D3190 Is it a good choice for recreational boating

"I live in Tanzania, East Afri

"I live in Tanzania, East Africa. There are no Volvo dealers in sight and I have been receiving spare parts for my AQAD40 from a dealer in Holland. I am looking to replace this old engine with a new D3-190. I know it is an electronically controlled engine and therefore diagnosing problems will be difficult where I am, but can I expect a few years of problem-free boating? It would be fitted on a 25' centre console and used for recreational fishing.

It is a lot of money to invest in such an engine if it starts to have overheating or other problems shortly after you start using it. Can anyone provide some insight into the reliability and longevity of the D3-190 and whether I would be making a good choice in buying one?

Thanks in advance,

Eric"

We have a 3 year old pair of D

We have a 3 year old pair of D3 160's with approx 1000hrs on them. They have been very problematic and are almost impossible to fault find without the Volvo diagnistic tool (vodia tool?). They also have some horrible habits like going into 'safe mode' when something like the trim sensors starts to fail. This means coming home at not much more than idle speed. Inconvenient at best and lethal if you are offshore in a blow.
I know we are not the only ones with ongoing problems and I believe that these engines are not at all suitable for your situation.

"Hi Aliboy,

Thank you very

"Hi Aliboy,

Thank you very much for the advice. I am very afraid of these kind of engines but do not know what other options I have.

Do you have any suggestions on how to get something newer than the AQAD40, which is now some 22 years old? I need to repower and being where I am I need something dependable.

Thanks in advance"

"My suggestion is to find a de

"My suggestion is to find a dealer in your area that can provide support. It really does not matter what kind of engine it is. If parts are not available nearby, your in a pickle. The Cummins 5.9 is a nice engine if there is a dealer in your country."

"Eric - I posted a long repson

"Eric - I posted a long repsonse here yeaterday that seems to have dissapeared when I check today.
Anyway, if you are on a Sternleg I would consider the LH Yanmar 4cyl mechanical injected diesel on a Bravo 2X leg. They rate at ~240hp recreational, so maybe see if there is a 180 - 200hp commercial rating if this is enough HP for you. The engine should last longer with the lower HP rating. These are generally regarded as one of the most reliable engines in their class. The Bravo 2X leg is the diesel spec'd Bravo 2 stern leg and is probably the toughest of the Merc legs and simpler to maintain than a Bravo 3. Lowering the HP to a commercial rating will also help increase the life of the leg as well. The LH series may just have gone out of production now the new BY series (Yanmar marinised BMW engines) have been introduced. You would need to check with a Yanmar dealer, but the LH would be a good choice I believe.
If you happen to be using a shaft drive, check out the Nanni diesel range. They may do a sterndrive package with Mercruiser also, but I haven't seen one. Nanni marinise some Toyota car engines in the range you are looking at. If you have a Toyota shop close by you might find that you can use a lot of car parts instead of the Nanni parts. You could check with Nanni about this I guess anyway. I think Nanni's current range are the latest 'Electronic' Toyota diesels, but I believe they did until just recently do a marinised version of the 3.0l mechanical diesel used in the Prado and Hilux range. For your purpose this could be another reasonable choice if you could find a new or low hours one.
Another option might be the 200hp 2.8l CMD engine and leg package, but I can't comment on reliability as I don't know this engine.
There are other options like the Steyer, FNM, & Lamborghini diesels that could be worth looking at, but I don't know them well enough to comment other than to say that if weight is an issue they might be worth looking at as they are all light weight options like the Volvo D3. I think the Steyers at least light still be mechanical injection. Not sure about the Lambo and FNM."