Replacing a Volvo Penta MD 203 with a D1-30

[tandemb]

After sufferring a serious engine problem with my MD2030 on an Oceanis 331, (siezed piston, big end gone etc) I have been offerred the options of repairing the old engine (price still TBA), fitting a recon MD2030 or new D1-30 as the MD 2030 is no longer in production. Although more expensive than either of the other two options the new engine has the appeal of being new, warrantied and has other advantages such as a 105 Ah alternator and is said to be quieter and smoother.

The downside is at this point that no one who is offerring these for sale is prepared to commit to a definitive list of things which wont quite match the existing installtion and, therefore, wont do a fixed price before the event.

Would love to hear from anyone who has gone this route, has any views about the comaprative benfits of the two engine types and/or who might be able to comment on what needs to be done to make the old engine fit.

[moggie]

Hi, I have just pulled out my 12yr(2000+hrs) Md2030 and have fitted a new D1-30. Just got it running today, sea trails tomorrow! Will let you know.
The engine mounts are the same width, so it goes on the bearers, however it is a bit shorter so you may have to drill new coach bolt holes,I did. My 2030 had bad heat ext problems and then leaky water pump, but the basic engine was good. the D1-30 has a totally different cooling system I hope this has fixed the problems that I had. Volspec in UK had the best price. Good luck, Alex

[tandemb]

Hi there Alex,

Really appreciate your taking the time to reply to my query and hope you have a very successful sea trial on the new engine. Would be delighted to hear how it all goes in due course if you have time. Thanks also for the tip about the supplier - have already asked for a quote.

If I understand you correctly, the only mod to the boat was to extend the longtitudinal distance between the fore and aft mounts? I know the cooling sytem is quite diffferent but that didnt mean any other mods required? Does the extra alternator oputput cause any compatibility issues with the downstream electrics?

Hope my additional questions dont make you regret having replied! Am very grateful you did and really wish you well.

Have a great bank holiday!

Tom B

[moggie]

Hi Tom,
No bank hols. here as we are in Langkawi, but thanks for the wishes.
The shorter engine and gearbox meant that the engine mounts were about 2in. further back to match my out drive leg (sillette) but that was good as some of my coach bolts sheared of when I removed them so I needed new holes, also I now have more room at the front of the engine. I did have a battery isolator but it was only rated at 70amp, so I am now fitting a smart link. The new Alt. has a regulated sensor and I did not want to mess with the field wire, as you had to with the old diod isolators. Sea trials are delayed ( wife gone shopping, can you imagine!!). So further reports soon. Regards Alex

[moggie]

Hi Doug,
Hope you don't mind me replying on the forum, then others can share their experiences of the 2030 as I am sure I was not the only one with these problems. The basic engine is good, all the problems I had were brought on by the badly designed rubber cups that feed the salt water through the heat exchanger. They would either split and fill the engine room up with salt water, or let salt into the fresh water, thus causing the "radiator" to overflow and fill up with salt water. you only notice this when the alternator goes off, because the crank pulley is under water. We went through about 10 of these in 12yrs.(we got into the habit of looking in the engine room
every1/2hr.)(changing them in the dark at sea is a real pain!!)
After so many times running in salt water the fresh water pump corroded thru from the inside.
The water exaust mixer also would get clogged up and cause backpresure and over heating,(and blowing the rubber cups off) after buying two of these I then removed the brass plugs and drilled about six 3/8 holes through the inner casing to let the water flow. I had to overhaul my starter and alternator lots, having been showered so often in salt. Hope this helps. I would like to read other folks experiences. Good luck, Alex

[manxjim]

Tom - hope you don't mind me joining this. I am going through exactly the same issue - 2030 dead -- need a D130. Did you go for a new saildrive too. I am getting some advice the the gear ratio is different on the old saildrive and I need a new one - and a new folding prop - all of which pushes the cost up.......

Thanks ! Jim

[svcattales]

Originally Posted by tandemb

After sufferring a serious engine problem with my MD2030 on an Oceanis 331, (siezed piston, big end gone etc) I have been offerred the options of repairing the old engine (price still TBA), fitting a recon MD2030 or new D1-30 as the MD 2030 is no longer in production. Although more expensive than either of the other two options the new engine has the appeal of being new, warrantied and has other advantages such as a 105 Ah alternator and is said to be quieter and smoother.

The downside is at this point that no one who is offerring these for sale is prepared to commit to a definitive list of things which wont quite match the existing installtion and, therefore, wont do a fixed price before the event.

Would love to hear from anyone who has gone this route, has any views about the comaprative benfits of the two engine types and/or who might be able to comment on what needs to be done to make the old engine fit.

I just did a partial rebuild of a Volvo MD2030B and learned lots of lessons. This engine is still being built and is identical to Perkins M30 (I bought piston/rings and gaskets from Perkins on my rebuild). Engine is actually built by Shibaura (Japan) and is used in New Holland 28hp tractors (tractor Model Boomer 1030). If I were doing another major rebuild, I would buy a "long block" tractor engine and swap out the "marine only" parts like heat exchanger. I believe you can get the tractor engine for about $4200. If you need some more details on this option, let me know. FYI. Perkins is now part of Catepillar and I believe this same engine is used thousands of industrial applications. The parts are available if you know what to ask for. It is a good engine, but some of the "bolt-on" marine parts are poorly designed.

I had the same experiences as "Moggie" with the heat exchanger design and salt water blowing into the anti freeze. I found this problem was partially due to back pressure from exhaust elbow. I had new s/s elbows made locally which seems to have solved this problem and were 1/3rd the cost of Volvo parts. I also safety-wired the small hose clamp on the rubber "ear muffs" to the large hose clamp and this has prevented the slipping of the small hose clamp.

Good luck with your engine decision.

[tandemb]

Thanks for all your inputs. For manxjim, my boat has shaft and prop so no sail drive and have been strongly recommended to use new gearbox with the d1-30. Amazingly, still awaiting a quote for repair of old engine so the moral of this story is that if you are going to have engine trouble, dont have it in the south of France, where the general levels of support for the individual sailor are a disgrace and the concept of customer service quite alien - unless you have a three-deck gin palace.

With a general lack of deep technical experience and in light bof above comments re service and support it look slike the new d1-30 is my best route.

THanks and happy sailing to all.

Tom B

[Sipadan]

Thanks Greg, I too have the same problem as Tom B, facing a rebore and overhaul of one 15 yr old MD2030B and the second for an overhaul once I have the stbd engine back in my Prout 39 here in Hong Kong.

I have been quoted around the equivalent of US$7,000 for this work on one engine. Can you share with me any more specific information on the Shibaura engine you mentioned. This may be an excellent option given that I do have all those lovingly maintained but very troublesome marine components from my volvo pentas that I could bolt on.

Is it a like for like fit, same mountings, same flywheel, same casing to fit volvo leg?

Many thanks in advance

St.John

[Jim Cate]

And people wonder why they are called "Green Death"!

The genealogy of the various marine diesels is complicated and really, quite interesting. Buying as many parts as possible from the tractor side of the house generally saves a few bucks.

So, for all of you Volvo heads, good luck with the upgrades/rebuilds/ etc.

Cheers,

Jim (a happy Kubota tractor motor owner!)

[svcattales]

Originally Posted by Sipadan

Thanks Greg, I too have the same problem as Tom B, facing a rebore and overhaul of one 15 yr old MD2030B and the second for an overhaul once I have the stbd engine back in my Prout 39 here in Hong Kong.

I have been quoted around the equivalent of US$7,000 for this work on one engine. Can you share with me any more specific information on the Shibaura engine you mentioned. This may be an excellent option given that I do have all those lovingly maintained but very troublesome marine components from my volvo pentas that I could bolt on.

Is it a like for like fit, same mountings, same flywheel, same casing to fit volvo leg?

Many thanks in advance

St.John

St.John,

I found a New Holland tractor dealer near my home and took my Volvo MD2030B shop manual into the dealer and we compared schematics of the
"Boomer 1030" 28hp engine and schematics looked exactly the same. I found out this info after I rebuilt my Volvo engine with Perkins parts so I can't say for sure that this would work since there could be changes since Catepillar took over that engine.

Check out this website Messick's | Dealer for New Holland, Case IH, Kubota, Cub Cadet and More | Online Parts, Sales & Service. which is a New Holland tractor dealer and it has onlne schematics. If I were in your shoes, I would like to see one of these engines in person before making a purchase. As I recall, the price of a long block was only $4200. Assuming this checks out, it is good news for all MD2030B owners since there will be a supply of parts for a long time.

Good luck.

[Sipadan]

Greg, Many thanks for the helpful advice. If it all works out I will post the results. May be a problem finding a New Holland Dealer here in Hong Kong, not much call for tractors! I'll take a look in Shanghai perhaps.

regards St.John

[tandemb]

Hi guys,

I had actually forgotten all about this correspondence but, to bring you up to date, I eventually bought a new Perkins D30 from a UK chandler at about £5300 and had it very econmomically shipped to France where the local Volvo agent fitted it with out any problem for about Euros 2300 if I remember.

So far so good, runs beautifully but have only done less than 50 hours since so far too early to relax fully but am very happy with it as things stand.

Good luck with whatever you do.

Tom B, Nov 28.

Originally Posted by Sipadan

Thanks Greg, I too have the same problem as Tom B, facing a rebore and overhaul of one 15 yr old MD2030B and the second for an overhaul once I have the stbd engine back in my Prout 39 here in Hong Kong.

I have been quoted around the equivalent of US$7,000 for this work on one engine. Can you share with me any more specific information on the Shibaura engine you mentioned. This may be an excellent option given that I do have all those lovingly maintained but very troublesome marine components from my volvo pentas that I could bolt on.

Is it a like for like fit, same mountings, same flywheel, same casing to fit volvo leg?

Many thanks in advance

St.John