Seasport repower options

I

iain

New Member
I have a 1998 seasport explorer 24ft with volvo AD41p-a with 290 dp-e leg. Engine is original. Has 1500hrs on engine and leg. Considering repowering as I intend to keep the boat for another 10 years or so while my kids are growing up.

Until this boat I´ve always been an outboard guy, primarily yamaha. However, I am appreciating certain aspects of a diesel inboard, including safety, hot water, cabin heat etc etc.

I am thinking the easier way to repower would be with the same or similar engine. Would prefer a little increase in power as I currently experience a flat spot in acceleration while getting up on plane just before the turbo kicks in. Hence I am considering a reconditioned KAD43 from advanced marine in campbell river. As far as I am aware I can use the same leg, same volvo controls and gauges and the same motor mounts.

I use the boat year round and would likely put approx 200 hours on the motor per year. I feel this would be the cheapest option compared with switching to a pod with gas outboard(s) or a newer generation volvo diesel inboard. What I am after is reliable power for the next 10 years.

Does anybody out there know roughly the price to have pod installed? Or has anybody out there had their seasport converted from inboard to outboard?

Opinions please
Thanks
 
1500 hrs isn't many for diesel...the 350 Chev gas jobs go 2000 hrs. I would just keep running what you have.
 
I just converted a 26’ boat from twin I/o to twin outboard. The Pod was 2900$ painted. The glass work to fill holes and strengthen transom was 2500$.
 
I likely will..........for now. 20 year old engine though.

Physically looking at the engine makes me slightly nervous. Fair bit of external rust on block, pulleys, round water pump, round turbo. Every hose or hose or hose clamp looks like it needs replacing. I just know when something goes its going to be a lot of money and nothing will likely come off easy with the amount of corrosion on there. Not to mention it'll likely not happen while I'm at the dock!!
 
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Thats more reasonable than i thought for the pod and glasswork.

Where did you get the work done?
I'm in campbell river so staying local would be preferable
 
iain said:
Thats more reasonable than i thought for the pod and glasswork.

Where did you get the work done?
I'm in campbell river so staying local would be preferable
Click to expand...
I got it all done in Alberni. The glass work came out very nice and was done by someone local that doesnt run a big shop. Just out of his house. The pod was built by another Alberni guy that is the same. They both do very nice work and the price is better than anywhere else I could find. I will pass along thier numbers if you decide to go this route. The big cost is power and rigging. There is a substantial amount of work tearing old **** out and re rigging with new stuff.
 
Yeah for sure. There will be costs associated whichever route I take. Even reconditioned diesel motor (only) is 25k. Figure I could get a set of used F150's or a single F250 or F300 for cheaper and still have enough money left over to get a cabin heater
 
I had the AD41-p in my SeaSport 2700. It had about 1100 hours on it and ran like a sewing machine.
They are good for 8000 to 10,000 hours easy. Spend a bit of time on the hoses and clamps and buy a can of Volvo green spray paint and you can have it looking pretty good. No electronics so not a lot to go wrong that can’t be fixed with simple tools. You talk to any volvo guy and they will tell you that 41 series is considered one of the best engines.
I know what you mean about the turbo kicking in though. Full throttle on mine and it was like it would never get up on plane and then you hear the turbo spin up and away she goes. The KAD 43 or 44 have the super charger to eliminate that lag. As far as I know you can bolt right into what you have now. It’s the same block from the 41 all the way up to the KAD 300.
Make sure your current setup hits 3800 to 3900 WOT so you know it is propped right. I got another 2mph when I changed from aluminium to stainless steel props.
I think it would be hard to give up your fuel milage for an outboard. You could easily double it or close to triple and at higher gasoline prices.
Going outboard and pod you would sure gain a lot of space and a flat deck.
Your current diesel and leg will still be worth a fair bit if you go pod. Maybe $10k to 20k?
I think I would look at the Suzuki 350 dual prop if going outboard. Dual prop just handles so much nicer but maybe 350hp is too much
 
I say put some time and money into your current engine and maybe add a supercharger as Sir Reel mentioned and you'll get your next ten years for a fraction of the cost of any of your other options.
 
Thanks for all advice. I'll take it into consideration. Motor still running fine for now so I guess there is no rush.

Sir Reel did you use genuine volvo props or aftermarket? I currently have the solas equivalent of the volvo A3's on there and cruise at about 19knots at 3200ish. Did the stainless help with the flat spot on acceleration?
 
They were genuine Volvo props. C3 I think. I cruised at 22 knots at about 3400 rpm.
I though they helped a bit on pick up. A lot of the Commanders have those engines in them. Right up until the 2004 models and the they switched to the D4’s.
Not sure if you have seen the boatdiesel.com web site but lots of information on the Volvo 41’s
 
If you have a flat spot in acceleration you may need to tweek the fuel pump. Mine was doing the same when I went from C2's to A3's. Much better now and I don't use the supercharger.
 
If I was you I would check turbo intake and exhaust. Check exhaust for sea water intrusion. Grab the impeller wheel pull in and out. The blades shouldn't scrape. Then check the overhead set. Have you had a diesel tune up? Ie set the valves?
I read some guys put the AD42 turbo on and it provides more boost. Twin blades I think.
Chris
 
The beauty of a diesel is being able to put high hours on them before having to repower. They get great mileage compared to outboards. I would think you make be better off spending just a little for a good solid tune up. You would add deck space with a pod, but if you currently keep a big cooler on your swim grid that will just take up as much space or more than your dog house.
 
The problem I have with my Diesel setup is that I have range anxiety with my kicker. I used to rely on the fact that if something goes wrong with the main I could always expect that the kicker could get me home due the larger volume of fuel. Now I have two larger diesel tanks and a small tank for gas. if the main diesel engine fails I only have a max of 8 gallons of fuel to burn in the kicker. This for me is the major draw back in having a diesel.....
 
All good points. I'm lucky that nothing has to happen right away. Motor still running fine at the moment. I'll likely spend a bit now and try and tidy it up a bit. Maybe a set of stainless props too as the solas ones on there showing a fair amount of wear from cavitation. Also heard the wife saying something about a new car so a new boat engine is descending rapidly on the priority list.
I do run with a big cooler on the swimstep and at least the dog house on the seaports is fairly low and can still be walked on so it's not a massive inconvenience.
 
Captain PartyMarty said:
I have the same boat but with a KAD 43. Been looking at podding and outboards for it. I am planing to put twin 175 Merc on it. The factory pod is about 5500Us and I would budget 50 for the outboards and rigging. But to be honest the diesel runs great so I can’t justify pulling the trigger. I would clean it up put new hoses on it and keep running!
Click to expand...


What props you running on your rig? What speed do you see and what rpm do you cruise at?
 
There is a guy on here with the name Tains or something similar that pulled his I/o out of his sea sport and podded it with a 300 etec g2. I can’t remember the numbers but he posted some pretty good numbers as far as fuel burn goes. Nothing like a diesel but he was cruising quite fast and still getting good mileage. You mentioned wanting 10 years of reliable power and I think those Etecs have a 10 year warranty right now.
 
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