VolvoPenta D2-40 Sail Drive oil change

[kas_1611]

After careful study of the owners manual I had download from VolvoPenta before starting - yes I know a rarity to RTFM before starting - I proceeded to attempt to change the oil in my transmission.

On drawing the oil out of the dipstick I noticed it was red rather than the golden brown the manual stated. Instantly alarm bells started sounding. Did I have the correct oil for the job? I had 4 litres of SAE 15w-40 as per the technical data tables in the manual but that's the same as the stuff that goes in the engine. This stuff coming out the gearbox looks like automatic transmission fluid but I have never seen this stuff graded like engine oil, it is more normally graded DOT 4 or DOT 5 the same as brake fluid (in fact they are often the same stuff).

So not wanting to screw up I stopped extracting and carefully poured the contents of the bucket back into the gearbox before doing some research. So I am putting out a call for all the gearheads out there.

If the manual says the S-Drive gearbox needs SAE 15w-40 is this the same as good old fashioned engine oil or should it be transmission fluid of the same grade?

My gut says looking at the stuff in there already that it should be transmission fluid.

Cheers (and cold beers) for the help

Keiron

[colemj]

The original Volvo recommendation for those saildrives was for ATF, but then they started having problems with clutch slippage and changed the recommendation to engine oil.

There is a service bulletin out on this.

It sounds like your drive was never changed over to engine oil. There should be no problem doing so now.

Mark

[kas_1611]

Mark,

That is interesting to hear. We have a 2010/11 vintage D2-40 with the 130S-B saildrive, all original from the factory.

Do you happen to know when this change over occurred?

Thankfully we have never had any issues with clutch slip but I just want to be 100% certain before I go and put something different in.

Cheers

Keiron

[kas_1611]

Subsequent to posting here I found an email address for a dealership back in the UK who has confirmed that all sail drive units with the exception of the 120S-E variant should be filled with SAE 15w/40 engine oil and not the automatic transmission fluid (ATF) originally used.

The dealership has advised that we change out the ATF next time the boat is out of the water in order to totally drain the sail drive and flush out any remaining ATF prior to refilling with engine oil.

So I will be doing a refresh of the ATF this year and adding it to the list of jobs for this winter.

Cheers

Keiron

[Jelani]

Does anyone have a manual for the Saildrive 130S-C. Or a link to download ? I have. Send unable to locate one online