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Talking to my Volvo penta dealer today he mentioned that the ATF transmission oil previously recommended for the saildrive has been changed to 15W40 engine oil because of a clutch issue that may arise. I suggest owners talk to their dealer to confirm this. This MAY apply to other transmissions.
He also mentioned that some ATF oil is left in the saildrive when sucking out but as this mixes ok with engine oil it will do no harm. After a few changes, all the ATF will be removed and replaced by 15W40 oil.
@achilles/medway wrote:
Talking to my Volvo penta dealer today he mentioned that the ATF transmission oil previously recommended for the saildrive has been changed to 15W40 engine oil because of a clutch issue that may arise. I suggest owners talk to their dealer to confirm this. This MAY apply to other transmissions.
He also mentioned that some ATF oil is left in the saildrive when sucking out but as this mixes ok with engine oil it will do no harm. After a few changes, all the ATF will be removed and replaced by 15W40 oil.
I notice there was little or no reaction to the above posting!
Can I raise the point again – are owners complying with this VP service bulletin or not and if not, why not? I have tried to attach a copy of the bulletin.
cdogg@echo wrote:
@achilles/medway wrote:
Talking to my Volvo penta dealer today he mentioned that the ATF transmission oil previously recommended for the saildrive has been changed to 15W40 engine oil because of a clutch issue that may arise. I suggest owners talk to their dealer to confirm this. This MAY apply to other transmissions.
He also mentioned that some ATF oil is left in the saildrive when sucking out but as this mixes ok with engine oil it will do no harm. After a few changes, all the ATF will be removed and replaced by 15W40 oil.
I notice there was little or no reaction to the above posting!
Can I raise the point again – are owners complying with this VP service bulletin or not and if not, why not? I have tried to attach a copy of the bulletin.
cdoggI suspect owners have contacted their dealer to check this info out and thus no comment on this site was necessary. I’m also surprised that as a Bavaria owner from new, nobody at Bavaria or Volvo contacted me to tell me that the oil spec needed changing. I registered the Volvo engine at the first service so they knew I owned that engine. I suppose they were worried that owners would complain and demand an oil change free. Not good service really. Change the spec in your handbook so the next owner of your boat knows.
Another dealer told me 10W40. The only difference between 10W40 and 15W40 is that the 15W40 is better at high gearbox temperatures as the oil is thicker when it is worn out (see below). I would suggest 10W40 if using it in very cold climates as the base grade is lower.
PS IMPORTANT multigrade oils break down to the base grade when the additives wear out. Cheap multigrades wear out quicker as they have less additives. They still meet the SAE spec but not for so long. ATF ‘may’ stay the same grade. Hence it is important to change multigrade oil every year especially if you use a cheap supermarket grade. i.e. 10W40 when worn out is SAE10 and is VERY thin and worse than ATF!
Dont overfill. The oil foams too much which means air bubbles in the bearings when you need all oil.
Anybody know the clutch problem that caused this change?
Thanks for your reply Keith.
I had my engine and my S-Drive serviced in 16th December 2010 by a VP Service Centre (approx. 2 months after the bulletin issue date). Their bill for oil shows £31.59 for 15W/40 diesel engine oil with no mention of ATF yet when I dip the oil it is red as per ATF. The service manager advises me that £31.59 represents the purchase price of sufficient oil to do both engine and drive, but he cannot confirm what oil was actually used as the engineer who carried out the service has left their company and may not have remembered anyway!Dilemma: Do I run with the oil as is until the next service i.e. this coming winter, or do I change the oil now to engine oil 15W/40.
cdoggNot knowing what has been done and having been told by Volspec that 10w40 should be used, I would change it asap. They said there had been a few clutch problems but did not go into any detail as the instruction was from Volvo Penta. If the oil currently in the box is red I would assume this is ATF. I dont know of an engine oil that is red. The oil companies usually use different colours to identify the grade and red is auto transmission sometimes used in gearboxes.
What I did is – firstly when you suck the ATF out, about a pint stays in the gearbox but you can add the engine oil and it will mix (i’m told). I decided to suck out the ATF and filled with 10W40. I then ran the engine in drive for a short while to mix the oil and then changed it again. I now intend to change the gearbox oil every year, the same as the engine oil. I used to change the ATF every 2 years but multigrade oil breaks down with time. You have to wait for the oil to settle as it does foam and you can think it is up to the correct level but isn’t. Oil level must be non foamed up before checking.
I think I will go along with an early oil change then I am at least following the Bulletin instructions.
Cheers
cdogg
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