volvo 2002 18 hp

[tommyh]

Going to sea trial a cs 30 that i am buying this weekend, it has the 2002 18 hp volvo. I need to know the proper running rpm of that motor to determin if its propped correctly. can't seem to find that info on the web.

[Paul L]

The specs for the 2000 series are available on the VolvoPenta website under the old engines sections.
You can Google and find the 2000 series workshop manual as a PDF at a number of sites. These engines are getting pretty long-in-the-tooth, as they say. The raw water cooled ones seem to last longer than the freshwater versions, due to the hookie cooling and piping system they used.

[tommyh]

The 2002 series were built from 83 -91 thats not really that old, the specs I read shows max rpm 3200.This one is raw water cooled and shows 1700 hours. Any body else have any thing to add would help. Thanks.

[Paul L]

They aren't that old for sure. I owned a 2003 for a long time and became intimate with its foibles. Eventually replacing with a Yanmar. If you buy, just be careful of the $1k and $1.5K repairs because as they add up you realize replacing would have been better in hind sight. Like I mentioned above, the raw water cooled ones seem to be less troublesome. Parts are still available, but expensive. If you search the CF forum for Volvo 2003 you will find plenty of comments. The 2002 is pretty much the same as 2003 (non-turbo). Good luck.

[clifford sloan]

been running that model at 2650 rpm for the past five years with no problems. don't believe in long warmup time or immediat shut downs. Last half hour spent at top end then gradually slow her down to idle before shutdown.
All the best,
Clif

[tommyh]

Originally Posted by Paul L

They aren't that old for sure. I owned a 2003 for a long time and became intimate with its foibles. Eventually replacing with a Yanmar. If you buy, just be careful of the $1k and $1.5K repairs because as they add up you realize replacing would have been better in hind sight. Like I mentioned above, the raw water cooled ones seem to be less troublesome. Parts are still available, but expensive. If you search the CF forum for Volvo 2003 you will find plenty of comments. The 2002 is pretty much the same as 2003 (non-turbo). Good luck.

Not to sound like a smart #$@, but could you give me an example of a 1,500 $ repair on one of those engines. Just wondering if its the parts or the labor your paying all the $$ for. Thanks

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by tommyh

Not to sound like a smart #$@, but could you give me an example of a 1,500 $ repair on one of those engines. Just wondering if its the parts or the labor your paying all the $$ for. Thanks

Oh, there's lots of examples. It is like any old piece of mechanical boat stuff. You dive in to fix something, then see something else wrong, then decide if it is this far apart you might as well do it right...
But more directly to your question. I decide that shes giving off a little too much black smoke and that the injectors have not been adjusted for a long time. Being near an injector shop, why not pull them and have them tested and set. Go to put them back in and they don't want to seal properly. This engine does not use a copper crush washer under the injector. It uses a copper sleeve in the head that the injector goes into. At least one of these were clearly pitted. Built a tool to hone the bottom of the sleeve from an old injector to try and get a seal. Still didn't seal. Ordered replacement copper inserts (one of the cheapest parts I ever ordered from Volvo). You have to pull the head to replace these. The heads off, so might just as well send it to have the valves lapped. You have to drain and dismantle the coolant system to pull the head, so might as well send the heat exchanger out for cleaning. The copper inserts require a special tool to insert. Have one made up at the machine shop. Put it all back together. And there you have a quick, really convenient, low cost, 2 part time days work, injector test and reset -- turn into $1,500 and 3 weeks.

[tommyh]

I think something like you have described is typical of almost any 15-20 year old marine diesle,not just a Volvo. Tearing into any thing like that could be a can of worms. You stated you were just after some black smoke and volenteered to do all the other stuff. Deep maintenance on any brand will be costly.

[Vasco]

Worst series Volvo ever built. Do a forum search and you'll find all the info.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by tommyh

I think something like you have described is typical of almost any 15-20 year old marine diesle,not just a Volvo. Tearing into any thing like that could be a can of worms. You stated you were just after some black smoke and volenteered to do all the other stuff. Deep maintenance on any brand will be costly.

You asked for an example. If you buy the boat with this engine you will become intimate with the Green Devil. As Rick noted, the 2000 series was not Volvo's shining engineering accomplishment. I lived with one for over 10 years. Just be realist with what you are getting -- if it is still a good deal and you have the time, skill and money to maintain it and eventually replace it, then sally forth.

[Vasco]

I must be a bear for punishment. I had two of this series, both in new CS's, a 2002 in a 1984 CS30 and a 2003 in a 1988 CS36M. Sold the first boat, got the 36, swapped the Volvo out for a Yanmar 3GM30F after three years. The Yanmar is still running fine.

[tommyh]

I researched all the threads and sites all you guys have advised on and have decided not to proceed with this boat. It has to be the reason the seller was willing to come down as far as he did. He was through with the green devil. I guess the big question is why are there so many of them out there. No dought, many frustrated sailors.

[Vasco]

Originally Posted by tommyh

I researched all the threads and sites all you guys have advised on and have decided not to proceed with this boat. It has to be the reason the seller was willing to come down as far as he did. He was through with the green devil. I guess the big question is why are there so many of them out there. No dought, many frustrated sailors.

I think Volvo underbid everyone else and manufacturers started installing these engines in the eighties. I know CS always used Westerbekes and Buhks but started with the Volvos to save a buck. Many of the charter fleets in the Caribbean had them and all the maintenance guys hated them. In the early nineties they seem to have fallen out of favour, maybe the manufacturers wised up,maybe fewer boats were built then as the economy took a downturn but most of these engines were of mid and late eighties vintage.

[Sailor Doug]

I lived with a 18 HP Volvo vintage 87 for 10 years. The only problem I had with it was it was always hard to start. Know idea how many hours on it because it had no hour meter.

[Weyalan]

We have the 3 cylinder 28hp version (2003) in our boat. It is generally very reliable, has always started first time and has only had one major failure. Ours is fresh water cooled with heat exchanger

The "major" failure was that the heat exchanger literally fell off the side of the motor. Of course this dropped all the coolant into the bilge. Luckily we spotted this before we did heat damage to the engine itself. This was not expensive to repair.

The engine also developed a coolant leak... not significant, but our mechanic recommended replacing the coolant pump (coolant side pump, not salt water side pump). This was over $1000 (mostly the cost of the pump). It did, however, fix the leak.

We have also had a couple of leaks on the saltwater side of the cooling system. Neither of these were significant nor costly to repair.

We have the engine serviced by a (volvo certified) mechanic once per year. I replace filters, coolant, oil etc. myself if required.

We have had the boat, with this engine, for about 7 years. We generally motor about, maybe, 75-100 hours per year. We are not unhappy with the engine.