo drive uses a cone clutch

Volvo only uses cone clutches

If looking at new, spring for a heat exchange cooled motor

with good PM, both will last a long time.

 

[tpirate]

Good info. Thanks everyone. One other thing. My current boat has a carburetor. Some of the boats I'm looking at are fuel injected which I like the sound of. Is there anything to be concerned about with fuel injection? Fuel injection in cars/trucks seems to be more dependable and require less attention.

 

[Grub54891]

I’m a little old school. To me it’s easy to rebuild a carb if need be. But fuel injection is pretty nice too. Had a few opportunities to repair injected Volvos, not to bad to diagnose without having the software or manual's to figure it out. One was running poorly and I even talked to a volvo tech support guy. He had me running in circles trying to get the thing running properly. Finally I pulled the spark plugs for the second time and even though they looked new/perfect I relplaced them. Even though it had god looking spark. It ran perfect after that. Another one was cutting out after an hour or so and not restarting unless you let it sit for two hours, good fuel pressure when checking. Turned out it was a bad fuel pump relay.
I can’t say much more about the new technology as like I said, I’m old school to a point even though I am learning new things at 67 years old. Heck, my cars never see the shop. I figure them out myself.

 

[Scott06]

Good info. Thanks everyone. One other thing. My current boat has a carburetor. Some of the boats I'm looking at are fuel injected which I like the sound of. Is there anything to be concerned about with fuel injection? Fuel injection in cars/trucks seems to be more dependable and require less attention.

Matter of personal choice.if you like to maintain your boat yourself you need to buy rinds software or similar if you have injection. Many of us like myself have stayed with carbs to keep it simple. Not that injection is bad or overly complicated… you can rebuild a carb with simple hand tools and be somewhat self sufficient on the water.

we have a 2004 Sea Doo GtI RfI Le that is injected both oil and fuel. It is relatively simple System as far as Ecu but I bought a Candoo Pro home system to reset the throttle position sensor zero point. Over time the ecu looses where zero is on the throttle position which sets the fuel mapping, was stalling out, Carbon fouling spark plugs and eventually not running anymore. While it sucked to shell out $400 for simple click of reset tps button no way around it or take it to dealer…shouldn’t complain as it’s been a good ski …

 

[ScottinAZ]

Having both, I kind of like the Volvo a bit better than the Merc. Mine is a Cobra Sx. I like the raw water pump divorced from the drive, I prefer the cone clutch setup and shift cable arrangement as well. Not that the Merc is bad (it’s an older MC-1), it’s just a bit more of a PITA in some respects than the Volvo drive.

 

[Scott06]

here is another reason why I like the merc alphas, assuming the boat is small enough (< 23ft/300 hp max ). replacement cost should you need a drive vastly different in the two drives.

MerCruiser Alpha One - GEN 2 Outdrive

Michigan Motorz has the brand new MerCruiser Alpha One - GEN II outdrive in stock, in all gear ratios, with a 1-year MerCruiser warranty. This Alpha One - GEN 2 sterndrive earned the title of “world’s most popular sterndrive” because it delivers reliable

www.michiganmotorz.com

https://www.michiganmotorz.com/volvo-penta-sx-a-single-prop-outdrive

I grew up with dog clutch drives so doesnt bother me, on some boats the engine driven water pump is just was much PITA as a drive mounted impeller

Of course a bravo drive is more than and alpha but its $3k less than a SX drive. SEI aftermarket drives are even cheaper.

 

[ScottinAZ]

here is another reason why I like the merc alphas, assuming the boat is small enough (< 23ft/300 hp max ). replacement cost should you need a drive vastly different in the two drives.

MerCruiser Alpha One - GEN 2 Outdrive

Michigan Motorz has the brand new MerCruiser Alpha One - GEN II outdrive in stock, in all gear ratios, with a 1-year MerCruiser warranty. This Alpha One - GEN 2 sterndrive earned the title of “world’s most popular sterndrive” because it delivers reliable

www.michiganmotorz.com

https://www.michiganmotorz.com/volvo-penta-sx-a-single-prop-outdrive

I grew up with dog clutch drives so doesnt bother me, on some boats the engine driven water pump is just was much PITA as a drive mounted impeller

Of course a bravo drive is more than and alpha but its $3k less than a SX drive. SEI aftermarket drives are even cheaper.

dont get me wrong, there is nothing "wrong' with a Merc drive, and they are definitely the "Chevy" of outdrives.... they came on everything. Volvo however IMHO took some lessons from the more difficult to deal with parts of the Merc, and improved on them. I compare the SX to more the Bravo than the Alpha though..... cone clutch, so no shift lockout adjustment and associated PITA, divorced water pump (big thing here for me is not splitting the drive, and losing or displacing that damn o-ring and roaching the drive.....) and only one shift cable, that is so easy to do, a blind man can do it in their sleep with only one hand.... and less fiddling getting the shifter right when remounting the drive is a BIG plus for me. in the end, I wouldnt kick either of them off the transom, but since I do my own work, I go with the one that "seems" a bit more user friendly. As for replacement, either one is more to replace than the boat is worth, so if I roach a drive, Ill either get a new boat, or one that has crap floors, and rob the drive off of that. Both are proven good drives, and crap boats are cheap.....

 

[KD4UPL]

I don't know how to rebuild a carb or fix EFI. I've never needed to either. I had a carbed Merc 5.7 for 10 years. Now an MPI Merc 5.7 for 6 years. No problems with either. The MPI is more fuel efficient, more powerful, and simpler to start