volvo penta 4.3 OSi (good, no good?)

[Charlie1]

I have a 21.5 ft Bayliner Tropht Hardtop that nees more HP. I have a chance to buy a 2005-380 hours Volvo Penta 4.3 OSi EF XDP Ocean Series that would work but I can't find out much about it on the Net. I read the OSi fuel injection may be problematic and possibly not in production any more.
Any info on this would be much appreciated.
Charlie1

 

[iang]

Re: volvo penta 4.3 OSi (good, no good?)

Volvo Penta OSI's are the same as the new Volvo EGC motors,there is no problem thatI know of with the fuel injection,they are a good,reliable motor.What is an issue in waters where a lot of shallow area's are encountered are the XDP drive.This unit is designed in such a way that you can only trim the drive a very small amount before the bellows come into contact with the universal joints,resulting in torn bellows,water intrusion and eventually gimble bearing and in bad cases,transom shield replacement.If,however,you intend using the vessel in deep lakes and unlikely to have a need to trim the drive up with the engine running,then there is no problem what so ever with these units. It would also be advisable to replace the composite props with either aluminum or stainless as the composite props definitely flex to the extent that they lose efficiency.

 

[Charlie1]

Re: volvo penta 4.3 OSi (good, no good?)

Thanks for the info. I will be using the boat in salt water. (north pacific) I have read that corrosion can be a problem in salt water. I also found that at least in 2008 volvo still made the OSi so that ws good news. The seller said it comes with F4 props but I don't know if they are composite or not. When I trailer it I will take note of the bellows and get a feel for how much trim it may allow before contacting the u joint.