Volvo have had three tries with three lift-outs to fix the broken engine in our one year old Garcia Exploration 45 – Snow Gum. First the coupling sheared one of its six bolts. Then the gearbox was replaced. Then the coupling sheared all six of its bolts, immediately after being put back in the water and once again limping from the boat lift back to the pontoon. The noises coming from the engine and drive train just get louder with each repair attempt. Now Volvo expect us to waste more of our lives waiting for them to remove the engine, replace a couple of parts and reinstall the engine, so we can wait for it to break again.
Nope – if the engine has to come out, I will be pushing for a new one. Well, I might ask that the Mechanical Diesel Interface (MDI) black box from the old engine should be transferred to the new engine. The original MDI failed in May 21 (leaving us and Snow Gum caught in a full gale in the Irish Sea – a story for another day) and its replacement seems to be a good’n. I suspect that it was the intermittent, progressive failure of the MDI that caused all of the trouble we’re having. It can’t do an engine drive train any good to have random stop and start messages being sent to it while at high revs and high loads. No wonder the drive train keeps failing.
Please let us know what you think in the comments. I’d like to hand the boat over to new owners with an engine that can be trusted.