volvo saildrives

[Popeye46]

Hi Guys & Dolls

Just bought a Perry 43 Passagemaker with 55hp volvos. I am about to haul her out to paint her bottom and I would like to service the saildrives. I would prefer to use a volvo guy but he is about 250 kms away. Any tips on servicing such as replacing seals would be appreciated. I am a marine engineer but I have no experience with saildrives.

Thanks for reading.

[Neptune's Gear]

Pretty simple, Seals are the same as an outboard. Check the oil for water ingress, change it if its due or you dont know when it was done. Check the gearshift moves the lever right to the stops both ways, and thats about it if there are no issues apparent.

[DougR]

As mentioned, if there is evidence of water in the oil you should change the prop shaft seals in the leg. There are two seals per leg, one facing in and one facing out, as well as the O rings around the bearing carrier casting. You should be able to find a service manual for your drive on-line that will detail the procedure.

At this time also change the zinc on each drive. Clean the surface on the drive so that there is good electrical contact between the zinc and the drive metal. Do not paint the zinc!

Do not use copper based paint on the drive leg itself. Use paint recommended for saildrives/outdrives/ outboards. Clean the water pickup slots on the front of the leg very well, and use a wooden dowel to clean as much of the inside of the water pickup tube as you can by inserting the dowel up thru the opening on the bottom front of the leg.

If your boat is equipped with fixed blade VP props, and you remove the prop, it is good practice to replace the stainless steel allen head screw that serves as a lock for the prop cone. Better to do this than risk loosing a prop. Coat the prop shaft with a good waterproof grease before replacing the prop so that it comes off easily next time.

The factory recommended replacement time interval for the saildrive bellows/seal is every seven years, though most people extend that considerably. At least take the time to check the condition of the seal for any possible deterioration.

DougR

[Popeye46]

Originally Posted by Neptune's Gear

Pretty simple, Seals are the same as an outboard. Check the oil for water ingress, change it if its due or you dont know when it was done. Check the gearshift moves the lever right to the stops both ways, and thats about it if there are no issues apparent.

Thanks for the info, might sound strange but I have no experience with outboard legs either. Most of my experience was on large diesels.

[Popeye46]

Originally Posted by DougR

As mentioned, if there is evidence of water in the oil you should change the prop shaft seals in the leg. There are two seals per leg, one facing in and one facing out, as well as the O rings around the bearing carrier casting. You should be able to find a service manual for your drive on-line that will detail the procedure.

At this time also change the zinc on each drive. Clean the surface on the drive so that there is good electrical contact between the zinc and the drive metal. Do not paint the zinc!

Do not use copper based paint on the drive leg itself. Use paint recommended for saildrives/outdrives/ outboards. Clean the water pickup slots on the front of the leg very well, and use a wooden dowel to clean as much of the inside of the water pickup tube as you can by inserting the dowel up thru the opening on the bottom front of the leg.

If your boat is equipped with fixed blade VP props, and you remove the prop, it is good practice to replace the stainless steel allen head screw that serves as a lock for the prop cone. Better to do this than risk loosing a prop. Coat the prop shaft with a good waterproof grease before replacing the prop so that it comes off easily next time.

The factory recommended replacement time interval for the saildrive bellows/seal is every seven years, though most people extend that considerably. At least take the time to check the condition of the seal for any possible deterioration.

DougR

Thanks for the info Doug, you are a fountain of wisdom. My boat has 3 blade folding Gori props. Apart from the wooden dowel, are there any special tools needed to do the seals.

Frank

[Ostinato]

I've had Gori props and they use a special hook shaped wrench that looks something like a big question mark (?). The inside rubber bushing is likely to need replacing too. These don't seem to hold up too long.

[DougR]

VP makes some special tools that are used to change seals, but you can do the job with locally sourced or even improvised items.
- VP makes a slide hammer tool that screws onto the prop shaft threads and is used to pull the shaft and bearing carrier out. Easy to improvise or otherwise pull or tap the shaft out.
- VP has seal drifts to push the seals in and out of the carrier, but you can also use commercially available drifts or a properly sized socket and extension.

That's about all you need for seal replacement.

Two seals and two O rings per drive.

DougR