Volvo Penta MD2B

[Thad Van Gilder]

I found one of these needing rebuilding for $250.

you guys (or girls) have any experiences with this engine?

Thanks ahead of time,
-Thad

[Lulworth]

Yes, I admit to being more than a little intimate with an MD2B. I should have taken pics when it was stripped down to its most fundamental parts but here it is afterwards. Things that you care about are: Is it an RB transmission or the MS and in either case, does reverse work? Is it a generator/starter or the real thing (alternator+gear starter)? They are raw water cooled so be sure the jugs are not corroded through. The parts are expensive but available (except major castings) but these engines are easy to work on (when in your garage and when you are not in a hurry)
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid184/pe2e670e03eeb9bac990352c1a1c6b732/f2867fb2.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid184/p7d162eda4e3cad331b28a4294c02b7d9/f2867fa5.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid184/pd849191780325bf03e6651c346f4c0c6/f2867fa0.jpg

[Ronin NW]

I can't add much other than when kept well it's a tank. Ronin's got her original MD2B, going on 40 years old with no major issues. When we got her the Volvo took awhile to start, but the only advice from the old owner was "of course it'll start. It's always started before." Sure enough...

As someone who doesn't know an awful lot about engines, it's nice to have a very basic engine like this to get used to.

-Scott

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Well, I just replaced MD2 no 3415 (installed 1967, died of gearbox failure and chronic overheating, August 2005) with MD2 no 5420 which I expect to get several more years of use from. It still handstarts!

The MD2 is the ancestor of the MD2B. The MD2B runs at 3,000 rpm, the MD2 runs ar 2,300 and is said to last longer, in consequence, by most boat engineers whom I know, but it is almost identical

I paid £250 for no 5429, with RB gearbox, and swapped no 3415 for a Record bench vice.

Both had the Dynastart (as has the engine in the photo) and both had the "usual modification" i.e. a pulley on the flywheel driving an alternator - 5420 has a much better, 55amp, marine quality, alternator, but I have to say the el cheapo Motorola car alternator that I fitted to 3415 never played up.

[ 09-05-2005, 07:29 AM: Message edited by: Andrew Craig-Bennett ]

[Thad Van Gilder]

Sounds like a decent engine to me!!!

-Thad

[Thad Van Gilder]

Lulworth,
by the way,
where do you buy parts for this creature?

-Thad

[willmarsh3]

I've got an MD2B - I'm happy with it. Just do these things:
* Mandatory engine checks each day before using - check oil level, coolant level (mine is freshwater cooled), make sure the seacock is open. After starting check the exhaust for water coming out.
* Be familiar with the sound of the engine - it's different when no water is coming out.
* A failed voltage regulator (mine has alternator) will cause the engine to slow down a bit.
* Beware of deteriorating paper gaskets between the engine and transmission.
* I added an oil pressure buzzer.
* Check engine temp frequently.
* I've had good luck with parts from Vosbury in Annapolis, MD
Will.

[Lulworth]

Thad,

Vosbury is good for information about how to do things (he knows the MD2B inside and out) and so you should probably buy parts from him but any Volvo-Penta dealer will be able to order parts. As for whether or not this is a good engine (or a good deal) depends on what is wrong with it. If it runs and starts quickly and easily, buy it. If it needs repair, remember that the parts are really expensive (head gaskets for example are, if I remember correctly, $100 ea (you need 2)) so if anything is seriously wrong with it you will quickly spend minimum $500-1000 for a quaint engine that is probably worth $500-700. In my case I got the engine for free (Ha!) and did the rebuild to learn something. I took my time and I bought used parts when I found them but between the parts and machine shop work (valve grinding for example) it doesn't look very free anymore. It is very satisfying to crank it up (by hand) since it runs like a top (a very loud top). As far as used parts are concerned, it's just a matter of looking around. For example, by a total fluke last month, I found a RB transmission in a machine shop that was being closed -- it cost me $5.00)

I offer all the above info in the interests of full-disclosure and not to discourage you but don't forget that, in the end, it's an old engine which even after a successful rebuild will probably leak oil and the banjo fittings on the injectors will likely leak diesel. Some find this charming!

Good Luck -- I have the maintenance manual if you need/want it.

David

[Steve O'Connell]

I have a 30-year-old MD2B in my Friendship sloop. We had it rebuilt when we bought the boat three years ago. So far it has been running great. When we bought the boat we knew the engine didn't work as it had been run without oil. The shop opened her up and thought it was well worth keeping. Rebuilt it, put it back in the boat, then nearly destroyed it within hours after launching. The previous owner had not forgotten to put oil in it. There was, it turned out, a hairline crack in the oil pressure sensing unit. All the fresh oil I had just put in my rebuilt engine was draining straight into the bilge. Oops! A new unit cost about $45 and it has been running great ever since...which is good because I recognize an engine when I see one, but there ends my mechanical expertise.

[imported_Jimmy]

We just got back from an 8 day trip and ran our MD2B almost every day without any trouble. If it is running it will probably keep running, but if it needs any work, it is ridiculous what they want for parts. In the photo above you will notice the exhaust elbow looks home-made. I also made one for my engine when it needed replacing because the Volvo wanted over $600 for a new one.

[Thad Van Gilder]

David,
If you got the maintainance manual, I'll trade you a fid for it!

let me know!

-Thad

[Lulworth]

Thad,

I just e-mailed you (sailorguy26f2) some goodies: usermanual, sales literature, and an article. The service manual will need to be copied and mailed the old fashioned way.

David

[Thad Van Gilder]

That's great! The only service manual I can find online is in Swedish! (Or some other norse language)!

-Thad

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

You are actually better off with a fabricated exhaust elbow, because the Volvo one is a thin casting, and prone to cracking.

This will take you to a pdf of the English manual for the MD2B's immediate ancestor, the MD1.

MD1 online manual (http://www.boten.nl/motoren/motoren_pdf/volvo_penta_md1.pdf)

[ 09-08-2005, 06:09 AM: Message edited by: Andrew Craig-Bennett ]

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Sorry, this is exactly what you need:

MD2B online manual (http://www.boten.nl/motoren/motoren_pdf/MD1B-2B-3B_en.pdf)

and here's the:

workshop manual (http://www.boten.nl/motoren/motoren_pdf/MD1B-2B-3B_Workshop.pdf)

[ 09-08-2005, 06:16 AM: Message edited by: Andrew Craig-Bennett ]

[Lulworth]

Thanks Andrew, that saved me the grief of getting my grease smudged, wrinkled and worn workshop manual copied and mailed to Thad. The internet never fails to amaze.

Thad, it will be obvious if/when you get to measuring tolerances but there is one misprint in the table of tolerances (titled "Technical Data"). To save some head scratching, you will note that the value for the crankshaft axial clearance in inches should read: (0.0031-0.0038) not (0.0031-0.0138)

Best of luck,

David

[Thad Van Gilder]

Thanks.
It appears as though Im gonna go down to the chesapeake on sunday and check this thing out, and probably, buy it.

It sounds like a decent engine that meets my requirements... but you never know till it's in front of you!!!

-Thad

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

A very simple test - if the weather is reasonably warm - say, over 65deg F, you should be able to hand start a good one.

[Brego]

Andrew,
the links you posted for the MD2B manual dont seem to deliver the correct result. Could you let me have the correct one?
thanks
Paul

[seo]

If it has the Bosch Dyna-start, which is a combination starter & generator, I don't think that parts are available for them. Even thirty years ago they were rare and ungodly expensive.
The other name for this basic engine is MD11, changed the same time the MD1 became the MD5, and the MD3 became the MD17. M stands for marine, D for diesel, and 11 means its cylinder displacement is 1.1 liters. T=turbo, a=aftercooled.
The old gear boxes with long shift levers can be recalcitrant brutes. The newer ones with the "MS" or monoshift gears are miracles, using what was then a revolutionary cone-clutch that changed everything, made Hirth the industry standard, made the Velvet Drive go away below 100 hp.
Parts are so expensive for these engines that I'd be inclined to keep looking, waiting for a freshwater cooled MD11c with MS gear. If your boat has the room to accomodate the big flywheel and great height, they're nice engines.

Volvo marine has done a number of astoundingly dumb things in the American market, including turning over their parts operation for their bigger diesels to Penske/Detroit Diesel, one of their competitors. They also lost a very good market penetration by coming out with an over-priced, not very good engine called the MD10, a peculiar little two-cylinder that was much more expensive and not as good as the Yanmar.

I used to be a Volvo factory agent, and also owned a boat with a pair of TAMD 70g engines. Nice engine, with an electrical system designed by someone who had gotten into the schnapps. Or perhaps he simply had only worked on skidders and dumptrucks, and didn't know that a seawater cooled aftercooler will drip condensation all day long. Don't mount the fuse & relay panel directly below it...

[alejolimo]

Hello!
I´m trying to fix the clutch of my MD2B but i have no idea of how it works.
I don´t have the Manual and i spend hours in internet trying to get it, but no luck.
Can someone Help me Please:)

[Old Dryfoot]

Here is a place to start, some info from Volvo (http://www.volvopenta.com/volvopenta/global/en-gb/marine_leisure_engines/out_of_production_engines/Pages/out_of_production_engines.aspx) and here is a parts source with lots of exploded diagrams (http://www.marinepartseurope.com/en/e-volvo-penta-645-MD2B.aspx).

Hope this helps.
Richard

Edit: just did an eBay search, here are two shop manuals (http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m570.l1313&_nkw=volvo+penta+md2b+manual&_sacat=See-All-Categories) for sale for the MD1B through 3B engines.

[richincident]

Reposted my request in a new thread.