Bad news from the shop, water intrusion in drives again

[BigGib]

So last season I had the cone clutches replaced in both drives due to slipping and delay issues, and while Village Marine had it, they noticed a lot of water in the drives. They pressure tested them and said they both hold static pressure but still could leak through the prop shafts? They replaced all of the seals and said we were good to go. Had a couple weeks off so decided to have the drives serviced by All About Boats, they have down work for us in the past and are Volvo certified, Village wouldn't call me back or email me back to setup a time to drop it off.

They called today and said they found water in both drives again and we're going to pressure test them. I'm sure this won't be a cheap fix, but hoping they will be fixed correctly this time. Am I missing something here? What else could cause water intrusion in both drives if they pressure tested fine, and the seals were replaced?

[akorcovelos]

Not super familiar with VP but if Village resealed them there shouldn’t be water in them unless they were done wrong.

[BigGib]

Got an update, both drives pressure tested fine. So I'd love to know how I'm getting water intrusion in both drives again.

[cmattj]

As Volvo uses proprietary O-rings and can only be used once ( oh I found out ). There’s a second test they recommend.
As a warm outdrive actually has pressure it turns to vacumn as it cools down and draws in water.
Have it both pressure, and vacuum checked along with new orings and prop shaft seals.

They may want to put a “ run out “ gauge on the shaft to make sure it has minimal movement that can oblong the shaft seal.

[AsLan7]

As Volvo uses proprietary O-rings and can only be used once ( oh I found out ). There’s a second test they recommend.
As a warm outdrive actually has pressure it turns to vacumn as it cools down and draws in water.
Have it both pressure, and vacuum checked along with new orings and prop shaft seals.

They may want to put a “ run out “ gauge on the shaft to make sure it has minimal movement that can oblong the shaft seal.

.
Great point brutha.

[BigGib]

Tha KS for the advice, I passed it along to the guy working on it. I'll let you know what they come up with. Either way, I'm going to have the fluid checked for water after the first couple of trips out after being fixed.

[BigGib]

Heard from the shop today, the tech working on it knew about the vacuum issue when the drive is hot pulling water in when stopping, he guessed the o rings were reused like you said. They ordered all new seals and o rings, they are checking the bearings and gears before they out the drives back together. Not a cheap fix, but hoping everything else is good and it doesn't get more expensive.

[ajcampen]

Tha KS for the advice, I passed it along to the guy working on it. I'll let you know what they come up with. Either way, I'm going to have the fluid checked for water after the first couple of trips out after being fixed.

Check your old bill and see if they “documented” not charging you for new ones

[cmattj]

Glad they got a handle on it!

Dipstick still makes me miss my Bravos. But the Silver Volvo is wonderful to always be clean on the hoist. Well worth it!

[BigGib]

I'm seeing a couple sets of o rings and a seal kit?

[BigGib]

So they got into one of the drives today and noticed the prop shaft is bent, they are going to look at the other one later today or tomorrow. I'm going to guess this will add a couple more grand to the bill? I'm probably going to have around $6-7k into these drives in the last year, I feel like it would've been smarter to just replace them?

[cmattj]

No you’re still money ahead.
It sucks but like I mentioned be glad they checked the run out on the shafts as this could haunt you down the road.
She may have damaged a prop at one time and no one went further.

Your on your way to no worries!

[BigGib]

Yeah we had a bent prop last year and Village replaced it while doing the cone clutches, but I guess missed the bent shaft as well as some other stuff. The shop called again and they found metal shavings in the lube and said the gears need to be replaced. This is all in the one drive, they still haven't dug into the other one yet, so they are recommending finding some rebuilt drives instead of putting anymore money into these if the other one is in the same shape?

I guess most of the service staff at Village has jumped ship to Big Thunder from what he was saying, and they are a mess and have been for awhile.

[akorcovelos]

Ouch...is there a company like SEI for Volvo?

[BigGib]

Heard back on the there drive, just the same unfortunately. Both need new prop shafts, and he said the bearings and gears are scarred and both have metal shavings in them.

So how come Village didn't catch any of this when they had the drives open less than 40 hours ago? The shop is recommending finding rebuilt drives, said it should be cheaper than parts and labor to rebuild mine. New drives are around $8 to 9k for DPS-A 1.95, haven't been able to find any rebuilts yet. Just can't win here