Pacific Seacraft Ericson 34 / volvo engine

[JSM]

Hi all
My Wife and I are considering making an offer on a well maintained early 90's PSC Ericson 34. We've been sailing a C&C 30 with a trouble free Atomic 4 in it for the past 30 years. After reading some negative things about the Volvo Penta engine in this boat here and elsewhere I find my self wondering just how concerned I should really be (or not).
Any feed back from current owners of this boat would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Tom Metzger]

JSM - Welcome to EY.org. I don't know for sure, but I don't think there are many PS/E-34s out there, and I don't know if they all would have had Volvo engines in them. My son had a 1998 PS/E-333 and it had a Yanmar engine. I would recommend looking for info on the engine model elsewhere on the net besides here.

That said, there are a bunch of E-34 owners here who will help with any questions you may have. Mostly we have Universal M-25XP engines, though.

 

[Loren Beach]

Volvo thoughts

For whatever it's worth, PSC had a long established relationship with Volvo for their engines, probably similar to the Ericson and Catalina relationship with Universal.
Either builder would put an alternative power plant in at a customer request.

Volvo has had an ambivalent relationship with sailors for decades... known for reliability on the one hand but also known for excessive parts pricing mark up. I know one long time mechanic that dislikes Volvo for that reason.

That said, they have been common in European craft and I can only guess that they offer huge OEM discounts. You might recall that back in the 70's when Bayliner went into the sailboat business with their US Yachts line, they put in small Volvo diesels and advertised this progressive feature pretty hard. Ironic, that their auxiliaries were much higher quality than their sailboats!

We have shopped some 90's PSC Ericson's and I guess we would adapt our happiness quotient meter to having a Volvo, but still prefer a Yanmar or better yet a Kubota-based engine like the Universal or best of all the Betamarine.

Given the small total sailboat market for sailboats over the decades, none of these engine brands are built in the sort of quantities that produce any sort of volume discounts. Parts availability at the end of the supply chain in my city likely involves more cost of distribution and storage than it does production costs. :nerd:

I would get a good engine survey, and make my decision from that point.
Opinions rendered daily, deposit one cent......


Loren

 

[JSM]

Tom an Lauren, thanks for the replies. We've backed away from the PSC E34 due to price / Volvo combination and will probably make an offer on an 87 E34 with a universal engine. The PSC boat is a beauty but with 30k higher asking price.

 

[Spirit Moon]

Tom an Lauren, thanks for the replies. We've backed away from the PSC E34 due to price / Volvo combination and will probably make an offer on an 87 E34 with a universal engine. The PSC boat is a beauty but with 30k higher asking price.

I have an E38 that was re-powered with a Volvo Penta MD2030 in 2004 as part of a complete refit to the vessel. The previous owner did the refit along with a maxi prop. I'm the second owner. The previous owner bought a Liberty 54 to circumnavigate. In any event I haven't had any trouble with my engine and we use it year round here on the west coast of Canada. We like to spend weeks and months cruising so the vessel is no dock princess and this is serious ocean out here. I've never had it professionally serviced. I make a point of keeping track of hours and change the oil as noted in the manual. I also routinely inspect the impeller and replace it before it breaks apart. Fuel filters are changed at least annually, more often if I doubt the source in some remote areas. Belt is inspected regularly and changed before it breaks and I wash out the foam air filter a few times a year. I've read some of the online forums but in my experience, this is my second boat first had a universal, also charted a number with various engines, with the exception of Beta they are all pretty much the same. Volvo parts are pricey. I do like Beta because they seem to have built and engine from the perspective of a boat owner.
Frank