Volvo Penta tilt/trim ram refurb

[rayacky]

Hello All, We are having an issue with the trim/tilt rams on our DP-E? leg & will need to rebuild them, my question to the knowledge base here, is it possible to rebuild the rams without removing them from the transom shield?, that is pull the leg out of the way & work on the ram while it is still hooked onto the transom?
Cheers & thanks in advance, Ray.

 

[06dpsm]

Re: Volvo Penta tilt/trim ram refurb

you really want to take the rams off. You'll find it almost impossible to clean the parts thoroughly while on the boat.

 

[rayacky]

Re: Volvo Penta tilt/trim ram refurb

Hello 06dpsm, thanks for that info but I really want to know is it possible to do with the rams still on I will remove the leg to give a bit of room, the main issue is having access to the inner transom as it is a catamaran & room in the engine bays is tight!!
Thanks again Ray..

 

[deer9620]

Re: Volvo Penta tilt/trim ram refurb

Do you have any pics?

 

[FishinPole]

Re: Volvo Penta tilt/trim ram refurb

Hello Rayacky,

I asked the same question (in much more detail) just the other day in the Diesel Forum. Have not received a reply yet.

Hope someone can shed some light on this subject because it may answer my questions also.

Best of luck!

FishinPole

 

[boltog]

Re: Volvo Penta tilt/trim ram refurb

I have a DP-C drive. I don't know if that's the same as a DP-E drive or not, but if it is, I rebuilt the rams by leaving the outer cylinder on the transom shield and rebuilding the inner pistons on the bench as they just need new seals. There's a guy on ebay who sells the kits. Worked great.

 

[FishinPole]

Re: Volvo Penta tilt/trim ram refurb

Hello boltog,

Do you have a link to the ebay seller of the rebuild kit?

Thanks,

FishinPole

 

[insttech1]

Re: Volvo Penta tilt/trim ram refurb

do a search under ebay boat parts for "volvo cylinder (repair, rebuild) and you will find him.
There are two guys that sell the kits, but I think they're both the same guy, and he lists two different emails in his listings.
He's easy to talk to; just tell him exactly what you're working on. He also has other parts (pistons, etc...) that aren't listed.
The special seals he has are pink. They should show up in a 2D black/white/pink photo on his listings.

 

[boltog]

Re: Volvo Penta tilt/trim ram refurb

The sellers name is volvooutdrives. I see prices have gone up a little since I bought my kit.

 

[deer9620]

Re: Volvo Penta tilt/trim ram refurb

I have a sp-c outdrive. I'm not sure if it is the same setup as yours. But I ordered the kit to rebuild them off ebay. The kit comes with an adjustable pin wrench to get the cylinder caps off with. That wrench was not very heavy duty and could not get my caps off. So I followed the Volvo procedure and ordered a zerk fitting to install in the transom shield. The grease hydraulically forces the upper trim cylinder pins out once you remove the bolts from inside of the boat on transom shield that hold pins in. I removed the bolts. I then took a high quality grease gun, and started pumping grease in the zerk fitting. The pins would not move and I ended up bending the grease gun handle in half. So I had no choice, the caps had to come off. . I ended up making my own wrench and that failed too.i finally got them off by beating them with a piece of steel and a hammer after heat and soaking.

 

[rayacky]

Re: Volvo Penta tilt/trim ram refurb

Hi deer9620, you have done what I wanted, thanks for that, as I am thinking I will have some trouble getting those pins out !!
Can you let us know if the rebuild was successful ?? Cheers Ray.

 

[boltog]

Re: Volvo Penta tilt/trim ram refurb

Uggh. I forgot what a pain it was unscrewing the caps! I think I blocked it from my memory. You're right, the pin wrench the kit comes with is useless. After destroying it and almost rounding out the holes in the caps I needed a new idea. I read some people used pipe wrenches or the like, but I didn't want the chew up the caps as they're just soft aluminum. So I bought a deep socket that was the perfect diameter to meet all four holes and deep enough to cover the end of the piston with the eye in it. I then ground away material on the socket to leave four pins that fit. Into the four holes. One quick shot with the impact wrench and pistons were out! Later today I'll post a picture of the socket and what size it was.

 

[boltog]

Re: Volvo Penta tilt/trim ram refurb

It was a 1 & 1/16

 

[boltog]

Re: Volvo Penta tilt/trim ram refurb



This one's mine. The other is where I got the original idea from

 

[rayacky]

Re: Volvo Penta tilt/trim ram refurb

Hi boltog, & anyone else watching this thread, that looks like a winner, so it is possible to do the rams in situ & I am guessing that a few new seals is all they need to keep going for a bit longer??
Cheers & thanks Ray..

 

[deer9620]

Re: Volvo Penta tilt/trim ram refurb

My repair was successful. However I only repaired one cylinder. My other cylinder wasn't leaking. I had such a hard time with the first cylinder cap, I wasn't going to mess with the other one. I was taking the boat on a trip, so only the one got done. Once again the adjustable pin wrench is a joke but the seals in the kit are good to go. My advice to anybody attempting this is to not be in a hurry and plan on it not coming apart. Soak, heat, sleep, soak, heat, sleep.....

 

[rayacky]

Re: Volvo Penta tilt/trim ram refurb

OK, sounds like we might be on the hardstand for a bit longer than a few hours that I was hoping for, seems these things were sent to test us lol, Cheers and thanks to all who helped, when we get out of the briny & do the job I will report back here.. Ray.

 

[FishinPole]

Based on the info from boltog, I purchased a 1 1/16 deep socket and filed away. I now have a modified wrench socket just like to one in the photo he posted. It fits the 4 holes just fine. Try as hard as I can, I cannot get the end cap to unscrew. I don't have an impact wrench. Based on a few other posts, I'll be trying heat and soak and lots of beers. Thanks again for the wrench info and photos boltog - your good info got me this far! Just a bit more to go.

 

[FishinPole]

Hi Folks, Thought I might update this post.

I left the cylinder and all hydraulic lines attached to the transom. Tied outdrive in it's up position to swim step. Just disconnected cylinder rod eye end from outdrive.

With the wrench via info from boltog. I heated the cylinder using my wife's hair dryer. Borrowed neighbors impact and the cylinder cap came off and all internals came out without much trouble. Contacted volvopentaparts@Hotmail.com and bought the kit. On my first attempt to install the new internal rod seal ( blue seal) I messed up and damaged it. Bill at volvopentaparts@Hotmail.com sent me a free replacement. Second try was successful. Assembled cylinder with all new seals (from KIT). Operating for over a month and everything is working fine.

Bill at volvopentaparts@Hotmail.com was extremely helpful with plenty of free advice via Email. He answered all my questions thoroughly and promptly.

Thanks to everyone who helped me get back on the water.

 

[rayacky]

Hello All, I know this is a long wait but we just got the boat on the hardstand yesterday, so let the fun? begin, just an aside, the propeller anodes are gone completely after one year in the water! (salt) but that is another issue.
Cheers Ray.