Volvo MD 2030?

[GTom]

I try to find information when was the MD 2030 discontinued? A boat on my shopping shortlist is claimef to be repowered with this one in 2006 I thought the 2030 is an older model.

Are there any parts of it that's not Perkins/Caterpillar and might be an issue once Volvo stops its (quite pricey) support?

[shakey doug]

G'day, Google Cox Engineering UK. They have all info you require and more.

[belizesailor]

The MD2030 is a very widely installed engine. Parts are readily available from Volvo and given the large installed based I would not expect that to change anytime soon (especially given the revenue they are making off the wildly over priced parts).

I do not know if its discontinued, but I dont think so. Ive seen brand new ones for sale with the past couple of years. Why do you think its been discontinued?

[GTom]

I found an engine database stating it was produced between 1998-2002 (sry, German)

[belizesailor]

I did a quick search on the Volvo corporate site. When I look for engines in that HP range the D1 series comes up, not the MD series.

Any Volvo distributor should be able to answer definitively for you.

[belizesailor]

Post what you find out. Ive got 2x MD2020s so am interested in the answer.

Ive never had any problems getting parts (aside from the outrageous cost).

[deblen]

Yacht engine derivations – Cox Engineering


http://www.fujiyachts.net/manuals/Pe...p%20Manual.pdf


http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...-158867-2.html

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by GTom

I try to find information when was the MD 2030 discontinued? A boat on my shopping shortlist is claimef to be repowered with this one in 2006 I thought the 2030 is an older model.

Are there any parts of it that's not Perkins/Caterpillar and might be an issue once Volvo stops its (quite pricey) support?

Don't even get me going..........

On Thursday May 12th, 2016 at 12:06 PM I got a panicked string of text messages from a customer with a 2004 Beneteau 36.7. There are 7 photos of his 600 hour Volvo MD2030 engine with oil everywhere. Oh oh...

Boat was launched, commissioned, sea trialed, run to temp levels checked etc. etc. and all was fine. After sailing from the boat yard to his summer mooring he fired up the engine to motor into the mooring field & it was blowing stink. He then heard a screeching racket, said it sounded like a wrapped floating line on the prop, and then about 20 seconds later the engine alarm went off. He immediately shut down the engine, re-hoisted the sail, and sailed onto the mooring.

When he opened up the engine bay there was oil everywhere. The engine, for no known reason, or no good reason, spit out what is called a "casting plug" from one of the oil journals. A casting plug is not a freeze plug in the antifreeze circuit, it is a permanent casting plug in the oil circuit. This low hour engine had been impeccably maintained using not only Volvo filters but Volvo fluids as well. Customer was very anal about maintaining it to Volvo's standards... It was also routinely serviced at earlier than factory suggested intervals.

When the casting plug came out it caused the oil pump to literally pump all the oil straight out of the engine, at cruise RPM.. Once the engine was out of oil, any oil lubed surface were destroyed before he could even shut down the engine. Cylinders, pistons, crank bearings, cam, valve guides etc. etc. on and on. Of course, at this point, he had no idea what had happened. While cleaning up the engine bay he found the casting plug. It was then we realized what had actually happened.

It took weeks to get a hold of anyone at Volvo who would return a call or who could tell us how or why this happened. We spoke with nearly every Volvo dealer in the US, and some in Canada, and not a one of them had the casting plug in stock but quite a few had seen this same thing happen..

The owner paid for expedited shipping from Europe, shipping being nearly 15X the cost of the part, and "Volvo expedited" still took six weeks.

Volvo response to owner:
"Not supposed to happen, and never has." = Complete BS
"That plug is stainless" = Complete BS and a LIE
"Engine is probably still be fine." = Engine was totaled!



The casting plug is specified as stainless steel. Into a cast iron block? Okay...

The actual plug was soft aluminum. Into a cast iron block? Okay..


The replacement "expedited" casting plug was also soft aluminum, NOT the "specified" SS nor machined from the same cast iron as the block as many engine manufacturers do. Heck even "low tech" reputable boiler manufacturers machine the nipples, that hold the sections together, out of cast iron so they expand and contract at the same rate..

So now the owner has burned six weeks of his season, even when "expedited", and we finally get the new casting plug installed. We change oil & filter and carefully fire up the motor. The motor starts but is billowing blue smoke. Wait for it to burn off, like a worn valve guide might, fail. She continues to billow blue smoke.. The engine is not only smoking but sounds horrible too. Compression tests reveal what is to be expected, low compression.

Well at least it runs so you can get some use of your boat until we can fix this.

Bottom line, owner needs a new engine. No problem, this 2004 engine was still in production in 2006, less than 10 years out of production, we'll just order you a new or re-manufactured long block and you'll be on your way in a few weeks.

WRONG!!! Volvo never even offered a long block for the MD2030 even when it was a current production model. Volvo also did not re-manufacture or know of anyone re-manufacturing (not re-build but reman) these engines. Kubota & Yanmar are easy to find long blocks or remans, but reman or new Volvo MD2030 long blocks simply don't/did not exist. MD2030 long block? There is no such creature.. Amazing fail on Volvo's part.... How do you build an engine and not have a long block available?

Okay, lets start pricing the parts for a rebuild.

Short block (cast iron block only with NOTHING in it) $4126.00 (*quote from Volvo US)

Oh but wait, many of the parts that were needed for the rebuild, that would need to be replaced, are listed as "out of production" or "obsolete part" in just 10 years after they discontinued that model. This was a "still in production" motor as of 2006... D'oh.... Obsolete? Parts already out of production?

Long and short the parts alone to rebuild this engine, and many were not even available, were going to exceed $17,000.00 before any labor was done!

The scary part is that no one at Volvo, nor any of their dealers, had any way of telling us how to prevent this from happening again, or why it happened in the first place. Volvo NA denied it has ever happened but multiple dealers out there have seen it happen, so Volvo NA was being untruthful.

The owner, who wanted to continue his racing season, decided to keep running the engine, seeing as it was already shot. The engine ran for 1.75 more hours before it seized solid. Engine is now out, boat still on mooring and we are waiting for the new engine to get here.

Replacement Engine:

Neither Volvo nor Perkins were of any help and any replacement we could source / find was used or in Europe costing 3X a new Beta by the time it would get here. Going this route he'd still have engine with many "obsolete" parts. Oh and even if we did order one, it might not make it through customs due to EPA regulations. We tried every avenue.

I now pick up the phone & call Stanley at Beta marine USA. Have Stan on phone in about 15 seconds (Volvo took weeks). Stan bent over backwards to the point that he manufactured custom mounts and a custom bell housing machined to bolt directly to the Volvo sail drive & gear saving the cost of a gear and sail drive leg for the customer.

Total cost of new Kubota based Beta engine? Approx 1/2 the cost of just the parts to repair the MD2030, not including re-build labor. Does Beta hide the original engine maker or model number from the end user? Hell no, they tell you exactly what Kubota engine it is. This means any tractor store can sell you the Kubota based parts at a fraction of the cost of Volvo/Perkins/Shibaura parts..

After this transpired, the owner, who used me as his purchasing consultant when he bought the boat, looked and me and said;

"You know Rod, one of the first things you said to me was; "walk away from any boat with a Volvo unless the price is reduced by the cost of a repower." Apparently I should have listened because I paid full price and now need the repower."


MD2030? I hope you have better luck and my customer did....

The good news is that Stanley at Beta Marine can sell you a complete engine ready to bolt directly to your existing Volvo gear, and he will do custom motor mounts to match your engine stringers making the swap an easy "drop-in".

[GTom]

Wow, that's heavy. However, there were probably hundreds of thousands of this engine sold in small tractors. If it was a widespread issue, there were hundreds of lawsuits, recalls, etc...
Indeed, I am trying to avoid Volvo's but all boats (Westerly) on my list have various Volvo engines. The best kept one - which also happens to come at a good price - has an MD2030, as I heard supposed to be a solid Perkins unit with Perkins/Caterpillar parts. True, I set my sailing budget so that I can repower on relatively short notice. And the conclusion is clear, I'd go with Sole or Beta.

Found this one also:

Originally Posted by svcattales

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.

[Pete7]

These chaps in Dorset always seem to have an interesting stock of small boat engines. If our VP 2003 ever dies then they will be on the list for possible replacements and a VP 2030 certainly an option.

http://www.marineenterprisesltd.co.uk/

If you are looking for spares then, Marine Parts Europe, Volspec and these chaps are options:

https://www.parts4engines.com/

I certainly wouldn't be put off buying a VP 2030 engine, VP and Perkins sold thousands for different uses around the world.

Pete

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by GTom

True, I set my sailing budget so that I can repower on relatively short notice. And the conclusion is clear, I'd go with Sole or Beta.
Found this one also:

Okay, but have you factored in the numbers of engines Volvo Penta have actually sold. There is a clue in that every boat you look at seems to have a green engine. Therefore the number of failures is bound to be higher. However, the availability of spares for a mass produced engines like the 2030 or Perkins M30 will be good for many years to come.

Peter

[CascadeThumper]

Www. Boatdiesel.com is the first place I would go for info. The small membership fee is nothing compared to the wealth of info and experts to consult.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Maine Sail

Don't even get me going..........

On Thursday May 12th, 2016 at 12:06 PM I got a panicked string of text messages from a customer with a 2004 Beneteau 36.7. There are 7 photos of his 600 hour Volvo MD2030 engine with oil everywhere. Oh oh...

Boat was launched, commissioned, sea trialed, run to temp levels checked etc. etc. and all was fine. After sailing from the boat yard to his summer mooring he fired up the engine to motor into the mooring field & it was blowing stink. He then heard a screeching racket, said it sounded like a wrapped floating line on the prop, and then about 20 seconds later the engine alarm went off. He immediately shut down the engine, re-hoisted the sail, and sailed onto the mooring.

When he opened up the engine bay there was oil everywhere. The engine, for no known reason, or no good reason, spit out what is called a "casting plug" from one of the oil journals. A casting plug is not a freeze plug in the antifreeze circuit, it is a permanent casting plug in the oil circuit. This low hour engine had been impeccably maintained using not only Volvo filters but Volvo fluids as well. Customer was very anal about maintaining it to Volvo's standards... It was also routinely serviced at earlier than factory suggested intervals.

When the casting plug came out it caused the oil pump to literally pump all the oil straight out of the engine, at cruise RPM.. Once the engine was out of oil, any oil lubed surface were destroyed before he could even shut down the engine. Cylinders, pistons, crank bearings, cam, valve guides etc. etc. on and on. Of course, at this point, he had no idea what had happened. While cleaning up the engine bay he found the casting plug. It was then we realized what had actually happened.

It took weeks to get a hold of anyone at Volvo who would return a call or who could tell us how or why this happened. We spoke with nearly every Volvo dealer in the US, and some in Canada, and not a one of them had the casting plug in stock but quite a few had seen this same thing happen..

The owner paid for expedited shipping from Europe, shipping being nearly 15X the cost of the part, and "Volvo expedited" still took six weeks.

Volvo response to owner:
"Not supposed to happen, and never has." = Complete BS
"That plug is stainless" = Complete BS and a LIE
"Engine is probably still be fine." = Engine was totaled!



The casting plug is specified as stainless steel. Into a cast iron block? Okay...

The actual plug was soft aluminum. Into a cast iron block? Okay..


The replacement "expedited" casting plug was also soft aluminum, NOT the "specified" SS nor machined from the same cast iron as the block as many engine manufacturers do. Heck even "low tech" reputable boiler manufacturers machine the nipples, that hold the sections together, out of cast iron so they expand and contract at the same rate..

So now the owner has burned six weeks of his season, even when "expedited", and we finally get the new casting plug installed. We change oil & filter and carefully fire up the motor. The motor starts but is billowing blue smoke. Wait for it to burn off, like a worn valve guide might, fail. She continues to billow blue smoke.. The engine is not only smoking but sounds horrible too. Compression tests reveal what is to be expected, low compression.

Well at least it runs so you can get some use of your boat until we can fix this.

Bottom line, owner needs a new engine. No problem, this 2004 engine was still in production in 2006, less than 10 years out of production, we'll just order you a new or re-manufactured long block and you'll be on your way in a few weeks.

WRONG!!! Volvo never even offered a long block for the MD2030 even when it was a current production model. Volvo also did not re-manufacture or know of anyone re-manufacturing (not re-build but reman) these engines. Kubota & Yanmar are easy to find long blocks or remans, but reman or new Volvo MD2030 long blocks simply don't/did not exist. MD2030 long block? There is no such creature.. Amazing fail on Volvo's part.... How do you build an engine and not have a long block available?

Okay, lets start pricing the parts for a rebuild.

Short block (cast iron block only with NOTHING in it) $4126.00 (*quote from Volvo US)

Oh but wait, many of the parts that were needed for the rebuild, that would need to be replaced, are listed as "out of production" or "obsolete part" in just 10 years after they discontinued that model. This was a "still in production" motor as of 2006... D'oh.... Obsolete? Parts already out of production?

Long and short the parts alone to rebuild this engine, and many were not even available, were going to exceed $17,000.00 before any labor was done!

The scary part is that no one at Volvo, nor any of their dealers, had any way of telling us how to prevent this from happening again, or why it happened in the first place. Volvo NA denied it has ever happened but multiple dealers out there have seen it happen, so Volvo NA was being untruthful.

The owner, who wanted to continue his racing season, decided to keep running the engine, seeing as it was already shot. The engine ran for 1.75 more hours before it seized solid. Engine is now out, boat still on mooring and we are waiting for the new engine to get here.

Replacement Engine:

Neither Volvo nor Perkins were of any help and any replacement we could source / find was used or in Europe costing 3X a new Beta by the time it would get here. Going this route he'd still have engine with many "obsolete" parts. Oh and even if we did order one, it might not make it through customs due to EPA regulations. We tried every avenue.

I now pick up the phone & call Stanley at Beta marine USA. Have Stan on phone in about 15 seconds (Volvo took weeks). Stan bent over backwards to the point that he manufactured custom mounts and a custom bell housing machined to bolt directly to the Volvo sail drive & gear saving the cost of a gear and sail drive leg for the customer.

Total cost of new Kubota based Beta engine? Approx 1/2 the cost of just the parts to repair the MD2030, not including re-build labor. Does Beta hide the original engine maker or model number from the end user? Hell no, they tell you exactly what Kubota engine it is. This means any tractor store can sell you the Kubota based parts at a fraction of the cost of Volvo/Perkins/Shibaura parts..

After this transpired, the owner, who used me as his purchasing consultant when he bought the boat, looked and me and said;

"You know Rod, one of the first things you said to me was; "walk away from any boat with a Volvo unless the price is reduced by the cost of a repower." Apparently I should have listened because I paid full price and now need the repower."


MD2030? I hope you have better luck and my customer did....

The good news is that Stanley at Beta Marine can sell you a complete engine ready to bolt directly to your existing Volvo gear, and he will do custom motor mounts to match your engine stringers making the swap an easy "drop-in". [emoji2]

Casting plug hole is that little hole aft of water pump">raw water pump in your pic right?

[DougR]

As mentioned, the VP MD2030 engine in its various renditions was produced from about 1993 (MD 2030A) until about 2005(MD 2030D). It was a Perkins/Shibaura base block that was assembled in the Perkins Peterborough plant for Volvo Penta, and distributed by VP worldwide.

In 2005 it was replaced by the model D1-30A, and the D1-30F model is still in production today. The D1-30 engines are currently assembled in Peterborough, England and also distributed by VP.

As part of the Perkins/ VP marketing agreement, Volvo Penta would have the marketing rights for this engine in the marine propulsion market and Perkins would handle all other markets. As stated above, these engines are sold in the hundred of thousands all over the world for just about every industrial application imaginable. They were, and may still be built in England, the US, Japan and China. Consequently most of the base engine parts can be found thru numerous industrial machinery outlets, some of which were mentioned above. The parts that were specific to the marineization will probably only be available thru the VP supply chain, although sea water pumps, heat exchangers, etc are frequently available from aftermarket suppliers.

When the 2030 was replaced by the D1-30, the D1-30 design was made to be a drop in for the 2030 engine. For example, the D1-30 engine will sit directly on the 2030 saildrive bed with no modifications, and the motor mounts on the inboard engines are in the same location on both engines.

The engine in the boat you are looking at was probably one of the last of the 2030 production and ended up being sold in late 2005 or early 2006.

DougR

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Casting plug hole is that little hole aft of raw water pump in your pic right?

Yes..