Ocean Series Drive problems


H

HVAC

New member
Has anyone had a problem with the OSI drives, I have had to replace the bellows and gimbal bearings 4 times and now my mechanic is telling me that the entire drive has to be replaced since it has seized up and snapped a shaft. Any thoughts. Volvo is no help, as usual!
Formula Guard no help. I am very disappointed with The 330SS. Only 2 seasons used and once again landbased!!! I thought I was buying the best boat built on the market, Maybe just talk!! Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
 
Not just talk.....Formula is the best. This is neither a Formula problem, nor a Formula Guard problem. It is a Volvo issue.

From what you are saying, it appears you have a documented history of issues with your drives. If Volvo hasn't helped you, you merely have gotten connected with the wrong folks over there. They have been very helpful to me, and your woes should be able to be addressed.

There is a dedicated guy at Volvo to deal with this issue. In saying that, and frustrations aside, try to go with what my wife says in dealing with this........"you get more with sugar than you do with vinegar".

I am confident they will help you.
 
Hey guys, I'm new to the forum and was reading up on some back conversations. Just wanted to throw my 2 cents worth in. I've replace 7 damaged Ocean Series Outdrives in 3 years--basically had a failure every 3 months. For a while, Volvo was real good about replacing the outdrives, but after #7 I insisted on a permanent fix. In the end, they offered me the new Ocean X drives (if I split the cost, which came to about 25k for my half), as long as I would sign a non-disclosure agreement and never talked about it. In the end, after many discussions with lawyers and formula, I agreed. But I never signed a non-disclosure agreement so I can talk about it. The bottom line, from my perspective, is that the Ocean Series composite drives were not robust enough when coupled with the 8.1L engines on a heavy boat (I have a Formula 34pc). And the day to day strain just tore the drives up (trust me, I'm very gentle with my drives). It was clearly a design issue. In my opinion, Volvo didn't treat me right in the whole deal, but I will say that the new Ocean X drives seem to be working well. They have been on for a year now and seem to be holding up. I don't think the Ocean Series Composites are offered any more, so hopefully no-one else will ever have this problem. But, if you do and need information, just give me a shout.
 
Hi guys, are these the problematic composite drives you are speaking of? (These are from an 07 31pc with vp 8.1 gi)

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Negative, these at NOT the Volvo "composite" drives that Volvo has discontinues. They are the newer "Ocean Series" drives. I too, had my Composite drives changes out to the newer "Ocean Series" drives and to date, I have not had any challenges at all.....
 
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