Yanmar Diesel Hours, how many is too many?

[Ryan Blocker]

I bought my 43' hunter with a 50 HP Yanmar with 730 hours about 3 and a half years ago. I have used the heck out of it. I sell a lot and still rack up the hours on the diesel. I currently have 1,550 hours on it. I change my oil every 50 or so hours, warm it up properly, don't run it much not under a load, and cruise at 2500 RPMs( Wide open is about 3800 RPMs). It currently runs excellent and I have very little rust or corrosion. How many hours should the engine last without any major work? How many hours to do all have on yours?

Thanks
Ryan

 

[Ross]

Re: Yanmar Diesel Hours, How may is too many?

I have seen farm tractors that run in very dusty conditions and get fifty hours per week go past 4000 hours with no major work, just oil and filter changes on rainy days when they can't work the fields. Sometimes 200 to 300 hours between oil changes.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Re: Yanmar Diesel Hours, How may is too many?

You should be able to get 5000 or much more if taken care of properly.

 

[Alan]

Re: Yanmar Diesel Hours, How may is too many?

Filter and fluid changes (all fluids not just motor oil) are key to longevity. Valve adjustments follow close behind. My engine is 17 years old as is just nicely broken in. Given proper care I expect it to last another 17 before I even think about a teardown.

 

[agaliha]

Re: Yanmar Diesel Hours, How may is too many?

My mechanic says a diesel will easily go 10,000 hours with decent maintenance.
Agaliha

 

[Steve Dion]

Re: Yanmar Diesel Hours, How may is too many?

Yanmar rates these engine at 10,000-12,000 hrs. Keep taking care of it and it may out live you!

 

[njsail]

I've seen a yanmar with 10,000+ hrs still running

A number of years ago we were attending a boat show either in RI or MD and there was a beautiful and classic Bill Garden Sea Wolf. She was for sale but what I remember most is the engine had 10,000 hours on it. The guys from the Yanmar booth all came over to see an engine still running with over 10k hrs on it. It must not be a common occurrence if the yanmar guys were all interested. Most boat engines don't make it that far because people just don't take care of their engines like they should. Our marina has a solid business replacing engines.

Take care of it and it will probably outlast you.

 

[RichH]

Re: Yanmar Diesel Hours, How may is too many?

5,000 hours on a properly maintained Yanmar .... still a 'puppy'
10,000 hours seems to be the upper limit on most Yanmars.

Of course you do have to send the injectors out for recalibration/rebuild about every 2000 hrs. and the Injector pump out at 5000 hrs. if you want a 'perfect' engine.

 

[Ray Bowles]

We had over 5000 hours on the same engine and she was good for a lot more. What kills marine diesels is short trips or short running times where the engine never gets hot enough to evaporate the moisture out of the crankcase and upper parts. Also long times between uses doesn't help. Finally, running under very lite loads as in charging up batteries causes the motor to carbon up and this shortens life time.
If you can't avoid the 3 items mentioned above then change the oil and filter more often and only when hot. Additionally, yearly valve adjustments also helps. You should keep track of the valve lash values by cyclinder and valve for reference of engine changes on the upper end over time.
Ray

 

[Deadline]

Why so few at 10,000 hours

Operator drops dead before the engine does.

 

[geoffschultz]

I have 4200 hours on a 3JH2-TBE and it runs great.

-- Geoff

 

[Tom Glew]

I have a 1998 Beneteau Oceanis 46 with 6700 hours on the Yanmar 4JH2E. It still runs like new. Change the oil and filter frequently, run it 80% max. of full speed and it will last for years.

 

[BarryL]

Hey,

I have about 3750 hours on the Universal M25 in my 1986 O'day 35. I have almost all the records (I bought the boat in 2006) and no major work has ever been done. This past spring I changed the raw water pump, fresh water pump, cleaned the heat exchanger, new thermostat, and that's about it. The engine looks good but there is some rust on the bottom of the block. I bet that in a salt water environment that rust and lack of maintenance kills more motors than anything else.

My engine runs like a top and uses no oil. It makes good power and easily drives my boat at over 6 kts (when the bottom and prop are clean). THis past summer I went on an 80 nm trip to Block Island. The weather was not favorable so we motored the entire way there (with wind on the nose and uncomfortable seas). Again, the engine never skipped a beat and worked great.

The engine does smoke a little when under high loads. I'm thinking of having a mechanic check the fuel injectors next year.

These engines are pretty tough - I had some cooling issues this year and ran the engine for 15 minutes with the temp gauge pegged hot. I was afraid I might have cooked something, but no damage was done.

I put 50 - 100 hours a year on the engine, so I figure that if I can get to 5000 hours I will be in great shape (I doubt I'll have the boat that long).

Barry

 

[Stu Jackson]

M25 Engine Info

Barry, we have the same engine, same year. Don't know if you're aware of it, but our C34 website has a great deal of information on our tech wiki: http://www.c34.org/wiki/index.php?title=Diesel_Engine

Our Critical Upgrades has a lot of engine information, too: http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,5078.0.html

 

[Ryan Blocker]

Re: M25 Engine Info

Thanks for the info. Is adjusting the valves a big deal, Can I do it myself?

 

[BOOMIE]

I bought my 43' hunter with a 50 HP Yanmar with 730 hours about 3 and a half years ago. I have used the heck out of it. I sell a lot and still rack up the hours on the diesel. I currently have 1,550 hours on it. I change my oil every 50 or so hours, warm it up properly, don't run it much not under a load, and cruise at 2500 RPMs( Wide open is about 3800 RPMs). It currently runs excellent and I have very little rust or corrosion. How many hours should the engine last without any major work? How many hours to do all have on yours?

Thanks
Ryan

HI-
I have a Sabre with Volvo Diesel. Remember: FILTERS, FILTERS, FILTERS. Only suprise I had was an eaten thru exhauset riser. Salwater ate thru the Cast Iron after some time. The Volvo has a heat exchanger. If your boat is sea water cooled-Cut times in HALF.
Best,
Jim

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

Thanks for the info. Is adjusting the valves a big deal, Can I do it myself?

Get a hold of the service manual for the engine as it contains step-by-step directions and specs. Very simple to do but make sure you follow the steps precisely.

 

[txtowman]

I have a honda eu2000i generator(gas) with 3750 hours on it and expect it to outlast the energizer bunny.

Also have 4 diesel tractors with 7000 to 14000 hours with no major problems. The oldest one smokes when you start it but clears up in a couple minutes.

 

[Skipper]

Perspective:
My '01 Volvo 4 cylinder turbo has 122,000 miles on it. According to the car's computer, lifetime average speed is 38mph. That's over 3,200 hours and still running strong. A friend's Lexus V-6 just gave up on the freeway after 249,000 miles, which might be (if average speeds are similar) around 6,500 hours. And these are gas engines. Diesels will go much longer. Also, the Lexus is owned by a lady who serviced the car sporatically. I know that car and boat engine loads are very different, but then boat engines are generally beefed up because of this.