Engine Compartment Clean up

[Nick J]

sorry to hear that Jeff and thanks for the reminder. I replaced my exhaust system from the back of the heat exchanger to the thru hull 2 years ago. Everything is looking great. The universals look like a different arrangement, with that threaded section connecting the heat exchanger to the riser. I purchased mine through HDI marine in Vancouver, WA. They are a fantastic company to work with. I don't see any Universal parts on their website, but they might be able to work with you on making an adapter between the Universal heat exchanger and their elbow for the Yanmar engine. That pipe does look like a week link and it would be nice to design it out of the system.

It's tough to say if they should have caught this. It seems like every time I take something to a mechanic for advise, they tell me I need to replace 10 additional things. It's tough balancing what can be replaced "while you're at it" with the checkbook and the risk that comes with leaving it as is.

On the positive side, if you're holding the riser like that and able to take a clear picture, I imagine you were able to make it to port safe and that's always a win. Now you're in the clean-up-the-engine-compartment club (bringing it back to the thread)

 

[Frank Langer]

I would definitely raise it with the mechanic and ask pointedly why this happened so soon after his repair. I think he owes you, if not for this repair, maybe a complimentary service in the future.
Frank

 

[Prairie Schooner]

sorry to hear that Jeff and thanks for the reminder. I replaced my exhaust system from the back of the heat exchanger to the thru hull 2 years ago. Everything is looking great. The universals look like a different arrangement, with that threaded section connecting the heat exchanger to the riser. I purchased mine through HDI marine in Vancouver, WA. They are a fantastic company to work with. I don't see any Universal parts on their website, but they might be able to work with you on making an adapter between the Universal heat exchanger and their elbow for the Yanmar engine. That pipe does look like a week link and it would be nice to design it out of the system.

It's tough to say if they should have caught this. It seems like every time I take something to a mechanic for advise, they tell me I need to replace 10 additional things. It's tough balancing what can be replaced "while you're at it" with the checkbook and the risk that comes with leaving it as is.

On the positive side, if you're holding the riser like that and able to take a clear picture, I imagine you were able to make it to port safe and that's always a win. Now you're in the clean-up-the-engine-compartment club (bringing it back to the thread)

Thanks Nick. The mechanic answered my call right away, which was nice. I sent some photos, he talked through the situation, and determined it wouldn't hurt the engine to run it. There was just the issue of sea water and fumes in the cabin. The wind came up just about this time so we shut down the engine and put the sails out. But for a variety of reasons we abandoned the trip to the winter storage and went back to the mooring field. He says he can fix it this week. We'll see.

I think the other thing that's been a theme in your thread here is deciding whether to do something yourself or hire a professional to do it. The three big dollar professional spends we've done are rigging, engine, and the wiring for all new instruments and comm. I've talked about our rigging adventures elsewhere here. The instrument installation seems to be working well (touch wood). The people we've worked with are long established in the area, yet some results have been disappointing. I guess if you find someone who can do a job right, just sign the big check and smile.

 

[Pete the Cat]

something he should have caught?

Well, golly, I'd be asking him about that right this moment. And not too pleased, either.

The only redress is probably professional pride. I'd love to hear the yard's explanation of why this was beyond the scope of their responsibility.

i think the mechanic needs to do more redress than just suffer some personal pride. I realize it is tough to find competent mechanics these days, but this seems ridiculous. I really understand the occasional FU by my yard (the heat shrink guy managed to induce some small bubbles in the gelcoat last fall while putting the cover on--could be something I might have done, the rigger left the hatch open after unstepping my mast and the rain managed to lift some of the varnish off the teak and holly sole--again I can see a distraction causing something like this-I dragged the boat yard. manager to see the damage but took care of it myself) but you need to talk to them and they should do something for you to indicate their FU--you should not have to fix this They have an obligation to SUPERVISE and OK the all the work that goes out of their yard--and we know this rarely happens. We are going to have to pay a lot more for competent work in the future because these folks have to live in an inflationary and increasingly costly world, but we also have to have some standards. Some of the stuff done badly in a boat yard could cost you your life. The boatyard manager needs to be held accountable for doing his job of oversight and quality control. I am thinking that few do this.

 

[Kenneth K]

I personally despise Universal gold and would have painted it all Kubota blue.

Ah, come on.....at $30-something a spray can, I'm told the pigment is made from real 14K gold.

 

[Kenneth K]

It's always sumpin'.
...... Further examination showed that the pipe from the exhaust manifold to the riser had broken.

Sorry about your misfortune.That plumbing pipe nipple between the exhaust flange and the riser comes in two thicknesses, thin-walled Schedule 40, and thick-walled Schedule 80.

Make sure you replace it with Sched 80 (they make them in 316 stainless, too). That piece takes all the weight of the riser, hoses, and water, and is under constant vibration with the engine running.

I didn't like the geometry of it so I added a support bracket between the riser and the engine block.

 

[Nick J]

Yesterday's find:

I was able to get the pedestal apart to access the control cables. When I pulled them out of the boat, I found a split bolt covering a break in the cable sheath. I'm surprised It didn't affect the performance of the cable. Any recommendations on brand of replacement cables? Anything in particular I need to look out for when choosing a replacement?

The shift cable terminates on the port side of the transmission close to the exhaust elbow. I have the non cooled riser wrapped in a heat blanket, but the small amount of tape around the old cable has me thinking I might want to do the same to the new cable. Does anyone have any recommendations to protect the new cable?

 

[Frank Langer]

The split bolt may have been used to add a bit of tension, to avoid the cable moving on its own. My throttle cable would gradually decrease on its own.
When I replaced both cables on our boat I was told there are two different kinds of cables, one being better quality which I chose. I think it was called Teleflex, but that was a few years ago. The length of the cable is usually marked on it somewhere, but I took the opportunity to reroute both cables which allowed me to use shorter cables, which slightly reduced friction.
Frank

 

[bigd14]

I found a split bolt covering a break in the cable sheath

That is interesting. I found a similar split bolt on my cable and didn't know what it was for. But Frank's comment about it being for cable tension makes a lot of sense. Maybe I should have kept it for when my cable tension device fails! I also used Teleflex cables.

 

[Jerry VB]

I found a split bolt covering a break in the cable sheath. I'm surprised It didn't affect the performance of the cable.

I have one of those on my throttle cable too. The Wisdom of the Crowds concurred with Frank that it was to add friction to the throttle cable. My Edson pedestal is suppose to have a friction adjustment inside but it is inconvenient to adjust (requires removal of the compass, etc.).

Picture: https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/threads/decay-happens.19901/#post-156602

 

[Nick J]

I hadn't thought about that at all. It looks like the split bolt is what caused the damage instead of it being used to repair it. I did some quick googling and found Teleflex has a similar part for the same purpose:

http://www.seastarsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Cable-Brake-044386-Rev.1-055000-344.pdf

Thanks for the response!

 

[Frank Langer]

I hadn't thought about that at all. It looks like the split bolt is what caused the damage instead of it being used to repair it. I did some quick googling and found Teleflex has a similar part for the same purpose:

http://www.seastarsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Cable-Brake-044386-Rev.1-055000-344.pdf

Thanks for the response!

Yup, that's a better option to adjust cable tension.
Frank

 

[peaman]

I hadn't thought about that at all. It looks like the split bolt is what caused the damage instead of it being used to repair it. I did some quick googling and found Teleflex has a similar part for the same purpose:

http://www.seastarsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Cable-Brake-044386-Rev.1-055000-344.pdf

Thanks for the response!

I have one of those, but the bolt was too short to give enough friction. A mechanic figured it out: bend it open, so a longer bolt can be installed, and then unbend it back to shape. A bit more work than it should be, especially given its purpose. Seems like there should be a better way, like maybe a counter-spring at the throttle linkage.

 

[Christian Williams]

Gotta have a cable brake--placed in some semi-reachable spot on the cable. Adjust to create enough friction to hold the throttle setting. It just crushes the case a little. A vice grip (locking pliers) works temporarily.

 

[bigd14]

I installed one of those cable brakes posted above and also had to add a longer bolt (lower right in photo by fuel bleed return hose). I always thought it was a poor solution. Seems to work fine though, so perhaps they got it right.

 

[Tin Kicker]

It's always sumpin'.
We were about a half hour into the ~18 mile transport to our winter storage yard when our engine got Dramatically louder. We noticed a lot of sea water pouring into the bilge from the aft end of the engine. Further examination showed that the pipe from the exhaust manifold to the riser had broken.
View attachment 44629
As detailed in post #27 above, we had a new riser put in by the mechanic. That's their new wrap on the pipe. So, Nick, I'm guessing it would be good to give that part (those parts) a good rattle to make sure they're solid. (If this is hijacking your thread, I can move it elsewhere.)
We've maybe run the engine 25 hours since the mechanic put it all back together. Do you think it's reasonable to expect this is something he should have caught?

First see if he re-used the old pipe when replacing the elbow. Those pipes corrode and also work harden from vibration where yours break, so this could have been existing damage and it would not take much torque when installing the new elbow to crack it.

If replacing the elbow, he should have replaced the $10 of pipe and it could also be cracked if new, but doing so would be a heck of a lot harder to do. Any metallurgist could look at the fracture for about 10 seconds and tell whether this is a new or old break.

 

[Tin Kicker]

Yesterday's find:

I was able to get the pedestal apart to access the control cables. When I pulled them out of the boat, I found a split bolt covering a break in the cable sheath. I'm surprised It didn't affect the performance of the cable. Any recommendations on brand of replacement cables? Anything in particular I need to look out for when choosing a replacement?

The shift cable terminates on the port side of the transmission close to the exhaust elbow. I have the non cooled riser wrapped in a heat blanket, but the small amount of tape around the old cable has me thinking I might want to do the same to the new cable. Does anyone have any recommendations to protect the new cable?

View attachment 44665

I have one too and that's a common way to create throttle friction instead of buying the much more expensive Morse part.

http://www.seastarsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Cable-Brake-044386-Rev.1-055000-344.pdf

Compression nuts like in the photo work MUCH better when as close to the pedestal as possible, because the cable moves like a snake when it is closer to the engine as the wire bunches up inside the housing.

Not a fan, because it's so easy to mess up and there are glands to put on the end of the cable instead, but those are usually the much more expensive cables.

 

[Pete the Cat]

That is interesting. I found a similar split bolt on my cable and didn't know what it was for. But Frank's comment about it being for cable tension makes a lot of sense. Maybe I should have kept it for when my cable tension device fails! I also used Teleflex cables.

Yes you should have kept it. You can buy another for about $20. It was most likely put there because the throttle was creeping shut on its own. This is common. I have a similar device on both my boats and had to buy one for my Ericson to help the throttle stay where I put it. I actually think it is a part made by Morse, the cable folks. And I agree it should be close to the pedestal.

 

[Tin Kicker]

Yes you should have kept it. You can buy another for about $20. ...

$3.57 at your local Home Depot

Everbilt 3/8 in. Wire Rope Clip (2-Pack) 55314 - The Home Depot

Complete your last minute work on the go from the car by using Everbilt Wire Rope Clip.

www.homedepot.com

Grease it up to prevent rust.

 

[Jerry VB]

The "split bolt" electrical connector clamp is also available at Home Depot and is a better choice: (a) it won't rust and (b) it has been shown to work in that there are several of us with the clamp installed on our boats.

Pictured is the Ilsco IK-2 "copper split bolt." The Home Depot equivalent (guessing on the size - several sizes are available) is $6.58.