Engine

Engine Overhaul

Our engine is a Yanmar 4JH4-TE, a turbocharged 75hp powerplant with about 2500 hours at the time of writing.

Lynne changes the oil, oil filter, fuel filter and impeller once a year. During our haulout in Trinidad last year, we also had the coolant changed. However, the time had come to do some preventative maintenance. Having found a Yanmar specialist, we decided to proceed with getting the turbocharger and raw water pump refurbished, mend a small number of pin holes in the exhaust elbow, replace several hoses and have the heat exchanger removed and thoroughly cleaned.

Our engineer, Rocky, stripped down the parts and took them away to his workshop. The turbo and raw water pump were to be sent away to Guatemala city, but the rest of the work was to be done locally. We also discovered that the engine mount under the exhaust elbow had some surface corrosion from the small leak in the exhaust elbow.


We also replaced a number of hoses and interestingly, some of the stainless steel jubilee clips fell apart as they were loosened off. A bit worrying, so we will increase our spares stock of these as a precaution.


Engine access is not too bad


Leaking exhaust elbow


Turbo air filter with unwanted oil residue


Turbo in pretty good shape, not too coked up


Turbo hose had split


Raw water pump showing signs of leaks


Removed and ready to take away


Raw water pump stripped down


Heat exchanger end on


Heat exchanger core being removed


Emptying out the old coolant


Cooling rods coated with gunk


Surface corrosion on the port rear engine mount

Rocky came back a week later with all the parts and refitted them, and replaced the coolant. We ran the engine up and all was well, a great job at a very competitive price given the amount of work involved.


Raw water pump, turbo and engine mount


Rocky about to refill the cooling system

All we need to do now is change the engine and gearbox oil, filters and we are good to go, at least regarding the engine.

Windlass Update

Finally the windlass gearbox was removed. It took just under 4 hours of gentle persuasion, and great advice from Paul Brown from Quick in the USA.


The gearbox was pried apart and was full of rusty brown oil. The ingress being due to two failed oil seals on the drive shaft. The gunky liquid will have damaged the bearings over time, but we can replace these along with new oil seals and lower gaskets. It will be cheaper than buying a new gearbox, which is basically sound and very well made. We rely on the windlass a great deal as we anchor so much, so it was really important to us to ensure it received some overdue TLC.



Out of focus, but corrosion evident at base of windlass gearbox


Windlass gearbox stripped down


Needs a good clean, and new bearings, oil and seals

Once the gearbox is back together and reinstalled, we will check to make sure it runs as it should. The various seals and bearings that support the gypsy via the drive shaft will also need to be replaced, as most have corroded away over time, this might mean removing the windlass from the deck and doing it on a bench, which will be easier than contorting in the limited access space. One of the good things about having time on our hands.

When you are in a rush, these things tend to get thrown away, but with a little time, effort and expertise, they can be fixed. Hopefully the next update will report a clean bill of health.