www.iFourWinns.com

Good idea. ALWAYS a good idea.

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Paul
2007 Four Winns Horizon 220
Mercruiser 350 Mag MPI w/ Bravo III Drive
2004 Ford Explorer Limited (V8-AWD)
Pomme de Terre Lake (Southwest Missouri)

Pete, I feel your pain. My boat was trailer kept and I had the same issues with the corrosion. I was told it was from saltwater use even though only 20 of it's 70 hrs were in saltwater. This occurred in 18 months. I bought the boat from a dealer on a freshwater lake and they delivered it to me on saltwater. It came with aluminum anodes. I questioned the dealer about the anode type and was told it didn't matter on a trailered boat. Volvo's solution was to re-paint the outdrive. Even though it came out good I don't think it was a solution to the problem. I think Volvo has an issue with corrosion. My dealer was cooperative in getting the drive re-painted but got upset with me when I went over his head and was pushing Volvo for a new drive. I told Volvo that their product is inferior to mercruiser when it comes to corrosion. I have yet to put it back in saltwater since the re-paint and have until September before my warranty expires. Good luck!


Doug

Thanks Doug,
Actually my warranty was up May 6th but I hope they will still honor it. At least I got the ball rolling befor that.
Still waiting to hear back from the VP dealer.

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"ROCKHOUND"
2005 Vista 298
Georgian Bay, Ontario.

I took delivery of my 2007 last August 15th and only had it in the water for two months. I didn't notice any corrosion. I just talked to the dealer today about my spring relaunch and asked about the anodes. He said they came with zinc and I asked to have them replaced with magnesium. They have plenty in stock but they don't automatically put the magnesium on as part of prep. Go figure.

I just hope I got them replaced before it is an issue for me, but you can be sure I'm going to be watching for corrosion all summer long!

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2007 Four Winns 220 Horizon
VP 5.7Gi/SX 280hp

I bet it didn't come with actual zinc, either. A lot of people just refer to them as "zincs" and have for so long they just call them all zinc.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

You would think that as part of the FW network and striving to look after their reputation for quality, they'd take the initiative to check the anodes. I believe that FW has a program where they can exchange anodes that have been replaced pre delivery, so they arn't losing anything.
Someone at FW/VP must realize that serious damage can occure if the wrong ones are installed.
How is this OUR fault? I trusted my dealer to deliver the vessel for the waters I would be boating in and they dropped the ball... plain and simple.
I'm not going to take it! They (FW or VP) has to own up to this problem and rectify it. It would be the same as delivering a boat with overboard discharge when its clearly being used in fresh water, yes? NOT RIGHT FOR THE CONDITIONS!
I now have calls into 2 Volvo Penta dealers explaining the problem with NO replies.
Not surprised!

Pete

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"ROCKHOUND"
2005 Vista 298
Georgian Bay, Ontario.

Pete, I think this problem will begin to rectify across the dealer network when more people adopt your attitude about it. Dealers should consider this just as important as having tires on the trailer IMO.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

Thanks Mike.
It helps that others here have had to deal with this as well. Support is very important.
If you lived in Syberia... would you expect to buy a new car from a dealer equipped with summer tires?
These guys have to realize that we have put out 10's of thousands... if not 100's of thousands of hard earned dollars to buy one of their vessels over the competition. I expect, no demand respect as an owner and refuse to have my intelligence insulted.

Pete

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"ROCKHOUND"
2005 Vista 298
Georgian Bay, Ontario.

BTW, this a direct email quote from my x-dealer... who did the PDI and cheerfully took my money.

"Usually Volvo sends them with aluminum anodes and when the boat
requires
them to be changed the dealer would install the appropriate one for the
area
you boat in."

Actually, according to Bill Kruger at FW, they ship all boats with Zinc... NOT ALUMINUM!
So much for the dealer knowing what he's doing.

Don't get me wrong... I'm not saying all dealers are this careless, but the one I bought from sure seems to be.

Pete

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"ROCKHOUND"
2005 Vista 298
Georgian Bay, Ontario.

I've never talked to Bill Kruger, but unless they've made a change (which is possible of course), he's wrong. Mine came with aluminum and I know my dealer didn't change them.

My manual even addresses this, saying aluminum is always supplied by default and should be changed (doesn't say by whom) based on the waters boated in.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

+1 my dealer mentioned they all come with aluminum since its the best compromise between mag and zinc.....

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Guns kill people like spoons make people fat.
2007 Horizon 190 Gxi
97 Pathfinder SE 4x4
73 International Scout II

My 2007 also came with AL anodes. I bought MG anodes a week or so back and will install them when the boat comes out of storage. My Dealer didn't stock MG anodes, and couldn't find the part numbers for them - I had to provide them with the correct part numbers (they're in the Volvo Owner's Manual) so they could order them from Volvo. No doubt that I'll go over every inch of the drive looking for corrosion. Can't imagine I have a problem with just over 20 hours of exposure to fresh water (I keep it on a lift) but after reading this thread, I'm going to watch it very carefully.

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2007 Horizon 200
4.3L GXi/ SX 225 HP

My original anodes were aluminium as well. Definately a bit of a blemish on the whole delivery process from Volvo in my opinion. Why can't the drives be shipped without anodes on them, and the correct ones be installed by the dealer? It literally takes 1 minute to put them on!!!!

Good luck planet, I hope you can get the drive replaced!

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2009 H180 w/3.0 Merc
Homebuilt Minimax Hydro
2011 Zodiac Cadet 310

OK, now I'm really confused. Maybe I didn't hear him right.
Lets say that my dealer DID receive the boat from FW with aluminum... that means they changed them to zinc for fresh water.
I'll try to contact the 2 dealers again today.

Pete

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"ROCKHOUND"
2005 Vista 298
Georgian Bay, Ontario.

Aluminum here as well, but I'm rockin a Merc on mine. No problems so far, but this thread has already had me checking them regularly. I'll likely go to Mag soon.

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Paul
2007 Four Winns Horizon 220
Mercruiser 350 Mag MPI w/ Bravo III Drive
2004 Ford Explorer Limited (V8-AWD)
Pomme de Terre Lake (Southwest Missouri)