Sir Reel
Well-Known Member
Our 2005 Commander had twin D4-260 DPH A-A drives. They were built in 2004 and were the original series A-A. The engines have been great but my drives failed last year due to corrosion. A known issue with the early vintage DPH drives. On top of that the 6 EVC units were starting to fail, and they needed to be upgraded(expensive). So had to make a decision to spend a lot of money fixing them up and end up with what I already had or do a repower. We wanted to keep the boat for at least another 5 years and wanted to venture farther north, circumnavigate Vancouver Island, and have better reliability.
There were a lot of things that made sense. So decided to do a repower.
Took the boat up to McDonald Marine in Powell River late March and brought her back down to Sidney April 15th. She is basically a new boat now. Jesse and team did an excellent job and went beyond my very high expectations.
New engines and transom shields bolt right in. Nothing has changed mounting wise in 20 years.
New 3-year parts and labour warranty
Steer by wire. Removed all the hydraulic steering lines.
Have power steering now no matter which engine is running.
Previous only had power steering off Starboard engine with power steering pump
Removed power Steering pump and overflow tank - always leaked.
Shift by wire. No more shift actuator or shift cables to replace
Completely redesigned legs. Much more bullet proof and can handle higher power and torque up to the D6 480hp
Hydraulic shifting( no cone clutch) and with low speed mode can troll at 1mph and up.
Better corrosion protection all round
All Aluminum anodes. Longer lifespan
Oil changes are now every 2 years, 200 hours on both engine and legs
All engine data is now electronic and can appear on the Garmin MFD or my iPhone and iPad
Auto pilot is now electronic
Push button start. No keys just a fob
With engines out had the opportunity to easily change thru hulls, water lines, fuel lines, battery cables, and lots of other little things that are normally hard to get at.
The boat will have a higher resell value when done. I had it surveyed post repower and waiting for results
The D4-260's were perfectly matched to the boat. Cruise is 28 knots and WOT is 35 knots.
The D4-260 DPH is now the D4-270 DPI so opted to go with that package for the same performance
However pickup is greatly improved with the 270. Bow barely comes up and you really feel it when the Turbos kick in. Must have different computer programing.
I trusted McDonald Marine in Powell River for the repower. Jesse and team have done many Volvo installations along with about 6 Commanders both old V8 gas and VP 41 diesels. There are about 20 Commanders in Westview Marina in Powell River alone and they work on most of them
McDonald were amazing to work with. Did everything I asked for and more. I had very high expectations and they easily surpassed that. On our sea trial the only thing I could find wrong was the heater hi/low switch was wired backwards. A 2 minute fix to swap the wires on the switch.
There were a lot of things that made sense. So decided to do a repower.
Took the boat up to McDonald Marine in Powell River late March and brought her back down to Sidney April 15th. She is basically a new boat now. Jesse and team did an excellent job and went beyond my very high expectations.
New engines and transom shields bolt right in. Nothing has changed mounting wise in 20 years.
New 3-year parts and labour warranty
Steer by wire. Removed all the hydraulic steering lines.
Have power steering now no matter which engine is running.
Previous only had power steering off Starboard engine with power steering pump
Removed power Steering pump and overflow tank - always leaked.
Shift by wire. No more shift actuator or shift cables to replace
Completely redesigned legs. Much more bullet proof and can handle higher power and torque up to the D6 480hp
Hydraulic shifting( no cone clutch) and with low speed mode can troll at 1mph and up.
Better corrosion protection all round
All Aluminum anodes. Longer lifespan
Oil changes are now every 2 years, 200 hours on both engine and legs
All engine data is now electronic and can appear on the Garmin MFD or my iPhone and iPad
Auto pilot is now electronic
Push button start. No keys just a fob
With engines out had the opportunity to easily change thru hulls, water lines, fuel lines, battery cables, and lots of other little things that are normally hard to get at.
The boat will have a higher resell value when done. I had it surveyed post repower and waiting for results
The D4-260's were perfectly matched to the boat. Cruise is 28 knots and WOT is 35 knots.
The D4-260 DPH is now the D4-270 DPI so opted to go with that package for the same performance
However pickup is greatly improved with the 270. Bow barely comes up and you really feel it when the Turbos kick in. Must have different computer programing.
I trusted McDonald Marine in Powell River for the repower. Jesse and team have done many Volvo installations along with about 6 Commanders both old V8 gas and VP 41 diesels. There are about 20 Commanders in Westview Marina in Powell River alone and they work on most of them
McDonald were amazing to work with. Did everything I asked for and more. I had very high expectations and they easily surpassed that. On our sea trial the only thing I could find wrong was the heater hi/low switch was wired backwards. A 2 minute fix to swap the wires on the switch.
