Mercury 496 Engine and a Volvo Drive?

[Havasu Rehab]

Saw a boat for sale with a Merc 496 with a Volvo drive attached. I've never seen this before. To be honest, I didn't even know it was possible? What are the possible negative effects of this?

 

[Racey]

Saw a boat for sale with a Merc 496 with a Volvo drive attached. I've never seen this before. To be honest, I didn't even know it was possible? What are the possible negative effects of this?

The volvo I/Os are also Chevrolet based, so no issue mating the two up.

Negatives are just lower resale value. Volve drives work ok but not as common as merc drives, so less parts, service etc available.

 

[Havasu Rehab]

The volvo I/Os are also Chevrolet based, so no issue mating the two up.

Negatives are just lower resale value. Volve drives work ok but not as common as merc drives, so less parts, service etc available.

Makes sense, as the boat seemed reasonably priced. Thank you for the insight.

 

[dspracing]

I’d be interested to find. Out why. Was the Volvo motor replaced at some point?

 

[sintax]

I’d be interested to find. Out why. Was the Volvo motor replaced at some point?

That would be my guess.

 

[mjc]

What kind of boat?

 

[SOCALCRICKETT]

Maybe one of the more experienced guys can chime in here, and correct me if I'm wrong. To my understanding the Volvo started as a commercial drive that was later adapted to the recreational market, and the Volvo sx is based off the omc cobra drive. I once had an old bilge rat tell me that the Volvo drives were great until they weren't, they are tough drives but expensive when they do let loose

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[Havasu Rehab]

I saw the boat on Facebook marketplace. It’s a 2000 25’ Advantage Citation. It’s being offered at $35K. Says the engine only has 100hrs. My guess would also be it was replaced at some point.


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[ghansen]

I had a friend with a Chaparral deck boat with a 496 and a Volvo drive. It ran good.

 

[Havasu Rehab]

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Here’s the ad.

*Disclaimer*

After rereading it, it doesn’t specifically mention it’s a Mercury. It just says 496. Seems like a great deal though.


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[twocents]

Once upon a time, many years ago, Volvo got on a very brief 'performance-kick' and offered a couple of 502 c.i. Chevy engine packages mated to their DuoProp -- not a bad performing package but propeller options were very, very limited.

 

[SOCALCRICKETT]

I just read the ad, im willing to bet that is the factory gxi 8.1 duoprop set up. That was a factory Volvo package. Volvo used gm blocks for years and the gxi was their answer to the 496 bravo 3 package

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[rrrr]

I’d be interested to find. Out why. Was the Volvo motor replaced at some point?

I saw the boat on Facebook marketplace. It’s a 2000 25’ Advantage Citation. It’s being offered at $35K. Says the engine only has 100hrs. My guess would also be it was replaced at some point.

You guys should be a detectives.

 

[Nanu/Nanu]

Is it a volcruiser or a mercolvo

 

[Dettom]

I saw the boat on Facebook marketplace. It’s a 2000 25’ Advantage Citation. It’s being offered at $35K. Says the engine only has 100hrs. My guess would also be it was replaced at some point.


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My 27 Advantage is powered with a 541 big block Chevy and a Volvo DP-X drive. It’s a very good combo imho. Volvo Penta sold some engine/drive packages back the 90’s that were powered with 500 and 600 hp BBC. They just couldn’t compete with Mercruisers market dominance and were discontinued after a few years.

 

[Dettom]

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Here’s the ad.

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After rereading it, it doesn’t specifically mention it’s a Mercury. It just says 496. Seems like a great deal though.


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If it’s a 496, it’s a GM motor.

 

[DrunkenSailor]

My buddy has a chap with a Volvo 8.1 (496) and duo prop drive. The hole shot with the duo prop is pretty good especially when yanking a fat skier like me. Boat runs good. Volvo is now making a 6.2 with 430 HP that they pair with the duo prop.

 

[Shlbyntro]

Maybe one of the more experienced guys can chime in here, and correct me if I'm wrong. To my understanding the Volvo started as a commercial drive that was later adapted to the recreational market, and the Volvo sx is based off the omc cobra drive. I once had an old bilge rat tell me that the Volvo drives were great until they weren't, they are tough drives but expensive when they do let loose

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The original Volvo "Aquamatic" started out as a joint venture between Volvo Penta and Chrysler Marine Group with the very earliest examples sporting Volvo B18 4cyls under the Chrysler Marine name plate. When Chrysler pulled out of the marine industry, Volvo carried on solo using the same hardware and upgraded over time.

The Volvo SX Cobra drive platform started out as an OMC SX Cobra via again a joint venture but this time between Volvo and OMC. When OMC declared bankruptcy, Volvo retained the rights to the design of the drive and rebranded it as their own. Volvo Penta of America still to this day operates out of OMCs main manufacturing facility that they acquired out of OMCs bankruptcy.

The slightly later SX-M and DPSM drives from Volvo still retained 95% of the design and parts of the SX Cobra drives with the only major differences being updated style trim rams and an exhaust exit at the tail end of the integral cav plate. And of course a duoprop being offered in the SX-M/DPS-M platform for the first time

Is it a volcruiser or a mercolvo

At my shop, we call them Mervo's

Saw a boat for sale with a Merc 496 with a Volvo drive attached. I've never seen this before. To be honest, I didn't even know it was possible? What are the possible negative effects of this?

The only plausible and logical reason is that at some point somebody blew the engine up and replaced it with a good used one they found. If it was done right, there is no mechanical downside to the combo at all. When GM went bankrupt and .gov bailed them out, for a period around the 2012 mark the 496/8.1 was unobtanium. People used whatever they could get. Fortunately now the aftermarket has caught up and filled the void, now everything is equally hard to get.

The DPX drives are among my favorite ever built, unfortunately ahead of their time with too little market share. I've ever only had the pleasure of working on 2 of them in my life (essentially a HP sporterized Aquamatic with integral hydraulic steering) not to be confused with the XDP which is a plastic piece of shit that should have never been built

 

[Dalton]

Once upon a time, many years ago, Volvo got on a very brief 'performance-kick' and offered a couple of 502 c.i. Chevy engine packages mated to their DuoProp -- not a bad performing package but propeller options were very, very limited.

some Water Rods used this setup