Volvo Penta XDP composite drive maintenance and replacement options

[davidgutillo]

Hello,

I know there is a lot of information in forums and on the web about how bad these drives are. That said, I am considering a 2004, 33 ft boat with XDPs paired to twin 5.7s with low hours that runs flawlessly.

Some discussions indicated newer generation bellows reduce the likelihood of water intrusion. So far (assuming due to the age and limited production run) I have found limited information on maintenance for these.

Would anyone be able to give me specific maintenance information on these, including the bellows replacement? What’s needed for a full boot job? Any long term success stories with proper maintenance would be appreciated.

Also, if I do need to do a drive swap in the future, what non-composite Volvo Penta drives can be used to swap with the least amount of cost and retrofit changes?

 

[Lou C]

You can swap to regular aluminum SX drives (using used or reman units) but it is VERY expensive. With the newer SX-A drives it would cost even more. Parts alone could be $6000-$8,000 per engine. Keep in mind you would have to pull the drives, hoist out both engines & replace the inner & outer transom mounts! Then add all the hours of labor to make the switch. You are basically replacing everything but the engines….
I would not buy a boat with one XPD much less two!
If you’re considering boat that size why not go with straight shaft or V drives and get away from the headaches of outdrives all together. The only reasons to consider them on a boat that size is the ability to trim up in shallow water & better speed & efficiency. Maintenance & repairs are much less on straight shaft inboards or Vdrives.
Don’t do it! Look into the actual cost of conversion…..You’ll thank me later!

 

[davidgutillo]

You can swap to regular aluminum SX drives (using used or reman units) but it is VERY expensive. With the newer SX-A drives it would cost even more. Parts alone could be $6000-$8,000 per engine. Keep in mind you would have to pull the drives, hoist out both engines & replace the inner & outer transom mounts! Then add all the hours of labor to make the switch. You are basically replacing everything but the engines….
I would not buy a boat with one XPD much less two!
If you’re considering boat that size why not go with straight shaft or V drives and get away from the headaches of outdrives all together. The only reasons to consider them on a boat that size is the ability to trim up in shallow water & better speed & efficiency. Maintenance & repairs are much less on straight shaft inboards or Vdrives.
Don’t do it! Look into the actual cost of conversion…..You’ll thank me later!

You can swap to regular aluminum SX drives (using used or reman units) but it is VERY expensive. With the newer SX-A drives it would cost even more. Parts alone could be $6000-$8,000 per engine. Keep in mind you would have to pull the drives, hoist out both engines & replace the inner & outer transom mounts! Then add all the hours of labor to make the switch. You are basically replacing everything but the engines….
I would not buy a boat with one XPD much less two!
If you’re considering boat that size why not go with straight shaft or V drives and get away from the headaches of outdrives all together. The only reasons to consider them on a boat that size is the ability to trim up in shallow water & better speed & efficiency. Maintenance & repairs are much less on straight shaft inboards or Vdrives.
Don’t do it! Look into the actual cost of conversion…..You’ll thank me later!

Thanks Lou. the boat is being sold at a greatly reduced cost. My thought is since it’s running without issue, use it until a drive has to get swapped. Is there no way to avoid pulling motors and swapping transom mounts? Do you have any experience on maintenance for these drives, bellows, boots, gimbal, etc?

 

[Lou C]

From what I have read, you have to swap everything behind the engines, inner mount, outer mount etc. No easy way to do it. Yeah they are selling it at a greatly reduced price because when those drives break, Volvo isn't supporting them and then you have to put like I said, 6000-8000 per engine into it in parts and then hours to pull the engines and install all the new/used parts. Let's say $16 grand plus about 20 hrs labor. You'll be just about at 18-20 grand then. Is it that cheap that you can afford that? Plus the time, inconvenience etc.
Do yourself a favor, walk away from this boat.
Since you don't own it, you have the opportunity to make a much better choice in that size boat....straight inboards....or v drives....why oh why would you want to deal with outdrives in a boat that size? I certainly would not.
The ONLY time, that outdrives make sense in that size boat is if you boat in an area that has many shallow spots, or big tidal swings, where trimming up is advantageous or just plain necessary. Otherwise, yeah they are more efficient due to being able to trim them, but other wise, a maintenance head ache. Expensive parts, lots of extra complexity.
I'm on the north shore of Long Island and the waters I boat in are deep enough that in that size boat I would not even consider outdrives. Now on the south shore with many shallow areas, I might. I am quite experienced in maintaining sterndrives in salt water....20 years worth.....and if you don't need the shallow water advantages....buy something else!

 

[Scott Danforth]

Thanks Lou. the boat is being sold at a greatly reduced cost. My thought is since it’s running without issue, use it until a drive has to get swapped. Is there no way to avoid pulling motors and swapping transom mounts? Do you have any experience on maintenance for these drives, bellows, boots, gimbal, etc?

No, you have to pull the motors

(Which is quite easy)