volvo penta vs yanmar

[Cheechako]

There seems to appear a lot of turbo issues on this forum in Yanmars that have them. Just an observation.

Volvo does have that rep for expensive parts . Yanmar parts aren't cheap. In many of the larger Volvo engines the basic engines are a very robust heavy basic engine. Volvo occassionally seems to fail on the peripherals though.
The Volvo you are looking at seems to have had a life of ease at 130 HP.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by GreenWave

Obviously the choice is influenced by the condition of each engine.

I would be much more influenced by the condition of the rest of the yacht, particularly with only 2000 hrs on the engines. A replacement engine isn't cheap, but neither will a set of sails for a 50ft yacht.

Pete

[Tincatinca]

Originally Posted by Mr. Kevin

Hello, this is my first post. I have been lurking and reading for quite a while now, so I figured I would chime in, here. It was a few years ago, here on this forum, where there was a fellow who had a pair of volvo engines in his catermaran. He was somewhat irate as the engines where a year old and he had to replace controllers (located on the underside of the motor and not sealed against water; $500 each) because they had rotted out. Perhaps this contributed to the sense of folks not liking volvo's? I understand that a great deal of engineering went into them to optimize performance, however, the downside is that they do not age well. The yanmars, I understand, tend to be less powerful but also are less maintenance.

My apologies if I am out of line in posting this. I myself have not experienced these difficulties myself. I thought that this point may be of interest.

Kind Regards,

Kevin

Thank you Kevin, you reply is appreciated. The absurdity of modern engines festooned with sensors and other unreliable electronic equipment has led to the modern engine being far more unreliable and unfixable by yachties than older engines of the 80's and 90's. Older engines like Perkins and Ford Lehmans has legendary reliability and longevity, but such is the pressure from woke groups that all engines now have to compete not on reliability but on emissions and power output.

[team karst]

In my recent experience, the volvo parts situation requires more out of box thinking. What i see is that England has the best prices for OEM components. For a US owner, that then means a 7 to 10 day wait. I also find listings on ebay for OEM parts, but that is spotty. Overall, my MD series is not hard to work on. Yanmar seems to have more knuckle busting accessory placements.

[Tincatinca]

Every engine needs routine maintenance in terms of oil and filter changes, water pump impeller, and occasional heat exchanger replacement. But a good diesel should run for 4-6000 hours without needing more than that, except maybe a valve adjustment, and cam belt check if it has one. I'm still curious as to what else goes amiss to make folks shy of VP.

[Paramotorgreg]

We have a Yanmar 4JH HTE on our 50ft boat with 3,600 hours on it. The boat weighs 21 tonnes and lack of power has never been an issue. I can cruise over 7 knots at 2,500 rpm. In rough weather there’s plenty more power when required.

Haven’t had to do anything major on it so far and it’s running well, but I always get it serviced professionally at the recommended time. Parts are generally easily available and relatively inexpensive.

[Tincatinca]

Originally Posted by Paramotorgreg

We have a Yanmar 4JH HTE on our 50ft boat with 3,600 hours on it. The boat weighs 21 tonnes and lack of power has never been an issue. I can cruise over 7 knots at 2,500 rpm. In rough weather there’s plenty more power when required.

Haven’t had to do anything major on it so far and it’s running well, but I always get it serviced professionally at the recommended time. Parts are generally easily available and relatively inexpensive.

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Interesting that the Northwind weighs 21 tons, that's about the same as a similar sized Oyster or Contest 48. The motion through waves must be much softer than lighter boats.

The 79hp Yanmar then clearly gives adequate power, so maybe the 130hp VP is unnecessarily powerful, and presumably more thirsty on fuel.

[nmccubbin]

In our experience, Volvo marine engines are poorly engineered relative to Yanmars
We have owned two Volvos, both of which suffered serious failures while quite young.
Spares prices are obscene and service poor.
Another poster said Volvos must be OK because so many builders install them
A builder friend tells me that Volvo sells to builders at much lower prices than Yanmar, Beta, Nanni etc

On the issue of power for these boats, the smAller engine is fine.

[jheyland]

Originally Posted by Tincatinca

Every engine needs routine maintenance in terms of oil and filter changes, water pump impeller, and occasional heat exchanger replacement. But a good diesel should run for 4-6000 hours without needing more than that, except maybe a valve adjustment, and cam belt check if it has one. I'm still curious as to what else goes amiss to make folks shy of VP.

I have a Volvo 2003 from 1989. Aside from a self-induced issue, it has run great with about 5000 hours on it. One thing I appreciate is the pressure relief lever, it great to get the oil distributed before starting the engine the first time in spring as well as being able to turn the engine to measure the ratio of engine turns to prop turns when I went for a new prop. Another is that accessibility is great.



Spares and prices of them are indeed an issue though. I needed a new oil cooler in 2020 and decided to have an external one mounted because the price of the OEM part was ridiculous.

[Talbot]

You said that both achieve the same speed. I would be comparing torque and fuel efficiency. If you are trying to push against a head sea and strong wind, the engine with more torque will do better.

Many years ago I was comparing my engine performance (27 hp diesel outboard, against a 9hp sail drive outboard).
At top power on a flat windless day, there was little difference.
When there was a strong headwind, the smaller engine was completely useless. whereas mine would push against a 40kt headwind.

[Mr. Kevin]

It seems that there is no definitive polarization in the community where one is better than the other. I think I will put some thought into a survey methodology and see if we can post it here for folks to contribute to the results. I will not hijack this thread, though. I will make a seperate discussion for the survey. Folks are welcomoe to PM me with variables they would want to see in the survey.

[Hummel_Hummel]

Some experiance from Europe. I have owned a boat with a TAMD31 from 2000 Till 2008. Starting with 600 h and end with 1400h. Nothing to blaim exept dumper disc between crankshaft and gearbox. Now a 4LH-STE, but can't compared with the Diskussion one. Only the third turbo in 2100 h.
Pricing spare parts: Volvo not cheap, but yanmar 2 up to 3 Times higher! Thats the situation here Europe.

With other words. I have had no Problems with Volvo

[frazzydee]

I was told by a reputable source that Volvo Penta engines have a number of issues that cause premature failure of various parts. Namely:

1. Gearbox spline issues- not cushioned properly
2. Issue with fuel injectors
3. Compression issues

I didn't fully understand the issues when they were explained to me, unfortunately, and the gentleman has now retired. Basically though, I was told that due to the engineering, multiple critical components will fail earlier than they need to and require an expensive engine rebuild on Volvo engines.



Some of these issues result first in trouble starting in cold weather, so that is apparently a red flag to watch out for.


Anecdotally, I've spoken in detail with two people who have the Volvo Penta 2002 engine:


1. The first guy required a major rebuild the first season after buying the boat. The seller had trouble starting the engine in the cold and used a special quick-start spray. The engine rebuild cost around $10,000 CAD 4-5 years ago, and he lost his entire first season.



2. Second guy was going to sell me his boat. He never had problems with it, but needed to use a hairdryer to start his boat in the cold. I was planning to keep the boat long-term, so I was worried that an engine rebuild would be required during my period of ownership.


I realize this is a fair bit of hearsay, and no information relevant to the two particular models you are inquiring for, so take the information for what you will. Good luck with your purchase!

[b.needalman]

When buying used, condition is everything. While 2000 hours is far from the expected ultimate life of a well maintained diesel, it is enough hours to have semi-serious problems. Around that time, injectors will probably need service or replacement. Wiring to the control panel often begins to fail, affecting the ability to start and instrument readings. if the engine has been used often to charge batteries, carbon build up can be a problem.

[rslifkin]

In my experience, the vast majority of complaints from Volvo owners are about parts (both cost and availability) and service. The engines themselves (and related components) are rarely the source of complaints. Generally it boils down to decent hardware with not so good support.