Volvo Diesels

bahamabreisus

Well-Known Member
Oct 25, 2007
2,553
Hampstead NC
Boat Info
370 dancer, previous 500,420,390,300 dancers
Engines
454 CI MPI
We are half considering selling our 500DA and have seen a 99 460DA with Volvo diesels. Anyone have advice on the Volvos. Good, bad.
 
I have never owned a Volvo but have heard that the dealer & parts network is much smaller than some of the other manufacturers such as Cummins or CAT
 
Volvo makes good diesel engines. They are far more popular in Europe than here. About the only negative is that their older engines were smokey and loud…..but that will be a likely improvement if you are used to 2 stroke Detroits. Volvo has very few dealers in the US and service is done by franchised service providers which means that service availability can be very spotty, depending upon where you are. For example, we have 2 in Panama City……one is a royal PITA to work with and the other services Cummins, MAN's, Onan, Westerbeke and Northern lights so his backlog of work is usually 6-8 weeks. Parts can also be a challenge on a 20 year old Volvo engine. Volvo still supports the engines but Sweden is a long trip even for FEDEX.

I think we have another 460DA /Volvo owner on CSR but I haven't seen him post lately.
 
I've actually heard good things about the volvos in the 460. There was one for sale on lake Travis I tried to buy but another guy beat me to it. I have a 460 with Cummins and can answer most questions about the boat.

Out of curiosity why move from a 500 to a 460?

Josh


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Frank, thats kind of what I was worried about, service availability and parts prices. We are in coastal NC, and dont think we have any one nearby. The Detroits are loud but, believe it or not, dont smoke except cooler weather start up. We have had the boat for 12 years and they have been pretty much trouble free. ( oh I hate saying that out loud ). These are the non DDEC style. Not her Decision, we are close to true retiring, and want to travel more, so thinking a 450/460 would be much more fuel efficient. I will hate to give up the space.
 
We looked at a sportfish with Volvo TAMD's before buying this boat. We have a local service center but parts pricing and availability was a concern for me.


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There is a guy on my canal with Volvos. It's an older boat. But it is a smoker for sure.
 
I really appreciate all the responses, think it might be time to look in a different direction. Thanks everyone.
 
Frank, thats kind of what I was worried about, service availability and parts prices. We are in coastal NC, and dont think we have any one nearby. The Detroits are loud but, believe it or not, dont smoke except cooler weather start up. We have had the boat for 12 years and they have been pretty much trouble free. ( oh I hate saying that out loud ). These are the non DDEC style. Not her Decision, we are close to true retiring, and want to travel more, so thinking a 450/460 would be much more fuel efficient. I will hate to give up the space.

If you are striving for fuel and maintenance economy and are willing to down size a bit, take a look at 450DA's with Caterpillar 3116's. These are great boats and by far the most economical to run and maintain of any Sea Ray this size. We cruise at under 20 gph….have about 1/3 the cooling system maintenance a Cummins does and no major service between 250 and 2000 hours.
 
Frank, thanks for that info. Whats the difference between 3116 and 3216 Cats
 
They are the same engine family, the 3126 has is little larger displacement so they are 385 or 420 hp output compared to the 3116's 300 or 350 hp. The the 3116 aftercoolers are jacket cooled (by engine coolant) while the 3126 has seawater cooled aftercoolers which increases the maintenance level a bit. Everything else is about the same. Fuel consumption is slightly higher on the 3126 simply because HP comes from converting BTU's in the fuel to power. The 420 hp 3126 powered 450DA is about 2 its faster than a 350hp 3116 450Da at WOT…..but these boats are "happy" at about 75-80% power settings which makes the speed differential negligible.

Some of the 3126 had the infamous soft French block issue, which did not effect the 3116. This problem usually showed up fairly early in the life of the engine. Caterpillar replaced all that were found under warranty up to about 15 years ago. After that, Cat figured that the engines that showed cylinder wear were just a victim of wear/normal use. The chances of there still being some soft blocks out there at this point is fairly remote. Just ask the Cat technician to do a "Blow By test" to measure any combustion gasses getting past the rings on any 3126 powered boat you find Cat has a standard for crankcase blowby and the test is proprietary for Cat engines.

Honestly, I think the greater problem will be finding a nice, unmolested 450DA at this point. Most owners who have them realize what a great boat they are and just don't sell of trade them.
 

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