After an endorsement, like that, I just had to have some!

Amazon makes things too easy – 7 bucks, click and done!

 

https://www.amazon.com/Permatex-81878-Maximum-Temperature-Silicone/dp/B0002UEOPA

 

 

Bill Coleman

C&C 39 Erie, PAanimated_favicon1

 

From: CnC-List [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of robert via 
CnC-List
Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2018 4:28 PM
To: [email protected]
Cc: robert
Subject: Stus-List Yanmar 3HM35F repairing oil leaks

 

I have a Yanmar 2GMF...5 years ago, I notice some oil under the sole at the 
front of the engine....pretty easy to determine where it was coming from...you 
could see the leak on the lower front of engine....only leaked a few drops when 
the engine was running....no leak with the engine stopped.  Cleaned the area up 
and you could actually see where the gasket was split and thus the oil leak.

Bought a new gasket but even though I might consider myself a DIY guy, I wasn't 
going to attempt to take the front of the engine apart....I might get it apart 
but would I get it back together.

Talked to a few diesel mechanics at the club who said they would do it but it 
would cost....not overly difficult for them but time consuming ....like many 
boat projects, part(s) are minimal cost, labor cost is high.

Friend was aboard one day...he can do this kind of work....we talked it 
over...told him I had the big gasket.....he really didn't want to do it so he 
told me to go to Canadian Tire and buy a $10 tube of Ultra Copper, clean the 
leak area with acetone and apply the stuff with your finger over the leak.

That was 5 years ago, there has been no oil leak since, I still have the old 
tube of Ultra Copper and I still have the new gasket on board.

Some day I might get the new gasket installed, and then as long as the Ultra 
Copper keeps the oil from leaking, I may not incur the expense.....maybe the 
next owner will and I even give him the gasket.

Rob Abbott
AZURA
C&C 32 - #277
Halifax, N.S. 



On 2018-12-06 2:48 p.m., Josh Muckley via CnC-List wrote:

I've been living with oil leaks from around the HP fuel pump and the timing 
cover for as long as I've owned the boat (~6.5 years).  I finally had a window 
of time to make fixing the problem a priority.  Everything went smoothly and 
the engine is back together and works.  I came away with some observations and 
questions though.  To start here are some pictures/video of the cover before 
reinstalling. 

 

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=1gNX3pjZrcabZ2LUE6rKQAm_M1jVfweR7

 

I didn't have power tools available and some tight tolerances on the engine 
block only allowed me to get the gasket seating area as clean as you see it in 
the pictures.  No large or thick chunks and most of the remnants were feathered 
in.  Anybody have experience  getting a seal with this much residue?

 

The old gasket was pretty clearly a paper type which had hardened.  The new 
gasket was a lead/babit/graphite material.  Smooth and semi-reflective.  My 
only hesitation was weather or not to use a sealant.  And the lingering 
question of, "Why did the OEM change the material?"  What are the benefits of a 
graphite gasket?  RTV sealant or not?  I ended up using just enough RTV sealant 
on both sides to provide a light smooth coat.

 

The ignition timing is set by the shims between the HP pump and the timing 
cover.  There is a timing procedure which I did not perform.  Instead, I simply 
replaced the shims that were there with new ones of the same thickness.  
Anything that messes up that thickness will change the timing so the use of a 
THIN sealant is required.  Remnants of sealant and damage to the shims made 
measuring the thickness of each shim tricky.  I tried to measure a combined 
thickness of the stack of old shims and compare it to the thickness of the 
stack of new shims, because of the combined effects of damage and sealant, the 
old stack measured about 50% thicker than the new.  I measured and remeasured 
and I am extremely confident that I selected the exact same number and 
thickness of replacement shims as was installed by the OEM.  I can't recall the 
source but Blue Locktite is evidently the recommend sealant.  I realize that 
Locktite makes a number of different products in various colors, not just 
thread locker.  There was an associated product number which I was also unable 
to recall.   Instead of loosing sleep I just used the blue threadlocker which I 
had laying around.  A light wet coat on both sides of each shim.

 

While I was in the project I found one of the studs for the HP pump came out.  
The nut was seized mid-thread and it appeared that the stud may have been 
bottoming out in the timing cover, not providing the required pressure to that 
corner of the HP pump.  Also contributing to the oil leak.

 

So the moment of truth arrived and the engine started without a hitch.  I 
immediately noticed that it seemed to idle a little faster.  I let it run in 
gear at about 2k rpm for about 2 hours before having confidence to leave the 
dock.  No oddities except slightly higher idle rpm.  While running around on 
the water I tried full throttle/rpm to see if there was "more power".  Throttle 
felt smooth and responsive.  It seemed like a higher rpm was achievable.  
Typically, with a dirty prop and bottom 2800 or 3000 rpm is the most I would 
get before black smoke would develop.  This time I got to about 3400 rpm with 
no black smoke and more throttle.  This all seemed very positive.  If I pushed 
the throttle just a tad further the engine would immediately lose significant 
power and blow black smoke.  I realize that the tachs on these engines are 
notoriously inaccurate.  Mine measures about 10% low.  Without getting the 
laser tach out I would guess that my real instantaneous (and momentary) rpm 
peeked at 3750.  The OEM instantaneous rating is 3600.  Thoughts?  Is my 
experience normal for an engine which exceeds its max RPM or is this more 
representative of an engine with too much timing advance?

 

Some final thoughts.  

-I think the mechanic who worked on the engine for the PO during my purchase 
caused/failed to fix 3 things.  First, in removing the HP pump he broke the 
seal and never re-sealed it.  Second, he probably deformed/damaged the shims.  
Third, he failed to identify/correct the seized nut on the stud.  All of these 
combined to cause the primary oil leak.  They probably also contributed to a 
decrease in engine timing.

-In years past I had made half attempts to fix the leak.  This was punctuated 
by failing to successfully remove hp pump.  As a result no sealant was able to 
be applied and the shims where likely to have been further damaged.  I too 
failed to recognize/correct the seize nut on the stud.  My efforts probably 
exasperated the existing problems.

-As I recall, I have had to set the pitch on my max prop lower than that 
recommended by the OEM (based on the engine/power and boat/Hull combination).

-I now believe that the combined effects have "lifted" the HP pump about 50% 
higher than set by the factory causing the timing to be retarded.  As a result 
the engine has been chronicly under performing.  Over the years I've tweeked 
other engine and boat parameters around the reduced power (raised idle speed, 
lowered prop pitch) and simply accepted it as normal.

-In the spring, I'll disassemble the prop to compare current settings with OEM 
suggested settings.  Regardless of the findings I'll probably increase the 
pitch 1 step = 2° ~= 200rpm reduction.

 

Oh yeah, almost forgot.  So far, no leaks.

 

Josh Muckley 

S/V Sea Hawk 

1989 C&C 37+

Solomons, MD

 





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