Volvo 41 Series

[Ultralite]

I have a buddy who's in the middle of rebuilding his AQAD 41A. He's been able to determine that Mahle is the OEM manufacturer of the pistons and sleeves. He's working with a Mahle U.S. Distributor trying to source the pistons/sleeves kit. The distributor is telling them he can only find the parts for the TAMD 41A. I'm telling him the "AQAD" and "TAMD" are the same engines, just the AQAD was the outdrive designation and the TAMD was the full inboard shaft drive designation. So the pistons and liners should be the same. Is that correct?

Second, I'm telling him that he should go with the pistions and liners for the 41B as they made mods to the piston crown to eliminate smoke on cold start-ups. Are there any other changes he would have to make to use the 41B pistons and liners? Injectors? Injection pump? etc.

BTW he's working directly with Mahle so as to avoid the huge Volvo mark-up.

[seapower]

Ultralite, I have folk's that want to rebuild "cheaper", so they don't want to go through the Engine Company to get part's. I can only speak generically here, here goes. Does Volvo or any other engine company build their own piston's, no. Are these part's out sourced and built to Volvo spec's (or anyone else's) absolutely yes. They do not build the engine's around some one's piston, piston's and other component's are built to match the design and duty cycle of the engine in question. It's no secret that the same folk's that build automotive part's also build part's for the marine market. Will the automotive part's (piston's, valve's etc...) last in the marine duty cycle (rating) probably not. That's because of additional heat and load that's unique to the marine application. Piston crown's can and do melt from high exhaust temps and cylinder pressure's. In alot of cases marine part's are higher because they are truely premium part's. If it's really "apple's for apple's", save a buck.
If I was going to go through the trouble of rebuilding this engine, I'd do because I was happy with the old one and was looking for a long term investment on my time and money. Yes I know that Volvo has a high price on it's part's, (I'm not taking their side on high price's, here) that being said I'd rebuild it once and forget about it. A "properly" rebuilt engine should last just as long as the original, notice I said "properly". When I "rebuild" the last thing I want on my mind is "What If". Take the cost of that "properly" rebuilt engine and divide it by the year's (1000's of hour's) and come up with your true cost. Do the same on the maybe, bet the difference is not worth it. Wouldn't and isn't for me. Be careful, you don't want to be part of the "Oh Sh_ _ Club. Frank,SeaPower

[seapower]

If you give them the serial number they can give you all the "updated" part's for that engine (pistons,headgasket, turbo gaskets, rings, etc...). If you start mixing ring's and such (and the timing, injection pump, injector settings don't match), you may not be real happy with the end result. It's in their best interest for you to have the best product you can get. Those engines last alot of hour's if taken care of. Frank

[Ultralite]

Frank, the piston crowns have a stamp in them which says Mahle. Searching on the internet, found all sorts of info on Mahle. I know from experience they make pistons for a lot of engines including the 7.3 Powerstroke and the 6.5TD in my Suburban. They also make the pistons for all Porsche engines, so this is not junk stuff. In my search, I found a brochure from which the following language was copied:

Complete MAHLE PCU inside
MAHLE has been the sole supplier of
aluminum pistons to Volvo-Penta for
several years. The salt core pistons are
cast and fully machined in Rottweil/
Germany. The cylinder liners are
contributed by MAHLE Krotoszyn/
Poland, and MAHLE Eislingen/Germany
supplies the piston pins. The ring set
comes from the MAHLE plant in Murtede/
Portugal. All the latest developments
of Volvo-Penta boast a complete MAHLE
PCU (pistons, cylinder liners, piston pins,
and ring set).

When I replaced the turbo on my 31A, a local source bought directly from the OEM's U.S. Distributor and the OEM is KKK in Germany. The turbo itself has a tag on it with the Volvo Part # and the KKK part #. Volvo's price at the time (2 years ago) was $1960, and the local guy was $900. Same exact part. We're looking to achieve the same outcome bypassing Volvo. We know Mahle made the pistons and sleeves. So I was just looking for answers on the upgrade from 41A to 41B. Your more than welcome to continue paying Volvo prices, but if we can find the same parts elsewhere for far cheaper, we're going to do it.

[seapower]

Like I said in the beginning of the post, Volvo didn't make their own piston's. Triple K makes their turbo's, as does Garrett and Holset for other's. The company your dealing with make's the Volvo piston's as well as the 7.3, Porsche. All I was saying in a nut shell is to be sure you are getting the Marine Grade part's you are looking for. There is a difference. It sound's like you're doing your homework. I've had many who do not they get automotive part's, put them in a marine world load, to only end up with a disintgrated cylinder. Again like I said too, Volvo's part's are through the roof, no dia agreement here. Just make's my sale of Cummin's that much easier. Frank,SeaPower

[seapower]

To my knowledge the 7.3 PowerStroke, 6.5 or Porsche, haven't made it real big in the marine world. Kinda get's back to my original point. Some engine's do great in the automotive and industrial side of thing's. But are non-starter's in the marine application's. By the way I've got a 7.3 Stroke in my truck, so far it's done well. Frank,SeaPower

[Ultralite]

Yep, we're going for the OEM marine parts. The Mahle distributor has the Part #s for the TAMD 41A. I'm telling my buddy that the TAMD 41A and the AQAD 41A only differ in that the latter is the outdrive configuration. The pistons/sleeves should be the same.

[seapower]

There are times when an outfit makes part's for an engine company, part of the argreement for the contract to build those part's is a "proprietary agreement". That pretty much means that the only way to get the part's (legally) is through the engine company themselves. There are no sale's outside of this agreement. That's why some engine companie's can seem to charge what ever they like. Raw water pump's are a good example, most you can get through a variety of sources, some you can only get through the "mother" company. In most cases you'd better be sitting down when you get the price. Many component part's fall under these agreement's. Not saying it's right , but it is what it is. Frank,SeaPower