water in battery and engine bilge

[Syversens]

Impeller seems likely

hi Mike, that seems very likely and I'll check that, actually I'll follow any connection from the thruhull to out the side. Since its quite a bit of water I doubt it will be hard to find,just hope it will be an easy fix. Makes me feel better knowing its not leaking while at dock though...

 

[Syversens]

found the leak

ok, I found the leak and its not a small one, can't believe I missed it before. When running the engine there is water shooting out from a weld. My live aboard neighbor said it was the exhaust where the coolant mixes with exhaust. I would describe it as follows (pardon the non technical language):a metal fitting that is bolted on the engine, high up, has one thin hose coming from the top and merging into this metal fitting. a big hose comes out and goes into a plastic tank right in front of the fuel tank. the leak is in the weld on the metal fitting (spraying thru many little weld failures), not where the bots are but right behind it where the pipe is welded to the plate.I'll call the local Yanmar on monday but my neighbor said it was a easy fix and definately a do it yourselfer job. I spent all day replacing waste hoses and toilet so I feel pretty confident I'll get this done myself.

 

[Blue Heeler]

Exhaust Mixing Elbow

By the sound of it, that's what it is. They're usually a one-piece iron casting and the salt water corrodes them from the inside out. You should be able to buy a replacement elbow from Yanmar for around US$175 and fit it yourself. I've done a few and it is a relatively easy job, depending on accessibility.FYI, the small hose is where cooling water flows into the exhaust elbow after it's been pumped through your engine and heat exchanger. The large hose is essentially your engines exhaust pipe and the plastic tank in front of your fuel tank is actually a muffler.Good luck with the repair.Cheers

 

[Mike]

Water leak

Gaute, glad to hear you found the problem. As Blue Heeler said it should be a job you can do yourself. Hope all went well with the toliet repairs. I've replaced the waste hose from the toilet to the holding tank twice and it wasn't fun. The first time it was difficult removing the original hose as it was a tight fit through the cabinet. The second time was because I replaced it with an off brand odor resistent hose and had to replace it a short time later since the odor permeated it quickly.Mike

 

[Mike]

Pump pressure

Gaute, nice picture, it makes it easy to see why it's leaking. Not sure how much room you have to work but it doesn't look too bad of a job. At least it's not your prop shaft seal. The intake thru hull for the toilet has to be open or the pump can't draw any water in and therefore locks up. As far as the outlet thru hull is concerned it can be closed and the pump will work fine as long as the Y valve is directed to the holding tank. If the Y valve is open to the thru hull and the thru hull is closed the pump will not be able to push anything and will lock up. Here on Chesapeake Bay you cannot dump overboard and are required to keep the Y valve locked in the tank position. I keep the outlet thru hull closed all the time and only open the intake to the toilet when we're on board. As far as the hose from the Y valve to the tank, I haven't replaced mine yet. Waste doesn't sit in it due to it's postion relative to the tank and toilet. I believe this is why it still remains odor free. Unless it has an odor I would leave it for later as it looks like it will be rather difficult to replace.Good luckMike

 

[Syversens]

blocked hose somewhere

There is plenty space to get to the fix so I'm doing that myself...I must have a blocked hose somewhere then (sigh), or atleast something of that nature. The weird thing is that it doesnt take long to build enough pressure to get the pump to get completely locked in up position. This to me seems like the Y valve is stuck in the over board position. I will test some more on this, probably with the outside cap off and try taking the various hoses off but we wont use this any time soon anyways....On the good side with the amount of pressure in the hose from the toilet to the Y valve (and out) I feel pretty confident my hose fix will not leak.... its a good pressure test

 

[Mike]

Stcuk pump

I doubt you have blockage. It's probably just how you have the thru hulls and Y valve set. If you open all the thru hulls associated with the toilet you should be able to pump water through. Just make sure the Y valve is set to one side or the other. If it's in between it will block all water from exiting the toilet and give you the same symptoms. When done set the Y valveso your waste goes into the tank then wire tie it in that position using the hole in the valve handle to do so. Then close the thru hull that would allow you to pump overboard. With the water intake open and the Y valve directing waste to the tank it should pump just fine. Let me know how you make out.

 

[Stan]

Waste tank vent

It sounds like y'all have the issue well in hand. Whileyou're doing all that work, be sure and check the vent linefrom the holding tank is clear. If you pumping into the tankand the small vent line is blocked you'll get back pressure onthe pump and this could push your pump handle up.

 

[Syversens]

got the toilet figure out and parts for the engine

Got the toilet figured out, I didnt turn the Y valve over enough so I'm guessing it got stuck in closed. Did the extra effort on a push and it came over and working fine. Also got a part from the local Yanmar store to fix the exhaust, about $160 and easy to do myself this weekend.Also got tip from the yanmar store on getting some spare parts for the engine, like impeller, the little belt for the impeller and some filter. They said these parts were hard to find.... I hesitated and wanted to do more reseach and found a nice kit online but couldnt order as Yanmar has restricted sales across their "zones". Not a problem since the local dealer is super friendly, but I do hope they have this kit.

 

[Mike]

That's good news

Gaute by the time your done you'll know so much more about your boat which is always a good thing. Good luck with the engine repair.Mike

 

[Syversens]

thanks Mike couldnt do it without this forum

All the replies and experience is really invaluable to me as a inexperience boatowner.... I hope they are searchable so others who may have same questions will know too. thanks again for all repliesGaute

 

[Syversens]

so... fix didnt go as planned

tried putting on the exhaust elbow and when I took the old off there were quite a bit of "residue" where the exhaust comes out. I'm going to have a pro look at it and make sure I'm not just patching up something that can get bigger. I could also not identify the gasket, though it felt like one I think it had merged with the engine with this "residue" as glue and I didnt want to start scraping in fear of doing something wrong. I still havent received the galvanic isolator so when I have all parts I'll have a pro install all, hopefully not at a extreme high cost but just high

 

[Mike]

Residue

Did the residue scrape off at all? What I'm guessing you saw as residue is probably a combination of old gasket, gasket sealer/compound and just a funky build up of nasty water and who knows what else mixed in. I would try scraping away at it, gently at first. Unless you see obvious deteriation of metal I'd clean it up myself. Start with a scraper, then work with a medium to course sand paper and finish up with a finer paper to smooth out the surface area where you'll mount the new housing. If you have a dremel tool and have the wheels for doing the job it might make it easier. Just don't over do the heavy grinding with it. No doubt it'll be a messy job but I can't forsee a paid mechanic doing it too differently.

 

[Syversens]

maybe I should give it a go again....

sounds interesting mike, I was thinking the same thing... I was thinking shouldnt really be able to damage the metal unless I'm using a grinder. Now you say gasket sealer/compound, the place I bought this stuff didnt say anything about a sealer, is that necessary ? Is there an attachment to a dremel that would not grind the metal but all the soft stuff ? I did try peeling it off and it definately felt like the new gasket, specially the blank texture on the front side... however I didnt see where the gasket was joined thinking it was either there or really sealed together though the exhaust elbow came off real easy.Oh, and found that duct tape is great way to grab hold of nuts and tools that might easily fall under the engine.

 

[Mike]

Giving it another try

Not sure if there is gasket sealer in there or not. If it came apart easily there probably wasn't any. Depending on the application it's sometimes recommended to apply some to help seal the joint. I would check with the local dealer for their recommendation. As far as the dremel tool is concerned there is a small wire brush wheel that I would think would do a good job. Check at your local Lowes or Home Depot they usally have all the goodies for them. I'd still start with a putty knife and scrape off what you can only using the dremel for the tougher parts. Just use some fine sand paper or emery cloth to leave as smooth a surface as possible which should ensure a tight seal. PS if you use the dremel wear eye protection because the junk will really fly. Good luck.

 

[catwithhat]

a vote for the impeller

...your situation is just as was mine and I found the leak to be the impeller...run the engine and watch for water leaking from the impeller area...

 

[Syversens]

good suggestion

thanks william, I will check that too. I got some spare parts on back order but found a depo of 4 impellers in the nav station seat... what a goldmine ) the engine bilge is now super clean and I'll spot any leak immediately. Still havent decided whether to fix the exhaust elbow myself but got a rust remover attachment to my dremel, just needs some reassurance I won't grind away on the engine :/

 

[Mike]

Grind away on the old part first

Gaute, before you start grinding on the engine remove the old elbow and practice on it. This way you'll get the feel for how much and how long to apply pressure with the wheel.Good luckMike