Volvo D6 350hp & DP-R drive

[Bushrider]

Any experience or thoughts about this combination ?
I have currently an E-TEC 250H.O. on my boat and no experience at all with diesel boats .
While the Yanmar has the reputation being bullet proof but suffers from turbo lag - what about the Volvo ?
It's been on the market already quite a while .
Any issues with hardware ?
Electronics ?
What about the DP-R drive ?

[willk]

Originally Posted by Bushrider

no experience at all with diesel boats .
While the Yanmar has the reputation being bullet proof but suffers from turbo lag

"the Yanmar"?

A specific Yanmar or all of them?

The 315hp 6LP is notorious for turbo lag - I wouldn't give the steam off my p1ss for a 6LP. The 8LV is a different story entirely

[Bushrider]

Originally Posted by willk

"the Yanmar"?

Yes - "the" Yanmar with 315hp ..
I know a few people having boats with this motor but I don't know anything about the Volvo D6 350 .
Will have a look at 2 boats - 1 comes with 6PL - the other one with D6 ..

[M.Thornton]

Originally Posted by willk

"the Yanmar"?

A specific Yanmar or all of them?

The 315hp 6LP is notorious for turbo lag - I wouldn't give the steam off my p1ss for a 6LP. The 8LV is a different story entirely

You don't need a computer to fix a 6lp!!

[M.Thornton]

The modern D6 Volvos and the v8 Yanmar are both good engines Jurgen
I think that the Volvos seem to have a better reputation with the out drives the New Yanmar drive has been a bit temperamental.the other issue is dealers. volvos have a lot more

[Bushrider]

Mike , I regret that I never jumped on Fast Forward to "feel" the 6LP ..
Non existing electronics would have saved my Corsica cruise in September .. ))
The Volvo I mean is the older D6 350 common rail .
In addition to the turbo it has a compressor which helps to overcome the turbo lag .
Hope somebody here has one and can comment .

[paulbrown22]

I can't comment on the Volvo, but I love my 6LP, and the simplicity of it as commented above! Yes it has a bit of turbo lag, but I've never had any particular issues due to that. I certainly wouldn't completely discount a RIB with a 6LP before you've given one a decent test.

[xlgum]

Don’t know the 350, only the 330 and 370.
Both don’t have the compressor.
Bulletproof engines and more snappy than the yanmar.
Pain in the .... to repair $$$ you need a dealer with vdo computer to do anything.
A lot is replaceble but “if” your cilinders are worn, you need a new bare block (don’t know If yanmar has replaceble cilinderliners)
They pull a lot of power from a relative smal displacement engine (5.5liter) so don’t expect to run commercial hours. Can be worse, they have a 435hp with compressor same engine!!!
All in all a very good reliable engine that is very sensitive for clean fuel (Commonrail) with a good duoprop leg. (drive)
If you can do it a little slower go for the yanmar, 50% less electronic sh.. and alarm trash!!! Runs forever even on urine.
The Volvo leg (drive) is the better one.
It takes a few seconds more to reach speed but when u run, the yanmar can go and go and go forever.
Just my experience (run both commercialy and run a Volvo penta kad 44 with alamarin 245jet privat)
You can go for the rich kid Volvo with the fancy dials or for the bulletproof tracktor Yanmar and run forever

[Bushrider]

Originally Posted by xlgum

You can go for the rich kid Volvo with the fancy dials or for the bulletproof tracktor Yanmar and run forever

Many thanks for feedback - this is exactly the feedback I hoped to receive - much appreciated !
Being used to the ETEC G1 250 and now the G2 250H.O. I probably should not be over excited regarding hole shot .
I am lucky enough to have for both motors the diagnostic software but when you are on the water the last thing you want to do is to open your laptop ..
So looking very much forward to get out first time with an Yanmar .

[willk]

Originally Posted by M.Thornton

...the other issue is dealers. volvos have a lot more

Yeah, the advice is: if you buy a Volvo, you want to be near a dealer.

Is your observation regarding the Volvo and Yanmar legs from personal experience or mechanics observations? RBB have used both and the Volvos were the units with issues - crunchy gearchanges and a lot of sensor faults. Yanmar only make one leg AFAIK, the ZT370 and after five years of installs they seem to be holding up well. A lot of Yanmars got hitched to Mercury legs and it wasn't always the happiest of marriages. The Yanmar ZT350 leg wasn't a success and the clutch packs were all upgraded to cope with the torque...

...oh yeah, the torque, did I mention the torque? Yanmar are fitting extra torques to all their 8LV blocks. Apparently they found a shed full of it that someone had forgotten to put in the 6LPs....

[xlgum]

yes i mean the mercury leg.
In my humble experience (ex mechanic) the volvo duoprop leg can handle more torque than te mercury (no experience with yanmar drive)
This is the same discusion as apple-android canon-nikon, go for the color u like, they are all good.
Yes the volvo runs a little more economical and has some electronic tricks to smoke less, but the yanmar is the more honest no-nonsense engine.
If you have the honor to choose, choose wisely with dealer, parts cost, parts availability, price etc in mind and test the sh.t out of both!!!!
You know what???!!! maybe the sound of the volvo is the winner!!!(but there is no better sound than the whistle of the yanmar turbo

[beamishken]

6lp can be fixed by anyone handy with a spanner, volvo you need a dealer with a laptop to do any kind of diagnosis and even changing things like throttle control you need to program with a laptop.
8lv has gone a similar direction but a lot of stuf can be self diagnosed and replacements come ready to run so dont need programmed
Whilst 8lv is computer controlled it is less dealer dependant than the volvo.
6lp gets a bad rep for turbo lag which can be a problem but part of the problem is many are overpropped as tachos over read so people think they are reving out at wot when actually they arent. Ive got 2 in an 8.5 tonne boat and I'm happy enough with the holeshot.
Barrus had stock of 6lps quite recently as the military are re engining all their yam powered boats with yanmar (wonder why they didnt go to volvo).
The latest 6lps Barrus were selling were also about 5 or 6k more expensive than the equivalent volvo ,work that out.
Volvo arent a bad engine by any means nor is the 8lv but I'd have the 6lps every day of the week over either due to their relative simplicity and cheaper toyota parts

[solarwarrior]

I know the Volvo 6 cylinder with duo prop drive quite well. The engine has a supercharger (compressor) and a turbocharger (exhaust driven), which is great when accelerating. Now if I get it right, the Volvo is very heavy compared to the 8cyl. Yanmar. (Why do Yanmar have similar engines with their 6cyl. and 8cyl. versions? Does anyone know?)

Our boat is 5 years old and of course, we've had issues. However, some of these issues clearly came from poor installation for which the boat yard is to blame, not the engine manufacturer - for example there was quite some corrosion. The water trap in the engine vent was not well done, but maybe the material was not best either?

From my experience I agree that you should have a good dealer at hand who knows how to handle the diagnosis PC.
Regarding the leg, we did have an o-ring failure leading to seawater in the gearbox oil.

[breezeblock]

the only input I can have is with the d3 Volvo engines ive had dealings with a couple of them and the big issue is accessing the software for the engine its main stealer only there is a Chinese ripped of copy for about 1.5k but I wasn't willing to take a gamble on it oh and parts are a fortune for that reason I would go for an engine with an old mechanical fuel pump if diesel was an option for me

[RobinB]

As a previous owner of a 6LP with a bravo leg and a current owner of a D6 with a DPR leg I can confirm that these engines are as different as chalk and cheese in both performance and complexity.

The power delivery, lift and smoke-free performance from the D6 is a completely different experience to the smoke and lag in the 6LP. The comparison in driving experience would be like driving a 2016 BMW X5 compared to a 2005 Land Cruiser.

The DPR drive is a racing leg developed for high-speed applications and has a very good reputation for being fairly bulletproof without the need for showers etc. Volvo have now moved on to fancy rear facing drives so the DP-R is not a current model. The Bravo legs have a reputation for not coping so well with the torque from the 315.

The early dps/dpr volvo leg has a well-documented issue with the external steering rams but these are now much cheaper to replace. The DPR has a fly by wire gear shift also.

Both Yanmar and Volvo parts prices are ridiculous, but this seems to be a factor in all high performance marine engines. No one will recommend that you fit non-OEM volvo parts on a D6, so it is always a case of smile and pay up.

So as many of the posts above have rightly indicated, the 6LP is a simpler engine, there is less to go wrong. The D6 is a fly by wire electronic management system and does require a Volvo analytic tool to fault-find and most owners recognise the wisdom in paying for a really good Volvo trained engineer to service these engines. The 6LP is in comparison old school and therefore easier to work on.


Absolute bottom line .... the best option will be the engine which has the best service record and is installed in the driest engine compartment. Get that right and either option will work out well for you.

[Bushrider]

Originally Posted by RobinB

The comparison in driving experience would be like driving a 2016 BMW X5 compared to a 2005 Land Cruiser.

Absolute bottom line .... the best option will be the engine which has the best service record and is installed in the driest engine compartment. Get that right and either option will work out well for you.

Thanks to everybody for information and advice !
This week I signed for the 6LP boat ..
So I am used to drive Toyota Landcruisers - even one without turbo (HZJ80)
The boat was very well maintained and the engine compartment is so clean that you could eat from the floor .
I agree that in comparison with my ETEC G2 250H.O. it takes a bit longer to get on plane but I think I can manage
Looking very much forward to pick the boat at the end of December up and to go out playing with her !

[willk]

Originally Posted by bushrider

thanks to everybody for information and advice !
This week i signed for the 6lp boat ..

[Bushrider]

Originally Posted by willk

You have probably seen Ocean Devil this year in July when she made Ireland looking small going round in just 18 hours and 12 minuntes

[willk]

Sweet!

I saw her pass Malin Head doing a sh1t loada knots - I had a survey on charter and saw the plume of spray going past. Rocky was too busy holding on to hear/answer my hail on VHF

Health to enjoy her!

[paulbrown22]

Very nice, congratulations - I'm sure you'll enjoy!