Mahe 36: Sail Drives and Props

[vayacondios]

Oh Ok, sorry for the confusion, no this bulletin is for the 150 S sail drives. Our Volvo tech said it was for us, and we didn't even notice that. Guess were all out of a free oil change.

[Cotemar]

Mahe’s

I have the Volvo Penta Workshop Manuals for our engines and sail drives.
Just PM me, if you need any help with trouble shooting a problem.
These are the manuals that your mechanic would use to fix your engine or saildrive.

Workshop Manual for Volvo Penta Diesel Marine Engines
D1-13-A/B/F, D1-20-A/B/F, D1-30-A/B/F, D2-40-A/B/F
Pub # 47701798 English Date 10-2010
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Workshop Manual for Volvo Penta Sail Drives
130S-A, 130SR-A, 130S-B, 130SR-B
150S-A, 150SR-A, 150S-B, 150SR-B
Pub # 7742984 English Date 6-2011

Mark

[simplesimon]

I have D-1-20 saildrive engines in my Mahe 36.
At full throttle they run at just 2,400 RPM.
What should the max RPM's be for these Engines?
Thanks!

Simplesimon@USA.net
Simon Young

[jglauds]

FYI, lots of related posts here, including Volvo info on the D1-130 sail drive issue ...

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ops-38652.html

[colemj]

Originally Posted by simplesimon

I have D-1-20 saildrive engines in my Mahe 36.
At full throttle they run at just 2,400 RPM.
What should the max RPM's be for these Engines?
Thanks!

Simplesimon@USA.net
Simon Young

The engine is rated for 3200rpm, so you should be able to achieve close to this under way and target 70-80% for cruising speed. Can you get to 3200 rpm while in neutral? If so, it sounds like you are either slightly over-propped or have a fouled bottom or prop.

Mark

[lstyles]

I had slow leaks out of the top of each of the saildrives a year or so ago and I was able to trace then to the small square cover on top of the saildrives. I removed the covers, and cleaned them well and used Dirko to seal them. They do not, apparently use a gasket here. Well those areas have stayed dry but I now have a substantial leak from my starboard dip stick...at least I am pretty sure that is where its coming from. I have to frequently top it up and I need to fix this problem. I have ordered a new set of dipsticks with the o-rings as I was having trouble finding the correct size o-ring locally. Do you think that this will fix the problem or should I be thinking something else?
thanks,
Lori

[Jef & Marin, Netherlands]

Lori,
I do not have THE answer. It sounds like overpressure, but for overpressure something (air or water) should go in. I just have the following remarks:

- I have noticed some overpressure sometimes, but not leading to leakage.
- If the seals at the bottom were bad, water could come in. This would show in the oil becoming mayonaise-like instead of clear.
- The fact that it is on both saildrives suggests against this
- Maybe your oil level is too high. For measuring the oil level, the dipstick should be ON the thread, not screwed in.
- There are tubes on the saildrives for sucking the oil out. Do their caps close well?
Maybe air is sucked in somewhere when the saildrives cool, and has to be blown out again when they warm up.

You could always ask a Volvo repair shop whether they have any idea. Or look on the web, I found things on these engines/saildrives once on a Bavaria forum, many Bavaria's like the 32 use this Volvo Penta configuration.
Kind regards,
Jef

[lstyles]

Jef,
Today I went and changed the transmission oil. There is definitely water in that starboard side. The starboard side is the side with the big leak. The port side is much less. I have a couple of questions though about what you said. First, how can water intrusion increase pressure? The overall level of fluid has been very low so its not like the water is raising the level of fluid. Does the water boil and cause an increase in pressure? Second, where would the most likely place for water intrusion to be? I would guess the seals around the shaft would be a problem area. Other area to consider would be the bottom oil drain plug/o-ring.I.ts looking like I am going to have to pull the boat out of the water to find the source of water intrusion so I might as well learn as much as I can about the whole drive
thanks for your help,
Lori

[Jef & Marin, Netherlands]

Lori,
I do not know by what mechanism you get overpressure, but just reasoned that if air needs to get out, either something else should come in to create the pressure; or it should be a temperature effect like the air inside heating up. But maybe water / oil / air mixing, making mayonaise, creates some overpressure?

Regarding water in your oil: if this is truly the case the salt water might have caused corrosion of the gears and bearings of the whole saildrive. If it were my saildrive I would act quickly to prevent further damage.

Seeing Murphy's law the leak will not be caused by the simplest cause, being the O-ring on the drain plug, but by the two seals of the propellor shaft.
For changing these seals you officially need a Volvo Penta impact puller, but I guess it is possible to improvise something if you do not have the impact puller.
Note that after starting this job by a non-Volvo Penta repairman, if things are corroded inside, and a full repair is required, you might have to switch to Volvo Penta seeing that for a full repair quite some specialist tools are required, according to the workshop manual.

Good luck,
Jef

[Edmund]

Sorry to hear about your problem, Lori.
One question: You are sure you have not been overfilling your drives with too much oil? To little space for expansion at the top could maybe cause leaks, both of oil when expanding, and even suck water back in through mysterious ways when cooling down again.
I find it very strange that you have the same thing happening on both drives. What transmission oil have you been using?
I would not worry to much about corrosion as long as the oil/water mixture is kept in the drive. The oil will still prevent corrosion even with fairly high levels of saltwater content. The dangerous thing is to drain them and then leave them dry for a while, without cleaning and refilling oil. Then you might see rapid corrosion from the salt still left on the surfaces within the drive.

Edmund

[Wayward Wind]

Lori
I don't know if this helps, but I was having similar problems with my port engine. I was getting leaks, and also when I push my port engine past 2100RPM, it overheats. Our mechanic found fouling in the heat exchange and elbow, and has given both an acid bath. It may also help with the 2400 RPM issue simplesimon has. I checked my manual, and it says crusing RPM is 2400 and max 3000 RPM. I could not get past 2400 RPM, though in the past, after an engine & drive service, the engines go back to 3000RPM. My boat is still on the hard so I am waiting to see if the fouling is the cause of my problems.

[lstyles]

Thanks for your comments. To answer, yes I am sure I am not overfilling the engine. I have been filling it to the same level I always have over the last 4 years and this is a new problem. It really isnt both engines. The port engine is tiny problem compared to the starboard side and the port transmission doesnt have any water in it. I switched over to the 15W-40 engine oil and that is when I first noticed the milky appearance. The leak has been steadily getting worse over about 6 months or so. Don't really know which one came first or if the two problems are related but it sure seems to make sense that they are (as they are both confined to the same side). I will check the heat exchange and elbow. I am not having overheating problems though and my engine goes readily up to 3000. I will say that the starboard engine seems to run a a little rougher but not anything major. Keep those ideas coming.
Lori

[Jacana]

Replace the screw in filler cap on your saildrive leg with a piece of hose with snap on fitting,when the saildrive oil heats up it expands and when it cools down it contracts and forces a small amount of sea water through the shaft seal,giving the oil that milky look.By having a hose a couple of feet in length you can fill the oil chamber and it can expand and contract as needed.
When you haul out always replace the shaft seals on your sail drives and after every 3000 hours remove and rebuild the shafts as the seals wear on the shaft.
Cheers
Geoff.

[lstyles]

Thanks Geoff. The hose is an intriguing idea. Essentially you enlarge the transmission oil space with the tubing but still keep the oil level where it needs to be to lubricate. Can you explain to me why the oil is leaking at the dipstick though. Is that just a leaking o-ring? I understand how when the oil contracts it could pull in oil from a leaking seal and how that gets worse with time but why does the oil leak at the top. The oil + water level has not been high (actually low if anything). Also, I am not clear on what kind of fitting you would use to attach the hose to the top of the transmission.
thanks,
Lori

[ggray]

If I did this right, maybe it will help with your oil contamination



http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...tml#post467917