volvo penta vs yanmar

[Tincatinca]

I am looking at two identical 50 ft centre cockpit yachts, circa 2000/2001, one with a Volvo Penta TAMD31 130hp 4 cyl diesel , and the other with a 79hp 4 cyl Yanmar turbo diesel. The power difference is considerable, but each will probably give a maximum speed of around 8 knots. Would welcome comments of the difference, as well as upkeep and reliability of these two power trains.

[skipperpete]

Welcome to the forum Tincatinca. I’m a Yanmar guy and even more relevant.... not a great fan of volvo marine engines but I‘d actually go for the Volvo in this instance .....and only if I’d thoroughly established that the volvo was in perfect health first. These are both turbodiesels and there are a number of very quick assessments you can make about the condition of both these engines. If the Volvo is clean, healthy and with low hours, and the Yanmar is tired,high hours and shows signs of age, definitely choose the Volvo but if the situation is reversed, you really don’t want a sick Tamd31.

[George_SD]

I would go for the one that is maintained better. Volvo has more power and having extra power doesn't hurt at all. It can be useful in many ways.

[Tincatinca]

Both engines have done less than 2000 hours

[CaptNemoO2]

No personal experience in ownership, but helping others, I would veer away from the Volvo. But if all things were equal between the two, the extra power may be a deciding factor depending on your expected use.

I have a 50 foot, 36000 lbs, typical 90s production boat hull form with an 80hp perkins, non turbo. I think the boat would be much better with a 100 hp. In flat seas it's more than fine, and I burn on average 1.2 gph. But in a 30+ knot headwind, or in rough seas, it could use a bit more power. Granted the motor is 30 years old and has 2500 hours, some of those ponies may have escaped the corral. It could use more power to get up and over the waves, or punch through them. I've had a few waves that almost complete stopped forward travel. I'm not talking about big waves, maybe steep 6 to 10 footers getting out of an inlet. It would also be nice to have more power with following seas. It's completely adequate, and never left me worried, but having a bit more oomph at times would be great.

[Bill O]

Sail drives in either?
From my minimal look into them, it appears the Volvo SDs last longer than the Yanmar's even though they use the same SDs.

[GreenWave]

Obviously the choice is influenced by the condition of each engine. However, on the more power thing... I say just the opposite. Go with the smaller engine. Diesels like to be run hard, not babied. Too many sailing diesels get used at very low RPMs and that creates issues down the road, especially for Yanmars.

[Tincatinca]

There seems to be considerable aversion to the Volvo Penta engines amongst sailors. I am not sure why, given their widespread use. Is it more than the very high prices of spares, or is there some other fundamental reason? What goes wrong with VP's that doesn't with other makes? Unfortunately I have no experience with marine VP engines, having only re-ringed a tractor/TLB Volvo engine which had done 12 000 hours...and then ran flawlessly.

[Tincatinca]

Originally Posted by Bill O

Sail drives in either?
From my minimal look into them, it appears the Volvo SDs last longer than the Yanmar's even though they use the same SDs.

No, both are shaft driven props.

[Madehn]

If you plan on staying in the same area ask others around about the best shops dealers in your area and go with that brand.

[Bycrick]

My first boat (ca. 1975) had an older Volvo. I found a mechanic who specialized in only-Volvo. He did all my work until 1999 when I started looking for a new boat. When I asked how about motors, he told me "Avoid Volvo motors."

[Stingo]

It's the eye-watering prices and lack of availability of VP spares in the wonderful remote and popular cruising, locations that put me off Volvo Penta.

[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

[Fore and Aft]

I think some of the Volvo dislike comes from the TAMD range and the 2000 series of engines. I survey plenty of boats with these engines and most owners complain about price of spares and unreliability. Then you get the occasional owner who loves these engines and has thousands of trouble free hours on the clock. There doesn't seem to be one single issue but more a death of a thousand cuts.
I would go Yanmar over Volvo any day.
Cheers

[Kd9truck]

I have had both a Yanmar (currently 4jh5e) and a much smaller 18 hp V penta. The Yanmar has way more support on the east coast and Caribbean. In my marina there are 4 launches running 7 days a week for 6 months out of the year, they do a rebuild every 10k hrs wether they need too or not. The head mechanic (25 yrs in occupation) said that one of the motors is on the 4th rebuild life. He says nothing stops a Yanmar, I have had mine for 5 years not a single issue, I put about 200 hrs a season on it.
My understanding of horse power is that, the more hp the faster it will get you to speed. With displacement hulls that’s not so much an issue. Give me a good conventional prop and a transmission that is geared for torque and keep the higher RPMs as they are wasted on displacement hulls.
Not 100% on this but the higher RPMs consume more fuel, I could be wrong.

FWIW: I took a 3 day Yanmar owners class in NJ, he said all the new motors regardless of the builder are so burdened with extra EPA equipment that they are almost impossible to work on as a owner, the outside of the motor is incased in devices to eek out fuel efficiency and reduce emissions, so in this case older is better.

Cheers