Recently, the sailor next to me found his battery dead. Instead of replacing the battery, he simply pulled out a crank and started up his Volvo diesel by releasing the decompression levers, spinning the engine, and then closing the decomp levers again. Bingo, his engine sprang to life. I have a Yanmar 2GM20F in my boat. It appears the "cranking nut" or whatever its called, is covered by a cap and is sort of just off to the side of the alternator belt. Impressed with my neighbor's success at cranking his engine so easily, I am wondering if my Yanmar could be started that way too?
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It is in the archive
I saw a thread that talked about it a while back, maybe a month or two ago. Do an archival search and you will find some discussions on it.
I saw a thread that talked about it a while back, maybe a month or two ago. Do an archival search and you will find some discussions on it.
Pete,
Are you built like Governor Arnold in his prime? Do you have a helper? If not, don't even think about it. Yanmars are higher compression than Volvo's.
Are you built like Governor Arnold in his prime? Do you have a helper? If not, don't even think about it. Yanmars are higher compression than Volvo's.
the model A had a crank
and was responsible for more broken arms then you can imagine.that said there is another ides that will work in most cases unless the battery is totaly dead. If you release the decompression levers the battery will have enough to turn the engine over and they engage the decompression lever and the engine should start. It would also be a good idea to carry one of those portable jump starters and use that (besides being a jump starter battery it will act as a 12v poweer supply and somme have emergency ligths, the one I have has a air compressor) they cost 50 t 75 dollars. This is almost alway a two person job.Lots cheaper and not as painful as a broken arm Just my thoughts....
and was responsible for more broken arms then you can imagine.that said there is another ides that will work in most cases unless the battery is totaly dead. If you release the decompression levers the battery will have enough to turn the engine over and they engage the decompression lever and the engine should start. It would also be a good idea to carry one of those portable jump starters and use that (besides being a jump starter battery it will act as a 12v poweer supply and somme have emergency ligths, the one I have has a air compressor) they cost 50 t 75 dollars. This is almost alway a two person job.Lots cheaper and not as painful as a broken arm Just my thoughts....
Do you have the crank handle?
Pete, I have heard that if the engine manufacturer supplied a crank handle they considered it to be doable for that model. I have an older Yanmar single cyl. YSE8 which has the handle. I have never used it but my slip mate has the same boat and Yanmar and his son has shown me how to do it on theirs. He's not the Gov. Arnold that Fred describes, but he is in his twenties and bigger and in better shape than I am. Can you reach the decompression lever while you crank? Kevin
Pete, I have heard that if the engine manufacturer supplied a crank handle they considered it to be doable for that model. I have an older Yanmar single cyl. YSE8 which has the handle. I have never used it but my slip mate has the same boat and Yanmar and his son has shown me how to do it on theirs. He's not the Gov. Arnold that Fred describes, but he is in his twenties and bigger and in better shape than I am. Can you reach the decompression lever while you crank? Kevin
Noank Pete has it right
The engine will spin easily with the compression lever off. I do this technique when I first start the engine after it has been sitting for a long time. It gets oil pressure up and then I start it up. Don't crank it excessively long or you risk water in the cylinder head.
The engine will spin easily with the compression lever off. I do this technique when I first start the engine after it has been sitting for a long time. It gets oil pressure up and then I start it up. Don't crank it excessively long or you risk water in the cylinder head.
The water comes from the infamous
mixing elbow or if you prefer to call it the exhaust riser. Water is pumped to it to cool the exhaust before it goes into the exhaust hose. Without the engine running, that water can fill up the exhaust system and back up into the engine. That is a serious problem. It takes a lot of cranking though.
mixing elbow or if you prefer to call it the exhaust riser. Water is pumped to it to cool the exhaust before it goes into the exhaust hose. Without the engine running, that water can fill up the exhaust system and back up into the engine. That is a serious problem. It takes a lot of cranking though.
One good thing the PO did....
was install a starter switch in the engine compartment so one person could activate the decompression switch and crank simultaneously. Even wired a light in there too!
was install a starter switch in the engine compartment so one person could activate the decompression switch and crank simultaneously. Even wired a light in there too!
Cranking
My Yanmar manual says not to crank it more than 30 seconds if it does not start...otherwise you have pumped sea water into the exhaust system.
My Yanmar manual says not to crank it more than 30 seconds if it does not start...otherwise you have pumped sea water into the exhaust system.
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