SO I DON'T GET RIPPED OFF

[Cheechako]

Well, I for one knew exactly what a tube stack is from the start. But I've been boating 40+ years and a former Boilermaker.
Anyway, Zengirl, without knowing what is around the engine, access etc, It's hard to estimate the time. maybe a pic of the engine room would help. But my guess is 2-4 hours total.

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by River Cruiser

Any 1 hour job is only 1 broken bolt away from being a 3 day ordeal.

Wiser words were never spoken when it came to engine work.

[zengirl]

Originally Posted by LoudMusic

I'm confused, are you upgrading or replacing with new? If the one you have is bigger then it wouldn't be a recall issue anyway.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ck-191016.html

Have you contacted Yanmar to see if it's still covered under recall?

I ordered new part from Yanmar. Old stack originally installed was too small, hence the recall. I asked if recall was still valid. Answer was no.

[zengirl]

Originally Posted by goat

Yes, I'm an ass. Anyway here's a link to a boat that's sailing in my neck of the woods. He took photos of the process when he cleaned his exchanger.

Cleaning Yanmar 3YM30 Heat Exchangers - Strikhedonia Seawind 1160

In case you do it yourself.

goat

Thanks for the link. A lot of folks are suggesting doing it myself and I do like fixing things. Your link made me decide to go for it. Needless to say I'll be asking questions and some may be stupid for the know it alls, but I don't care.

[alansmith]

Zen girl, good on you. Build skills. Forum members, YouTube, Google , and local boaters will get u through it. Be patient and trust in yourself that this is not a rocket science class. Take lots of pictures while doing it for memory.

For example, which bolt goes where... two bolts with diffeeent lengths...etc.
take your time and move slowly. When exasperation sets in.... take a break and walk away for a drink of something.

Best of luck.

[boatpoker]

That recall notice is from 2005 however there is no time limit stated on the original notice from Yanmar ....... the squeaky wheel gets the stack !

Original notice attached.

[zengirl]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

That recall notice is from 2005 however there is no time limit stated on the original notice from Yanmar ....... the squeaky wheel gets the stack !

Original notice attached.

I'll look into this. Thank you.

[a64pilot]

IF you use Dexcool coolant, be darn sure it never gets mixed with any other coolant.
If it has Dexcool in it now, and you want to change to something else, be darn sure you flush it so that nothing but pure clean water comes out, and then flush it some more.
Dexcool is orange, and without getting into the chemistry of it, it doesn’t mix with regular coolant, and it has gotten in my opinion a bad rep cause people don’t know what they are doing and don’t take care of their cooling systems, but it is an excellent long life coolant.

Access as with anything to do with a boat motor is key. It’s excellent on my boat and taking the heat ex stack out for cleaning is a fifteen minute job, really.
Once you have taken it all apart and cleaned it, if you decide to put this on a regular schedule like every other year or maybe every third year, you should only have to pull one end cap off, some people just pull the front cap and rod out the tubes with a small rifle cleaning brush, then put the cap back on, flush the cooling system and refill with fresh antifreeze.

I am not one who thinks as long as it’s not overheating you don’t need to clean it, I think it’s best done preventively.

Oh, and be sure you don’t put the O rings in dry, I have special O ring Lube but Crisco works well as does dish soap in this case. I’m hesitant to recommend petroleum lubricant as there is some types of rubber that it deteriorates, and it’s just a good habit to not use petroleum products on rubber,

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Wind River

Speaking as an automotive mechanic.....
Jobs like this always seem like a simple remove and replace to the customer but it rarely turns out that way.

Like others have mentioned, you don't know exactly what you will need until you are into the job up to your elbows. Being that the work is being done on site, no one is going to deliver any parts to him. He needs to stop working and get them himself or leave your boat apart until the parts are shipped to him, further increasing the time he spends on your boat and your inconvenience having your boat inoperable.

I would guess that the minimum amount of time he will be working on your boat is half a day if he is inclined to do the job right and not leave other problems related to this un-resolved. It will make him look even worse if he has to come back to replace a hose that should have been done at the time and has to charge you for it.

I guess the best you can do is find someone you can trust and well..... trust them. It's a hard pill to swallow I know. In my industry there are many who don't deserve that trust. I like to think I am not one of them and I take my share of loses trying to be one of the good guys.

Originally Posted by a64pilot

You need it do this yourself in my opinion. It’s a skill like changing a fuel filter that you need to have.

Originally Posted by River Cruiser

Any 1 hour job is only 1 broken bolt away from being a 3 day ordeal.

All of this is great advice!!!

ZenGirl -- if you want to have it done and not worry about it -- pay the $500, which sounds quite reasonable to me. Wind River has well described what you get for your $500.

But there are also very good reasons to do it yourself. Being able to fix your own boat is a crucial skill for cruising, since unlike with a car, you will often be in places (especially out to sea!) where you can't just call a mechanic.

[gamayun]

Zengirl, in my advice, I forgot to mention that you can always call the mechanic to finish the work if you should get stuck, so it's not an all or nothing sort of thing. My favorite tools happen to be a hammer and crow bar, so think it through before you hammer on something that's stuck, which is often the case with anything metal on a boat. Try using AeroKroil (letting it sit overnight will often work), tap it lightly, and maybe use heat, if need be.

Just curious, too...I noticed that your boat is a 1985 Freedom "Mach1 32." Is this a free-standing-rigged Freedom? I see both power and sail when I do a search. I have a Freedom 38 sloop.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by gamayun

Zengirl, in my advice, I forgot to mention that you can always call the mechanic to finish the work if you should get stuck, so it's not an all or nothing sort of thing. . . .

Correct, but this way you BOTH spend a bunch of your time AND you pay the mechanic, and usually double what it would have cost to hire him in the first place!!

Don't ask me how I know!


Nevertheless, the learning is in many cases worth it many times over.

[a64pilot]

I must not understand the level of difficulty?
With my engine it’s gain access, I may have to swing the alt out of the way, don’t remember, then remove six nuts to remove both caps, remove caps work tube stack forward and back gently to loosen it and slide it out.
That is it, not much more work than an oil change really.
However I can see how on a different engine that sometimes there can be plenty of stuff to remove just to get to the heat ex.
I think you need to know how to do this if your cruising, day sailing not so much cause you can find a good mechanic and stick with them, but once you feel comfortable with this, move on to removing fuel injectors and having them tested and cleaned, and adjust the valves while your waiting on them to return from the shop.
If you cruise long enough, you will have to remove fuel injectors, and not all mechanics are honest, some seem to try to take advantage of someone if they feel they can, don’t give one the opportunity.

None of this is hard, certainly not as hard as setting up and using a sewing machine for instance, and yet many ladies are not intimidated with one.

You may be surprised at how easy engine work is once you get used to it.
You may want to wear some gloves though.

[donradcliffe]

The recall notice said Yanmar would reimburse 2.0 hours labor. That's an educated guess on how long the job should take a professional. The real time to install depends on access in your boat.


As said before, if your engine is overheating at high rpm, the first and cheapest thing to do is to clean the original tube stack. Take the thingy out and look at both the inside and outside of the tubes. If they are badly fouled, follow the advice given and soak them in vinegar, plus push a welding rod or something similar through each tube.

If the tubes on your boat look pretty clean, its best to upgrade the tube stack with the new part, rather than try to clean them.

If the tubes have any holes in them (you are losing coolant, you pressurize one side of the heat exchanger and get flow out the other side) you definitely need the new tube stack (boilermakers will plug leaking tubes in a pinch, but that further increases the possibility of overheating. I new I had a problem on one job in Bali when I put one end cap on, held the stack vertical, and tried pouring the vinegar into the open end--it just flowed out the holes in the rotten tubes.

I'd go for a DIY job--I was a bit nervous with my first, but all went well. If you run into any snags, just post here--there are enough old farts with experience to give you 24/7 advice.

[zengirl]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

That recall notice is from 2005 however there is no time limit stated on the original notice from Yanmar ....... the squeaky wheel gets the stack !

Original notice attached.

Here's the notice of end of coverage.

I don't see the attachment, but the date the coverage was discontinued is Feb 01,2009.

[01kiwijohn]

I see all kinds of advice, on how you can do this job yourself, on here so it's a matter of personal confidence really. If you can access it, and get the tube bundle out without removing the whole heat exchanger housing, that'll make life a lot easier to be sure.
After you've got it all back together, run it until at operating temperature and then top it off to make sure you've removed any air bubbles. The, go to your local auto parts store and ask if they have a "tool loaner program", get a coolant tester and pressurize the system to just a bit above what the pressure cap rating is (stamped on the cap). Leave it sit for a good 15 minutes and see if the pressure is still where you pumped it to. If so, no leaks and good to go. If not, you've got an internal leak somewhere that you'll need to fix. Much easier to do it at the dock! Trust me.