Saildrives revolutionised engine installation in many smaller vessels. The combination of a compact engine/drive package and relatively easy installation with no propeller shaft alignment to worry about has made them very popular.
However, like every other piece of onboard equipment, the saildrive requires regular maintenance. This consists of changing the oil annually, checking for water ingress (identified by the oil being a milky white colour), checking the external fairing gaiter to ensure it is still firmly in position and the vitally important sealing gaiter that actually prevents water from entering the boat. Originally Volvo recommended changing this gaiter on an annual basis, but the current recommendations are for an annual inspection and a change once every seven years (unless an inspection shows early deterioration).
Changing the gaiter is not difficult although it may be time consuming and as it’s the only thing that stands between the boat and a watery grave it’s essential to do the job correctly. If you are in any doubt about your ability to complete the job properly, leave it to the professionals.
This job illustrated here was carried out on a Volvo MD2002 18hp twin-cylinder engine. The drive is a 120SB/120SC (the 120S has minor differences).
Disconnect engine services
Begin by removing the propeller, draining the oil from the drive and peeling off the outer fairing seal.
Before the engine can beelectrical connections to the alternator are normally combined in the standard wiring loom and can be simply unplugged but the heavy-duty starter cables must be individually disconnected by undoing and removing the securing nuts after the batteries have been disconnected or the main switches turned off. If a calorifier is fitted for heating the domestic water the engine coolant will need to be drained before the calorifier pipework can be disconnected. Alternatively, the hoses can be disconnected and quickly plugged to prevent excess coolant loss.
