Dipstick bloke off at block??

[Ten87]

Hi all,
New to the forum. Just purchased a 1972 Pearson 35 Yawl that has been refitted with a 2008 Yanmar 40 horse. Owner stated while under way, he heard the motor sounding a little funny and shut it down. After checking things out he realized the dipstick tube had separated from the block and ran the motor nearly dry of oil. Motor is not seized, but I'm sure it lost some life. This motor has been shoehorned into the engine room so tight its very difficult to get a good look at what really happened. (hence the remarkable purchase price) Although an old boat, it looks like the 91 yr old single owner kept it in the garage and only sailed it to church in Sunday. VERY CLEAN. Does any one know how the tube attaches to the motor? Short of pulling motor I'm temped to cut an access point into the cockpit locker and crawl in to install a new tube, fill "r" up and see what I have until I can afford a re-build. ..........Any ideas??

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Ten.

[MarkJ]

You need expert advice on that one!

[Roy M]

This is a photo of a 3GM30F, starboard side. This is funny since it's the second time today I've posted these. Click on the individual pics to enlarge them.

[redsky49]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

You need expert advice on that one!

Concur. Get the best Yanmar tech around to inspect dipstick and overall condition/installation. The couple hours consultation will be worth your while.

[Roy M]

Here's a shot of a replacement dipstick I installed on my Yanmar, because it's up against a bulkhead and I couldn't easily get to it. I went to a parts store and got a dipstick for an old Chevrolet, added a piece of copper tube to extend the dipstick hole, then trimmed the dipstick to fit.

[Ten87]

Thanks all! I've been able to at least ID the motor. Its a 3JH4E. Found an illustration on a Yanmar site showing the tube terminating with a banjo bolt type fitting at the pan. The issue the original owner had was access to the fitting due to the rails the motor is mounted to. My idea of cutting thru the locker would only get me access to the starboard face of the rail and not the bolt just inside of it. Going to try to come in from the lower front by removing the oil filter to get a long wrench on the bolt. If that's a "no go" then it may be time to lift the motor. That's a bit beyond me so I would have to call our local Yanmar guy. I'm in SW Florida so we have lots of good Yanmar guys.

[roverhi]

You don't have to cut into the panels in the cockpit hatch if they are the same as my '69 P35. The panels are removable held on by a few screws top and bottom. Unfortunately, don't think you'd gain much by removing the panel as most of the engine sits forward of the engine room bulkhead. If you have the two door stock cabinetry in the galley, you should have pretty good access to that side of the stbd side of the engine if that's where the dip stick is located. The center board cable tube is the big thing in your way.