Crud

Phillbo

Phillbo

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Had my eyes on a nice 2005 276 Sig for a while.... Finally went out to take a look today. My biggest concern was the fact that it's obviously a slip queen. 92hrs on the Volvo Penta power plant and 1hr on the Kohler genny.. otherwise a real nice boat.

The topic of the outdrive came up again ( I had asked in an email what type outdrive it had and the reply was "penta duo prop" so I had it on my list of items to verify ( can you see where this is going).. I asked again what type of drive and the owner said XDP.... RUN !!! He then told me it was OK because he had just put 10K into having it rebuilt. A rebuilt XDP is still an XDP in my eyes and he obviously feels the same since he did not mention it when asked via email.

If you're going to spent 10K on rebuilding an outdrive, why not just replace with a better one?

Also, if you're going to buy a boat .. Use it !! low hours on the engine and no hours on the genny scare me .

I'm trying to join the ranks of a Boat owner but some people don't make it very easy.
 
Maybe the reason it has low hours is because it has been down for repairs. I know some people in our area that have had problems with the XDP drives. Some of them are still fighting problems. Some say the problems have been fixed after the 3rd generation seals. I think one thing is for sure. If your asking the question now someone else will be asking the same question when you sell the boat later on. If they put 10k into repairs on a boat with a single drive it already has a significant history.
 
The following is a copy paste from another site.
====================================================
It's just not the bellows that are issues. Even though I did not have any water intrusion from the latest version of the bellows, there are way more serious issues, like:

bad prop shaft seals, water leaks into the drive, drive failure
Transom plates that will crack and leak water into the boat after the gimble bearings seize and destroy the drive's drive shaft, boat could sink
Bad bellows, water leaks in, corrodes u-joints and gimble bearings
Water in drive from bad bellows, drive failure
Corrosion in the y-pipes leading to holes and water in the bilge, boat could sink
Corrosion in the intake water pipes, water in bilge, boat could sink
Corrosion in the internal transom plates leading to a displacement of the y-pipe mounting gasket, water in bilge, boat could sink
Corrosion in ALL parts of the drive system
(ask me how I know all this...had everything above happened to our 290 except the cracked transom plate)

Bottom line....STAY FAR AWAY FROM ANY BOAT WITH XDP DRIVES!!!!!....

=================================================

The poster now has Ocean X drives.

From another site:

===========================================

Letter From Volvo Penta re: XDP Drives

September 29, 2010

Dear Volvo Penta XDP Owner:
In 2004 Volvo Penta introduced a new stern drive constructed with state of the art composite materials to combat the corrosive effects of the marine environment. We continued production of the XDP drive system through the 2008 model year with many units in service in a variety of applications. At that time, we introduced the Ocean X drive which uses a new highly corrosion resistant titanium / ceramic coating on our conventional DPS-A drive platform.

The end of XDP production and the beginning of Ocean X production was the result of our normal product development cycle. Raw materials and vendor costs for the composite XDP drive system increased over time and our development of titanium / ceramic coatings for our conventional aluminum sterndrive product allowed us to offer comparable corrosion resistance without excessive cost increases.

We understand that some of our Volvo Penta XDP owners have reliability concerns regarding the composite sterndrive product. We are eager to address any concerns you may have.

As you know, a boat is a unique product. Product support for the boat itself is the responsibility of the boat manufacturer while product support of the engine and sterndrive package is the responsibility of Volvo Penta. We take this responsibility seriously and we want to do everything we can to be sure your experience with our product is satisfactory. We encourage you to contact Volvo Penta directly regarding your XDP product. Your best source of information or resolution for any XDP concern is with Volvo Penta rather than your boat manufacturer.

For this reason, we have taken several steps to be sure that each individual owner has direct access to Volvo Penta customer service to address any concerns you may have:

•We have established a new dedicated mailbox for all correspondence related to XDP issues. This will enable us to prioritize these cases and handle them in the most expeditious manner.
#9702;Contact us directly at: vpa.xdpinquiryrb2@gr5tvolvo.com
#9702;Call Volvo Penta Consumer Relations at (757) 436-5100

•In order to evaluate and respond to customer inquiries quickly, we have developed a Customer / Product Information Inquiry Form that will be sent in response to all email inquiries.

•We promise a 5 working day turnaround for responses and / or a plan of action for the customer.

Best regards,

Volvo Penta

==============================================

I wonder how many folks got a 5 day turnaround.

Add to that the XDP was only in production for 4 years. That's not a lot of time to build up a spare parts inventory. From what I understand, a lot of XDP parts are NOT interchangeble with other Volvo Drive parts.

Unless you can get the entire inside of the engine photographed via fiber optic and get it for a reduced price (parts and labor) to make the switch to Ocean X drives. I'd pass.

A few folks at the marina have them....Hate the cost of just keeping it running.

One fellow spends $1500 per year just in bellows changes (twins each at $750). A local mech has found a workaround that has done him well for 5 years....but it costs.
 
I've already told him I'm no longer interested. That boat and any boat with XDP drives will not be considered at any price.
 
I'm a little late to the conversation, but..

We are going to look at some boats tomorrow. Is there an easy way to tell the difference in Duoprop outdrives and XDP outdrives just by looking at them?

TIA
 
Don't know about looks, but the XDP is plastic. The Duoprop is metal. The temp and feel will be different.
 
Ok, thanks.

Turns out the place we were going to look at boats is closed on Sundays. Guess I should've checked that first!
 
They have an XDP emblem on the sides as well.. I'd call and ask the question before making the drive.
 
I have witnessed what happens when the XDP hits an object.
2005 Chaparral 310 with XDPs, at 30 mph hit a rock pile of something hard. The transom assble broke and the drive was hanging on by the trim lines and the shift cables.You might say that that could happen to any drive. Maybe.....
Boat repaired and on to more boating fun.
Same boat BUMPED(lightly hit)the drive causing the case to splinter, like fiberglass would, No vibration of bent props. On the 10 mile ride home the ENTIRE case pealed off the "guts" of the drive. Did it make it home YES! It did try and run hot in the last few miles. I am guessing it was because of the LACK of casing and location of water pick ups.
IMHO a regular Volvo or Merc drive would have not been that damaged, might have chiped the skeg or cavitaion plate. With hard fast impact the regular style drive would have sheared off it lower.(saw this last august with a Baja and a rock dike,lost the upper and lower drive)
Great idea using composite not so good the Louisiana waters!
 
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