Volvo MD7B

[Whiting 34 0]

I have a Volvo MD7B that has died, would it be advisable to look for another MD7B or replace the engine with a Yanmar or a new model Volvo? I have a saildrive on the back of the engine so would prefer not to do any major changes.

[wheels 543]

Always a difficult situation. First question, is doing it up possible??

Replacing with something else is always a difficult situation. Things like engine mounting and aligning with gearbox and other gear is not always straight forward. Then you have issues like Exhaust and gear ratio(although not in your case) and so on. It can become expensive and you have to weigh that up against the worth of the boat and the also the size of the wallet.

[ab1974 1]

I've done this exact mod on my Elliott.

 

Had a Volvo MD7B with a Volvo 120s saildrive. My saildrive was in mint condition and to replace the saildrive as well would have been uneconomical. There were a few options I looked at:

 

1. Rebuild the MD7B - expensive option as all the parts for the rebuild have to come from Volvo and you still end up with a heavy old technology engine with all the other parts of the engine 30 years old (alternator, injector system, cooling, electrics etc)

 

2. Buy another MD7B in good running order - was a possibility but given the one I had originally was mean't to have had a rebuild I wasn't prepared to take the risk again. You are still going to have all the labour costs of pulling it and and replacing the motors.

 

3. Look to replace with either a Beta or Nanni diesel - both do kits to adapt to the 120s sail drive and other saildrives. Both are a marinised version of a Kubota diesel so easy to get parts and typically cheaper than Volvo and Yanmar etc.

 

4. Replace with a volvo diesel. The guys at Ovlov and Volpower were keen to look at mine as they knew both Beta and Nanni had a product to marry up to Volvo saildrives - and Volvo didn't! They came up with an adaptor kit which when I weighed it all up was just a better solution that the Nanni and Beta options.

 

I went with a D1-13 (13hp) engine they weighed a little less than the Nanni and the Beta (and a whopping 70kg less than the MD7B!) and also came with a 115amp alternator. They provided me with a fixed price quote and were prepared to do the work with the boat in the water. Speak to Phil at Ovlov Pine Harbour - he was great.

 

You also need to look at the blades you have on the saildrive. I would have had to change blades as the Nanni and Beta engines ran at higher peak revs (3600 Vs 3000 for the Volvo). Changing blades is a $1,200-$1,800 exercise plus another haul out.

 

Total cost didn't see much change out of $10k from memory for the new engine qand the labour to remove the old MD7B and install the D1-13 but it made so much difference to the boat. Press the button and she fires to life - no wondering if she would start or worse stop at the wrong time!

[Whiting 34 0]

Thanks for all the information on the Volvo and possible replacement, having investigated the options it is turning into quite a bottomless pit!!!