Anyone with Zeus Pods?

Never ever would I buy pod boat. Merc or Volvo.
 
Your loss. I’d argue more consumer dollars have been wasted on sterndrive corrosion damage than Zeus pods.

Just my opinion. That may be true too. Slipped a outdrive for 15 years and I'll never do that again either.
 
Your loss. I’d argue more consumer dollars have been wasted on sterndrive corrosion damage than Zeus pods.

I would consider volvo... I wouldn't consider zeus i don't see how this system will continue to be developed. It at least seems that volvo's penta system is being continually developed/improved .
 
I would consider volvo... I wouldn't consider zeus i don't see how this system will continue to be developed. It at least seems that volvo's penta system is being continually developed/improved .

Obviously I agree with you. I think there is a growing tendency to throw the baby out with the bath water with pod drives. It’s unfortunate because if you can use the benefits of a pod drive the additional expense is justified.
 
I agree that Volvo IPS drives seem to be doing better than their Mercruiser counterpart.

The reality check is that Sea Ray largest 2020 boat only uses Bravo III stern drives. So given Sea Ray and Mercruiser are owned by Brunswick.....it would seem the age of pod drives (and inboards) for at least Sea Ray boats is over.

I don't know of a single 2020 boat manufacturer that is using Zeus drives which gives me the impression that the product line is finished.

I would be seriously concerned if I owned a boat with Zeus pods. Hopefully Volvo sees it as a business opportunity.
 
I agree that Volvo IPS drives seem to be doing better than their Mercruiser counterpart.

The reality check is that Sea Ray largest 2020 boat only uses Bravo III stern drives. So given Sea Ray and Mercruiser are owned by Brunswick.....it would seem the age of pod drives (and inboards) for at least Sea Ray boats is over.

I don't know of a single 2020 boat manufacturer that is using Zeus drives which gives me the impression that the product line is finished.

I would be seriously concerned if I owned a boat with Zeus pods. Hopefully Volvo sees it as a business opportunity.

The standard power package for Sabre is now Volvo IPS of various hp rating. The only model in the lineup with Cummins Zeus as an option is the 42, all of the others just have Volvo IPS of different horsepower as options.
 
The standard power package for Sabre is now Volvo IPS of various hp rating. The only model in the lineup with Cummins Zeus as an option is the 42, all of the others just have Volvo IPS of different horsepower as options.


You raise an interesting point....If on the Sabre the drives are interchangeable ......I wonder if that might be a long term option to replace the Zeus drives with Volvo IPS.

A couple of my mechanic friends with experience on both say it could be done if Volvo made an adapter for Cummins. As it stands now you would need to change the engines as well which would be ridiculous. It just seems like a business opportunity for Volvo depending on how many Zeus boats are out there.

It would make financial sense for example on a $500k plus boat to change the drives if the IPS conversion was less than $100k. It certainly could improve the resale value.
 
You raise an interesting point....If on the Sabre the drives are interchangeable ......I wonder if that might be a long term option to replace the Zeus drives with Volvo IPS.

A couple of my mechanic friends with experience on both say it could be done if Volvo made an adapter for Cummins. As it stands now you would need to change the engines as well which would be ridiculous. It just seems like a business opportunity for Volvo depending on how many Zeus boats are out there.

It would make financial sense for example on a $500k plus boat to change the drives if the IPS conversion was less than $100k. It certainly could improve the resale value.

That’s an outcome I hadn’t considered. I’d be willing to bet physical substitution wouldn’t be a major issue as Sabre can, and has offered both over the years in the same hull. That said, the IPS drives are mounted perpendicular to the dead rise, and I believe Zeus are mounted vertically parallel with the boat’s vertical centerline. So besides the obvious hole size difference, there would probably be structural fiberglass work needed to the hull.

The biggest obstacle in my mind might be software. The Volvo EVC system is an integrated power train drive by wire set up, i.e. throttle, shift, and steering integrated together. The big question is whether the drive functions could be separated into a separate package and an engine interface built to control the throttles for non Volvo engines.

Throttle control is not so simple. On ours when I’m on the joystick it (EVC) has complete control of engines and pods and the amount of actual throttle applied is determined by the action intended. For example when performing a sideways move the rpm range is different (less) than what is available for forward/back motion. Also in sideways motion the engines operate independently with one higher than the other.

It seems doable if sufficient motivation. I just wonder if the lawyers would let it happen.
 
The biggest obstacle in my mind might be software. The Volvo EVC system is an integrated power train drive by wire set up, i.e. throttle, shift, and steering integrated together.

If Volvo were to offer a retrofit package, I would imagine it has to include all Volvo software.

Engines are dumb. They just turn in one direction at the speed specified by the input.

Drives, angles of the drives, transmission direction, etc. are much more complicated, so I can't see how not including a "Volvo brain" to manage the movement would even be an option.
 
Mark,
We have the D6-330. I have six EVC boxes, two under the helm, two in the engine room, and two in the rear lazerette with the pods. Somewhere in that collection of boxes something integrates engine and steering/drive commands into action. I do know that when in joystick mode the drive speed, direction, and steering angle operate independently. However in spin mode, one drive is going forward, the other in reverse at different angles and speeds. I would think interfacing the EVC with a pair of Cummins might be fairly straightforward as the EVC helm control only need access to the throttle function in the Cummins electronics. It would still need the Cummins computer for engine management and operation.

It sounds more do-able to me technically. Economically I don’t know. But with Zeus now an orphan technology and installed in some pretty expensive boats so not economical might be a pretty high threshold. It also raises the question of a shaft conversion.
 
I'm speculating but a class action lawsuit and the litany of known system problems would result in a pretty large judgement for the plaintiffs and their lawyers. I'm not sure Brunswick would want to have their internal emails coming to light for all to see in a discovery process.

Mercruiser has had a very long relationship with Volvo even assembling the 5.7 gas engines for them. You would think they have at least discussed retrofitting the Zeus system.

I don't know if Mercruiser has a plan for resolving this. What I do know is they better have one because people who paid $1m for a boat that doesn't work probably have no problem paying for a lawyer to get their money back.
 
John,
On the surface it would appear the massive cost to correct the physical problem would help in a class action lawsuit by defining the economic “damages”. Offsetting that is there does not seem to be any trending data that shows cases of Zeus equipped boats selling significantly below the fair market value of similar non-Zeus boats. So while converting a Zeus boat to an IPS drive is technically feasible and could cost a few hundred thousand, there is nothing currently to suggest a last resort like that would be needed and justified.

And if it comes to a class action it is going to be ugly when the finger pointing starts between Zeus and the boat builders.

You make a good point about Mercruiser and Volvo, I just question if Volvo is agile enough to put it all together.
 
I have had boats for 40 years, from ski, to Cigarette to 3 Searays. My current boat is a 2013 54 Sundancer with Pods. First boat i had with pods. i was old school wanted to drive the boat with shifters but once started using the pods love them. i did have a pod go out at 400 hours. bottom line i replaced both pods, even though one was still good, at a total cost of $35,000. not a big deal all. you got a million to $1.5 million dollar boat. what the hell is $35,000 every 5-10 years anyhow!

i learned a couple of things

1. make sure change the pod oil annually. (more if heavy use). the proper way is to drain the pod from the bottom. lot of mechanics drain the pods from on top in the engine room. that method can leave dirt in the bottom.

2. old pods had multiple seals with the pod. the new pods the seals are all built in one piece. so no water leaks which is the usual death of a pod. my long time mechanic told me, "change your pod oil you should never have problems with your new pods, ever"

my experience with guys that have pod boats and have problems is they typically don't spend the money to change the oil in the pods. if the oil is changed and there is any milky color to the oil, you can fix the problem at that time without losing the pods.

i am a very happy pod boat owner, and when i hear guys complain about pods, i'd guess more than half have no idea what they are talking about and are repeating what others have said.

signed very happy pod owner
 
one other consideration for those contemplating swapping pod designs. The Volvo pods have forward facing props and the engine is pushed further back in the engine room. Not sure SeaRay designs could accommodate the IPS setup.
 
I have had boats for 40 years, from ski, to Cigarette to 3 Searays. My current boat is a 2013 54 Sundancer with Pods. First boat i had with pods. i was old school wanted to drive the boat with shifters but once started using the pods love them. i did have a pod go out at 400 hours. bottom line i replaced both pods, even though one was still good, at a total cost of $35,000. not a big deal all. you got a million to $1.5 million dollar boat. what the hell is $35,000 every 5-10 years anyhow!

i learned a couple of things

1. make sure change the pod oil annually. (more if heavy use). the proper way is to drain the pod from the bottom. lot of mechanics drain the pods from on top in the engine room. that method can leave dirt in the bottom.

2. old pods had multiple seals with the pod. the new pods the seals are all built in one piece. so no water leaks which is the usual death of a pod. my long time mechanic told me, "change your pod oil you should never have problems with your new pods, ever"

my experience with guys that have pod boats and have problems is they typically don't spend the money to change the oil in the pods. if the oil is changed and there is any milky color to the oil, you can fix the problem at that time without losing the pods.

i am a very happy pod boat owner, and when i hear guys complain about pods, i'd guess more than half have no idea what they are talking about and are repeating what others have said.

signed very happy pod owner


Ditto
I too am a very happy pod owner

don't neglect maintenance and they will serve you well I have been told. Sounds like every other mechanical system on a boat.
 
I have had boats for 40 years, from ski, to Cigarette to 3 Searays. My current boat is a 2013 54 Sundancer with Pods. First boat i had with pods. i was old school wanted to drive the boat with shifters but once started using the pods love them. i did have a pod go out at 400 hours. bottom line i replaced both pods, even though one was still good, at a total cost of $35,000. not a big deal all. you got a million to $1.5 million dollar boat. what the hell is $35,000 every 5-10 years anyhow!

i learned a couple of things

1. make sure change the pod oil annually. (more if heavy use). the proper way is to drain the pod from the bottom. lot of mechanics drain the pods from on top in the engine room. that method can leave dirt in the bottom.

2. old pods had multiple seals with the pod. the new pods the seals are all built in one piece. so no water leaks which is the usual death of a pod. my long time mechanic told me, "change your pod oil you should never have problems with your new pods, ever"

my experience with guys that have pod boats and have problems is they typically don't spend the money to change the oil in the pods. if the oil is changed and there is any milky color to the oil, you can fix the problem at that time without losing the pods.

i am a very happy pod boat owner, and when i hear guys complain about pods, i'd guess more than half have no idea what they are talking about and are repeating what others have said.

signed very happy pod owner

I can’t speak to the technical details of the Zeus, being the happy owner of a boat with IPS. But, your point on annual pod oil & filter changes is the common wisdom for IPS as well.

I do kind of agree with you on the point that many who bad mouth pod drives generally have no actual experience.

one other consideration for those contemplating swapping pod designs. The Volvo pods have forward facing props and the engine is pushed further back in the engine room. Not sure SeaRay designs could accommodate the IPS setup.

The newer Volvo configurations have the pods coupled to the engine very similar to a sterndrive configuration. They don’t have to be done that way. Our Sabre has the engines mounted directly under the helm deck and connected to the pods with six (eight?) foot long jack shafts. Our boat was originally designed for shafts, hence this configuration. I know the Sabres with Zeus of the same vintage as ours also used a jack shaft arrangement. So but for the obvious business obstacles, a sea Ray could be equipped with an IPS configuration.
 

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