I know this may sound stupid and you may think if sombodys asking they shouldn't be doing it. I have performed many oil changes on everything but a marine diesel. I have a 20hp yanmar. I believe oil changes are done with suction pump through the dip stick orfice. I would like to know type of oil,how much,best brands,tricks. I also wonder about how you can prevent air from getting in, I thought that when changing diesel you filled the filter with oil, this filter is side mounted. how often do you change the oil. I regards to the glycol system I just changed the hotwater tank /exchanger hoses where the glycol heats the hot water, I found some sludge/mud slime on surface areas in hoses in exchanger. I have not filled exchanger back up I'm wondering if there is a way to flush system with either chemical or high pressure water, how much glycole goes back in, is the mix 50/50 should I change the termostat or impellers I thank you for all advise I am knew to this. P.S. any advise on fuel filter changes would be very helpful
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Oil Change info
"The only stupid question is the one you don't ask". We all started from scratch. The most important part of changing your oil is to make sure it is warm. Change your oil after you power into the slip after a sail. That does two things. It picks up all the gunk that settles out of the oil, so when you suck the oil out through the dip stick hole, the gunk comes with it. Secondly, it makes the oil flow easier. When the oil is cold, it will not flow well enough to be sucked out, the hose just collapses. We just use the Yanmar brand oil from the marina. It costs a little more but not enough to worry about. You can use any 4-cycle diesel oil if you only operate in temperate weather. There are dozens of products to suck the oil out. If it is warm, any of them work well. Put the oil dipstick back in and refill from the top oil filler cap (by the injectors). Pour the oil into a measuring cup to see how much you got out. Put that much back in, then check the dipstick to see if it is full. If not, top it off. DO NOT OVERFILL! The excess will just blow out into the bilge. Fill the new filter about 2/3 full of oil. Lube the gasket with a little oil. Put in plastic bag and screw on. Helps to put an oil absorbant pad under the engine while doing this until you get good at it (Which you never will because you only have to change the oil once or twice a year). Any air in the oil will go to the pan and blow out the breather the first time you run. Make sure you put oil in the filter because it takes a little while to fill it up while running and surfaces run dry while that is happening. Always examine or change your impeller every year. It is real easy insurance. If you are worried about sludge in your cooling system, you might want to open your heat exchanger and look at the cooling tubes. That is a moderately easy job that will tell you how bad the sludge is and if something needs to done about it. We never have changed the thermostat, but we did install a water temperature gauge (with a oil pressure gauge) so we will have some warning if it does fail. By all means, check your fuel filters, and change if dirty. Once again, cheap insurance. We installed a Yanmar/Racor filter near the fuel tank that has a clear bowl on the bottom which makes it easy to check for water. Be sure to use a biocide treatment to keep bugs out of your fuel. If your marina has dirty fuel, buy it at a truck stop or use a baja filter when fueling up. We change the oil last thing every Fall and first thing every Spring. That is the advice of the instructor at the Mack Boring Yanmar Diesel Course, Larry Bishop. I highly recommend his class. I took it in Feb 2000, right after we bought our 1987 Hunter 31. Worth every penny. http://www.mackboring.com/train_mar.php We buy all our parts from our local marina. If you don't have a local marina, you can get parts from Mack Boring at: http://www.mackboring.com/ or Torreson at: http://www.marinedieseldirect.com/yanmar/shopping/engine.php?engine=2GM20F Let me know if you have more questions. I'm no expert, but have kept our 2GM20F running for five years so far. The link shows Yanmar parts.
"The only stupid question is the one you don't ask". We all started from scratch. The most important part of changing your oil is to make sure it is warm. Change your oil after you power into the slip after a sail. That does two things. It picks up all the gunk that settles out of the oil, so when you suck the oil out through the dip stick hole, the gunk comes with it. Secondly, it makes the oil flow easier. When the oil is cold, it will not flow well enough to be sucked out, the hose just collapses. We just use the Yanmar brand oil from the marina. It costs a little more but not enough to worry about. You can use any 4-cycle diesel oil if you only operate in temperate weather. There are dozens of products to suck the oil out. If it is warm, any of them work well. Put the oil dipstick back in and refill from the top oil filler cap (by the injectors). Pour the oil into a measuring cup to see how much you got out. Put that much back in, then check the dipstick to see if it is full. If not, top it off. DO NOT OVERFILL! The excess will just blow out into the bilge. Fill the new filter about 2/3 full of oil. Lube the gasket with a little oil. Put in plastic bag and screw on. Helps to put an oil absorbant pad under the engine while doing this until you get good at it (Which you never will because you only have to change the oil once or twice a year). Any air in the oil will go to the pan and blow out the breather the first time you run. Make sure you put oil in the filter because it takes a little while to fill it up while running and surfaces run dry while that is happening. Always examine or change your impeller every year. It is real easy insurance. If you are worried about sludge in your cooling system, you might want to open your heat exchanger and look at the cooling tubes. That is a moderately easy job that will tell you how bad the sludge is and if something needs to done about it. We never have changed the thermostat, but we did install a water temperature gauge (with a oil pressure gauge) so we will have some warning if it does fail. By all means, check your fuel filters, and change if dirty. Once again, cheap insurance. We installed a Yanmar/Racor filter near the fuel tank that has a clear bowl on the bottom which makes it easy to check for water. Be sure to use a biocide treatment to keep bugs out of your fuel. If your marina has dirty fuel, buy it at a truck stop or use a baja filter when fueling up. We change the oil last thing every Fall and first thing every Spring. That is the advice of the instructor at the Mack Boring Yanmar Diesel Course, Larry Bishop. I highly recommend his class. I took it in Feb 2000, right after we bought our 1987 Hunter 31. Worth every penny. http://www.mackboring.com/train_mar.php We buy all our parts from our local marina. If you don't have a local marina, you can get parts from Mack Boring at: http://www.mackboring.com/ or Torreson at: http://www.marinedieseldirect.com/yanmar/shopping/engine.php?engine=2GM20F Let me know if you have more questions. I'm no expert, but have kept our 2GM20F running for five years so far. The link shows Yanmar parts.
Heat Xchanger flush
On our boat, I had never drained the coolant in 5 years. After draining the coolant, there was a lot of brown sludge in the top portion of the aluminiun tube in the heat exchanger now visible under the fill cap. I knew I had to clean this stuff. I used a bottle of Prestone super flush (safe for all metals) and followed the instructions on the label. So much brown debris came out when I drained the stuff after a heat / cool cycle that I decide to redo the treatment a second time. It is easy to do but takes a long time as you have to make sure the motor comes to working temperature and then cools down before flusing the stuff out. After 2 Prestone flush and a clear water flush, I refilled the coolant with a mixture of Dexcool antifreeze. This will ensure heat is transfered correctly between fresh and raw water and the motor will not overheat because of this. It will now be part of my routine maintenance every two years.
On our boat, I had never drained the coolant in 5 years. After draining the coolant, there was a lot of brown sludge in the top portion of the aluminiun tube in the heat exchanger now visible under the fill cap. I knew I had to clean this stuff. I used a bottle of Prestone super flush (safe for all metals) and followed the instructions on the label. So much brown debris came out when I drained the stuff after a heat / cool cycle that I decide to redo the treatment a second time. It is easy to do but takes a long time as you have to make sure the motor comes to working temperature and then cools down before flusing the stuff out. After 2 Prestone flush and a clear water flush, I refilled the coolant with a mixture of Dexcool antifreeze. This will ensure heat is transfered correctly between fresh and raw water and the motor will not overheat because of this. It will now be part of my routine maintenance every two years.
thank you for info
I thank you both for the complete and detailed response. I have already added your tips to my maintenance schedule. I appreciate the time you have afforded to me. May you both have a great sailing season.
I thank you both for the complete and detailed response. I have already added your tips to my maintenance schedule. I appreciate the time you have afforded to me. May you both have a great sailing season.
makes sense
Thanks Rip, It makes sense to me. Moisture seems to be one of a boats biggest problems. Thanks again for your other great ideas. Barry B
Thanks Rip, It makes sense to me. Moisture seems to be one of a boats biggest problems. Thanks again for your other great ideas. Barry B
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