Volvo D2-55C - considering options on what to do with it.

[Jim Jones]

Originally Posted by skipperpete

The drive plate is the torsional damper that joins the engine to the gearbox input shaft. Bolted to the flywheel and splined in the centre to accept the gearbox shaft it often resembles an automotive clutch plate with the linings removed.
Unless you find an alarming amount of steel particles on the magnetic plug or the oil is otherwise contaminated the bearings should be ok. Any lateral “ wiggle” in the input or output shafts is also cause for further investigation.

Ok, I have much better idea now of what this part actually is. It definitely needs to be checked out while we have the chance.

Re the gearbox service. I would think the gearbox is a fairly simple design given its age. So I do get that the oil needs changing and then a visual inspection to check for any other issues that may be present. With regards to the bearings it as you say, check for any "wiggle" or backlash and then go forward as appropriate.

[Jim Jones]

Originally Posted by Baby tug

I would have to know how you’re going to use this engine , you say you’re going to be on a lake , lake Victoria , I can’t see you using the engine all that much , I would have to know what you’re going to do with the boat is it gonna be running every day , personally I wouldn’t do anything change your oil give it a servicing take some spare parts with me, if you’re going to be out in the middle of nowhere I would want an engine that I could rebuild in frame without the need of a machine shop i.e. replacing Cylinder sleeves etc. maybe you should just carry a spare engine complete how big is this lake , Lake superior is the biggest lake in the world and I wouldn’t worry about that too much , you’re not going to be 3000 mile Offshore, Just my opinion if it’s running good and it ain’t broke don’t fix it take whatever spare parts are appropriate ,if it is a rebuildable engine I would take a rebuild kit that’s it just my opinion once again

Its going onto Lake Tanganyika. The lake is 700 Klms long and avg 60 Klm wide. Its an inland sea. There are many challenges to getting this boat onto the lake - its not for the feint hearted - hauling out a boat and putting it onto a truck trailer and moving it halfway through Africa by road - right there 98% of those who would be interested in having a yacht on the lake just left the room.

Going off topic but this is the back story......

Sailing is all very nice and enjoyable and I do enjoy sailing having been a deck hand on a yacht sailing around Sydney harbour in my youth. But that is not the reason I want a yacht on the lake. The yacht to me represents a floating caravan - being a boat allows me to get my caravan from A to B on the lake. I need to deploy to many different parts of the lake and spend time at many many many locations diving. I may well be at a given dive spot for 10 days at a time if there is something interesting to me at that location and I need somewhere to live while over that dive spot - in the middle of nowhere Africa.

The winds on the lake are seasonal - a nice wind blows from the North from Oct - thru March. Starts about 9/9.30 in the morning. Starts light and builds up strength till about 2Pm then starts dying off and by 5 PM there is no wind at all. It blows about 20 days out of a month, ie, we dont get it everyday but on a lot of days we do get it. In May the wind swings around and blows from the South East and its a buster ! It can get mighty strong on some days in May/June but is an early morning wind - it rarely blows all day long. Then we have the in between months with little to no wind - August/Sept and April into early May.

Given all this I envisage lots of motor sailing. If the wind is UP when I need to move of course I would use it - so enjoyable! But many times I am sure the wind will not be co-operating and i will be motoring - which is no bad thing because its a chance to charge batteries and fill air bottles.

So I think my engine use will in fact be quite heavy, hence my wanting to make sure the engine is good and robust.

Carrying spares is on the to do list. But anything beyond basic service and simpler jobs is a very real challenge - the workmanship in the area is not that strong. Hence wanting to do as much as possible to ensure a strong reliable engine. Its a long haul back to a place where the mechanics I would want to use are found. The need to have to get a mechanic to come to the boat can be negated by doing the heavy lifting while its in a place where it only costs an arm and a leg. Once on the lake i will have to put a kidney on ebay to get major mechanical work done on the engine.

[DeValency]

The Volvo Penta D2-55, is an excellent engine, one of the best in class. 3,000 hours are about 20% of its expected life span before an overhaul or replacement if well maintained.

Why would you even consider doing anything major now? Just do a proper maintenance, replace all oils, all filters, make sure you have a clean oil, cooled well (you may want to flush the coolant circles - raw and fresh), replace the water pump">raw water pump impeller, the alternator belt/s and your engine is like new.

If you want to spend more, there are definitely better areas on a boat to consider: electrical, sails, rigging, pumps, plumbing…

Originally Posted by Jim Jones

Looking at a boat with a D2-55C. Believe it is a 2004 model.

I know nothing about the history of the engine and it will be hard if not impossible to get any history on it.

The motor has 3000 hours on it. At this stage I dont know the condition of it (how it starts, does it blow any smoke and if so what color smoke).

I believe this is the Perkins block. At 3000 hours IF it was well looked after the motor has plenty of life left in it.

Particular to my situation I am considering overhauling the motor. I am not decided yet and it will depend on a report of the engine. I will be doing a compression test and a cylinder leak test. If its really solid then I will just put new injectors in it and have the injector pump taken out and serviced. I would have the valves adjusted to the correct backlash. If its the least bit low in compression readings I would have it overhauled. The reason why is this;

......the boat is being taken off the sea and transported inland to a very remote location where there are no facilities for repairing yachts.

While it is expensive to overhaul the engine while its at a seaport where there are LOTS of facilities to repair anything on the boat, once it goes remote it would cost 4 or 5 times more to do anything to it once there.

I would have the raw water impeller replaced, the fresh water pump replaced and would have to take a long hard look at the heat exchanger given this motor has been in service for nearly 20 years.

My questions to those who either have or know this engine are,

Do you think at 3000 hours it makes sense to just bite the bullet and recondition the engine?

Does this engine have sleeves or do the bores need to be machined to an oversize and oversize pistons/rings fitted?

Are these engines still available new? If so perhaps a short motor would be a better deal?

What other items/things should I consider replacing on this engine?

[merrydolphin]

Heat exchangers, pumps etc easy. And relatively cheap. If the engine turns over you. May be ok. It the internals are ok: rings, bearings. You may get long use with little effort. You can get new heat exchangers from Mr Cool Marine, heat exchangers pretty cheaply for darn near anything marime. Pump are pumps.
If you are not mechanically inclined can you get a mechanic to look at it?
Even it injector pump or injectors need service you can pull them out and mail them to an injector facility for service.

I had one perking 4-154 go to 10K hrs and still surveyed out fine. Mechanic said, maybe good for another 10K.
I had a perkins 4-236 go close to 20K hrs. With upper rebuild, still going. Just made it to the South Pacific and back.
Can you get someone to check compression? Good luck.

[SoonerSailor]

Genuine Volvo parts are hideously expensive. Give careful thought to simply selling this engine - you may be surprised how much people will pay for it- and install a new Beta.

I have a D2-55(A), and while it r has always run well, it needed new exhaust manifold with heat exchanger, ($5000) exhaust riser (elbow) and water circulation pump after 18 years and 1200 hours of meticulous maintenance. The manifold might have been repairable by an ace aluminum welder, but that didn’t happen.

[CarinaPDX]

It is very easy for new owners to overthink things. As far as I can tell you have no indications of problems with the core engine, and just some normal maintenance is required. It is wise to service the engine fully, replacing parts like the fuel lift pump diaphragm that have a limited service life. If you can do something about isolating the exhaust elbow that would be a good idea. But beyond that you are just making a lot of work for yourself. With 3000 hours the engine is broken in but still has the majority of its life ahead of it. Moving to a freshwater environment should be easier on the cooling system (but I admit that I don't know what the high pH would do). And the alternative of swapping blocks or engines is a big job that simply is not necessary. It is not clear at all that a new installation would be more reliable (even if the new engine itself were bullet proof). You have a proven engine and installation so stick with it. Just my 2¢.

Greg

[smacksman]

Don't they have any farm mechanics where you are going? Perkins are everywhere in the bush.

[goboatingnow]

With engines , don’t fix what isn’t broken.

[Jes]

Recently I updated our D2-55A engine (2003) with 1.600 hours running time.

I replaced all waterhoses so that you can see what's going on in the saltwater circuit.
Cleaned the cooling fluid tank (made it transparant again)

The coal brushes of the (60A) attenuator needed replacement.
Waterpump revision was needed: new bearings and simmerings. Bearings were oxidized because of a little leaking via simmerings (it's a question of time...)

Replaced cooling water strainer.
Replaced all seacocks (that's a bigger concern than the motor)
Exhaust elbow and heat exchanger were already renewed by the pre-owner. Do not underestimate the work for cleaning/replacing the heat exchanger: it requires dismantling of the complete heat exchanger assembley.

With the analysis of old oil, new oil (after couple of hours running), old cooling fluid you can also have good indications on the internal status of the engine.

[Icarus]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Why would you service all those items at 3000 hours. That’s not a lot of hours

I,d do basic service and have the injector tips inspected , heat exchanger cleaned etc

That’s about it.

Pretty much that is all what's needed

[SoonerSailor]

Originally Posted by Icarus

Pretty much that is all what's needed

With this engine of that age and hours, you had better remove and examine the exhaust riser/elbow, and the mating surface of the exhaust manifold. Ignore this at your peril.

[Jim Jones]

Hi All,

Been out in the bush for a while surveying roads and checking the crane that will do the lifting onto the water. All good on the crane front - the crane can lift 150t - so my puny little Garcia 42 that weighs 11t is a simple lift for them. So at least that checks out.

I have to say after learning that the D2-55C was a Perkins engine in green dress that I felt somewhat more relaxed about it all. I totally agree that 3000 hours for this engine is not that much. The Key word is "REGULAR" maintenance and I just dont know how its been treated over its life. I have no way to learn of the engines providence - keeping my fingers crossed that it was well looked and doing a basic service and heading off into the bush seems a wee bit optimistic to me.

I will see how it goes with a compression test, how it starts etc, what , if any, colour smoke it blows etc and how much smoke. There are lots of little tell tale signs to how an engine is.

I do want to take the engine out. I want to get back into the engine compartment area and replace every possible part I can back there - sea cock/s, through hulls, hoses, clamps, wiring - everything. It may be overkill and a waste of money but honestly the feeling of having taken as many precautions as possible is priceless given where i will be operating.

While the engine is out I will have the chance to go over it with a fine tooth comb. The heat exchanger is definitely coming off for a clean up/service and replacement of anything necessary. I was all set for the stainless elbow replacement part but as pointed out here, you cant really stop the corrosion of dissimilar metals issues - better to replace the elbow because of corrosion issues then the heat exchanger - given the cost of the heat exchanger.

If the bottom end is tight and the head/valves test as good then I would leave them be. I will def have the injectors serviced. I am not sure about the injector pump - I will take advice on whether I should have the injector pump serviced or not.

I will 100% replace both water pumps with new parts. I want to redo the alternator setup with a new setup so new belts would be part of that anyway.

I am looking into possibly replacing the alternator with a 200amp 48v setup. The engine currently has a 115amp 12v alternator - but that is not much power as it would output at most 80amps while staying within temp range and I want to use the engine as a genset replacement - hence why I want to make the engine as tight as possible as it will get lots of hours on it as a genset replacement. I will be installing LiFePO4 batteries for house bank duties. I may even go for LTO batteries but that would depend how much charge power I can generate - LTO batteries can charge very VERY fast without any damage whatsoever and have a life of around 20,000 cycles. Disadvantage is they are only a little better then lead acid for power to weight ratio. The big advantage to LTO is if you can generate the power they will accept it - you can recharge them to full in 15 mins with NO damage to them - but that can be a big charge current you need to generate and I dont think I can get there. Think about it - run your charging setup for 15 mins and your house bank is full and ready to go another round and is good for this 20,000 times ! The other advantage is of no use to me - you can use and recharge LTO's at up to -20c without damage. If you cruise in the Antarctic this may be an advantage.

Much to consider. Is it really possible to overthink all this? Starting out with either a, 1/new engine or, 2/ reconditioned engine is no bad thing - just a money question. Can I really get away with replacing water pumps. exhaust parts, injector service and normal maintenance and be done with it? Of course I would love to save money, but we have a saying out here - cheap is expensive.

[DeValency]

Sounds like you want to plan on doing the maximum possible even before running the engine in the water and experiencing the entire boat - which isn’t only an engine - rather than the minimum necessary to properly run it, look and listen, replace oils, filters and impeller and any broken part - if any and start sailing, making sure all works properly, plumbing, pumps, electrical, rigging and sails, all safety items - and go sailing! Then you’ll find out what really need repair and prioritize - safety first.

Otherwise, you can easily spend years perfecting a boat without real sailing, as anything with boat takes 5x the time and 3X the money. - Your call.

[Jim Jones]

Originally Posted by DeValency

Sounds like you want to plan on doing the maximum possible even before running the engine in the water and experiencing the entire boat

Its not that i WANT to do these things per se, rather looking at it as preventative maintenance up front. The boat is being lifted out of the water at the port its at and loaded onto a truck to be taken 4000 Klms overland. There are no facilities where it is going. I've said it a number of times now, I can either do it upfront or do it later at 3-4x the cost. Either way the time will come for it to be done. Its so much easier to do it now where all services and techs are available.

I need to hit the sweet spot - do what is needed now, do what may be reasonable preventative maintenance and consider what may be prudent to do for the long term outlook. If I miss the spot and under spend and miss something that turns out to be big its a massive cost at its inland berth to get done.

This is my forever boat. There wont be another one for me. This is it. So while over capitalizing is never good I need to make the boat what I want it to be for my unique needs. Never cheap or a good value. The best boat to buy is one that the previous owner just spent a bomb on refitting - and buying those enhancements for pennies in the dollar. They do come along from time to time. This boat is half way there. Now its my turn to help the economy. I prefer not to, but if wanting a boat to go to far away remote places for some years, then it simply costs. Having an utmost reliable engine rather then a mystery bag has value to me. I get to you or some other folks..... not so much. But then you can call into a port and get the work needed done as you need it. I cant.

[goboatingnow]

Why do you feel more comfortable knowing it’s a Perkins block.

Perkins had problematic engines too

Most Volvo penta engines use oem blocks especially the smaller engines. My MD2030 is a Perkins block which Perkins oems from a Japanese industrial engine block company . Engine blocks tend to come from a small group of suppliers anyway.