Volvo XPD Bellow Failures - BoatU.S. Magazine Aug/Sept 2010

[osead]

Which engines do you have that were covered under warranty?  I have the 5.0L with the extended warranty till April 2011 and they still refused any coverage.

[jjlovett]

You all know at least one that has not had a bellows failure... Me. Probably a couple of others on here too.

Previous owner had the swap done to V2 before I bought her with no damage to engine or outdrive (it's a 2005 FV 270). I had the V3 put in last summer (July 2009) and I'm at a year now with no issues. My bellows looked good in May when the boat was dropped. If my mech says to swap them at the end of the season b/c it's worn, I'll gladly pay it.

Believe me when I say I'm not defending the brand or the design but I knock wood every day that I have a great Volvo mech that runs my marina. Good folks who wear superhero capes are priceless (high five at Allan right here folks).

I hope that anyone who has had issues gets some satisfaction from Volvo but I don't see it happening. Hurting sales or not it's not just a Rinker issue and Volvo already knows the tub of they are in. All they'll do is minimal effort at damage control.

[Lifes Good]

II am 4 months in on my second set of V3 with merc adhesive sealing the bellows to the drive.  No issues...  I'd like to hear from those who have had issues a better understaning and description of your failure. I have exhaust bellows that transfer the exhaust out of the props.  I understand that 2005 and older have no exhaust bellows.... so the bubbles can agitate the shaft bellow and wear a hole in it or the bellow gets ripped up by the spring catching the u-joint.  I have not experienced this type of failure in my 2006.  Only water weeping in through the clamp on my 1st set of V3's.  Hence, why I now use merc goop.  During my last bellow change in April there was no wear issues on the V3's from last year.  Just a 1/2 tea spoon of water in the Port after 1 year.  Bad connection to drive....  5.0 OSI's……

Note 1:  My cost last year (2009) to change the bellows was around $300 per drive.  Parts and labor. The water issue I had this year in April, Volvo paid for the water damage since it was with in one year (parts and labor) of the new bellow V3.  Up to $1000, which covered the bearing, u-joint and new bellow. Which was still less than $1000. 

Note 2:  I have the boat pulled out every 6 months for zincs anyway.  We have a hot harbor....

[fmrosell]

My XDPs worked well the first three seasons (2004, 05 and 06).  In the spring of 07, I discovered a hole in version 1 bellows, only in the starboard drive.  I received no notification that a recall even existed, and the 2-year warranty had expired.   I had a mechanic install V2 bellows.  I was advised to keep the drives trimmed down when the engines are running, as the hole I found in the bellows corresponded to erosion by the rusted u-joint....which had to be replaced along with the rusted gimball bearing....My mechanic showed me how to remove and install the bearing, for which I had to buy special Volvo tools...

Needless to say I learned a lot about the XDP drives by 2008....That's when I got my first and only notice of recall, and as the boat was already in the water, with 1-year old V2 bellows, Volvo would not pay for haul, or for the mechanic to come to my club's yard....They would not even provide me with a new set of bellows to install myself.  I told them to shove it.

I got a manual, read and learned how to install and remove the drive and in the fall of 2009, I removed both drives for winter storage. One drive had gear oil leak, and was serviced and resealed (a common general outdrive problem).  The V2 bellows were intact, and had green grease marks inside, indicating that no water had entered...they were a pain to remove because I had used Mercury bellows adhesive on both ends...the manual does not advise the use of adhesive...

Then in 2010, I installed V3 bellows.  I put adhesive on the outdrive side, but left the transom shield side clean, so that I could peek in with a dental mirror after loosening the clamp...

So far I have noticed no unexplained water in the bilge (which I had plenty of, in retrospect, when the stbd bellows failed. )  I have used some trimming up of the drives, but VERY LITTLE, just to optimize the boat's trim,  and have found that  the drives fully down are the best position on plane....

We shall see this fall if things hold.   I do like the quiet and smokeless XDP drives.  But if you own XDPs, you can expect to take a hit on resale value...  The XDPs have been discontinued.