Sail Drive: When to Change the Mounting Plate ?

[Jacques2]

Hi !
The man who takes care of my Bavaria 37 in Turkey insists for changing the "mounting plate" (sic) of my Volvo MD 2030 saildrive.
Boat and engine are from year 2001 (17 000 Nauticaul Milles - 1 200 hours)

Sorry for my english . With the term "mounting plate" i mean the the big round seal that makes the watertightness between the engine (inside) and the sail drive (outside).

My questions are : how long is it possible not to change it ?
What would be the normal price for this kind of work (pieces included).
Thanks.

[Sailmonkey]

This is one of those things that is cheaper to change now, and on a schedule rather than wait until it starts to leak when you're away from a haulout facility.
I could say individual use may vary, but somewhere in the owners manual/service manual there will be a service life for this piece of rubber.
I cannot speculate on the price for where you are, but combined with a normal haulout won't add too much to the final price.

[Jacques2]

Thanks,
At the moment, now, my boat is on land.
The price asked is 1195 Euros (1600 $) and it looks a litle bit expansive doesn't it ?

[Sailmonkey]

As near as I can tell Volvo requests that you replace the "Gaiter" every seven years. From what I've seen of prices on the net the parts are around 400 Euro. Unless you feeling like pulling the engine fwd and off the trans, then dropping the whole drive unit out the bottom yourself I'd say the 1195 Eu is a good price.

[Kashmir cat]

I got about 9 years out of one of mine.

[never monday]

the price seems reasonable. The sail drive must be disassembled to replace the boot.

[Ex-Calif]

Here is a rather old thread from CF backing up the 7 years recommendation. I tend to agree with it however have not replaced mine on the 120S.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...pers-7179.html

Here is an article on the maxi owners association about changing the boot. Pics included so you can see what's involved.

Depending on the install it requires complete removal of saildrive and at least unbedding and shifting the donk.

Saildrive Gaiter

At the risk of thread drift I wonder if Sailmonkey would post some links to purchase sites.

[never monday]

Originally Posted by Ex-Calif

At the risk of thread drift I wonder if Sailmonkey would post some links to purchase sites.

Volvo Penta Marine Engine Parts and Accessories Online Store - Volvo Penta

or any local VP dealer

[Ex-Calif]

Thanks Pat - I found the kit for mine (120S) at US$375 - Didn't check availability.

The Volvo store wouldn't let me in due to foreign IP address and referred me to local dealers. I checked another site.

So $375 + incidentals and mark up in parts - Call parts $450-$500. Two guys X 1 Day = 16 hours X $50 = $800 + $500 = $1300. $1600 sounds close especially if the drive has to come out of the boat and access is difficult.

[Jacques2]

Thanks,
The links are very hepfull.
I just found by internet and phone a compete Kit with the Saildrive galter in a Volvo shop in France for 264 € (VAT included) = 355 US $. Less expansive i thougt !
Well, for the work itself salaries should be lower in Turkey (compare to US or Europe) so i have now more informations ton negociate the "right price".