Volvo-Penta 50 hour service / end of season

[sheral]

Can an owner perform the first '50 hour' engine service, providing you use proper fluids/filters and document everything? I ask partly because of where we are located and the difficulty in taking the Ranger Tug to a qualified Volvo-Penta service center...

 

[Handy]

Thanks for posting sheral.
I just got myself a used 2014 with the Volvo, it has 119hrs and I'm sure it hasn't had any oil changed as the filter is the same colour as the motor. I'm hopefully it wasn't due 60hrs ago. I'm looking forward to what others say.

 

[Scuffy]

We bought sort of a demo 2014 R-27 with a Volvo 200 hp D-3 that had about 11 hours on it. We bought the boat in late April 2015. We were worried about getting the pre delivery inspection done in the first thirty days. The first Volvo dealer we spoke with made this out to be a big deal. Because Memorial Day is the start of the boating season in the northeast getting a authorized Volvo dealer to do it became a problem. They were backed up trying to get existing customers in the water before Memorial day. Because our motor was actually built in 2013 I thought best to along with the PDI I would get the impeller done along with an oil change with a fresh fuel filter. And some spare parts to carry with me belts filters etc. I wanted the engine to be blessed by an authorized dealer at least for the first service as I had purchased an extended warranty. They say a D-3 is worth about 30k. I my conversions with Volvo dealers I was told you can't not be denied a warranty claim for doing your own oil changes. But you better save your receipts I was told. Andrew at Ranger seems to have a great relationship with Volvo. Maybe send him an email. I will do my own oil and filter changes in the future. Our boat is at Forked River diesel and Generator in Waretown N.J. getting the first service and the P.D.I. done. John Lane the owner of Forked River Diesel is a pretty well respected guy and folks speak well of him. For me having the dealer do the first service and check out was more comforting then having an issue with a warranty coverage situation down the road. Besides my friends that have R-27's all have Yanmar's so they would not be able to get me hints etc. should I have questions about performing my first service. Plus I wanted to at least have some relationship with an Authorized Volvo Penta dealer. At least I can say they checked it out and I thought I was good!
More Later,
D.D.

 

[Scuffy]

One other thing I was told "Do not run a D-3 flat out all the time. Do not over fill with oil. Better a little low than over full. If you are putting along I was also told to run a little harder every hour of so.
D.D.

 

[sheral]

I found this in the small Volvo Penta 'service book.'

Page 6. The first service inspection... 'must be performed by an authorized Volvo Penta dealer for the warranty to be valid.'

 

[sheral]

Okay, I think this is a more definitive answer to the question.

Spoke with a gentleman at Volvo-Penta Canada today. He said, in Canada, they can not legally require us to attend to a Volvo-Penta dealership to have warranty work or maintenance / service done. Although they prefer that we see a VP dealer, he said they can not legally deny a warranty issue because we did the work ourself or had another shop do it.

He said to safeguard ourselves, ensure everything is documented in accordance with the VP service manual(s). He said if it was him he would also use Volvo products to make any warranty claims more straight forward.

He also stated that the 50 hour service (First Service Inspection - FSI) is a guideline and 10-15 hours outside of the 50 hours is acceptable. They just don't want people running up 200 hours, having an issue and then finding out that the issue could have been corrected if the First Service Inspection had been done earlier.

He was very 'matter of fact' about using the correct coolants. He said that the colour alone is not indicative of the proper coolant needed and that many coolants are not compatible. This is one VP part/product I will be using and changing religiously. I think I mentioned it in another post but I have a friend who's Yanmar heat exchanger (in his R21) went south due to improper coolant. It was a huge bill!

I will get the 'FSI' done by a dealer and then after that document everything that I do myself.

 

[Bruce Moore]

Another valid point shared by a Volvo Penta rep at our last rendezvous: authorized dealers will have all the recent service bulletins.

Cheers,

Bruce