Minor engine issues

[Ram]

These are minor issues with my R25 engine installation (Yanmar 125), but it's worth mentioning them because the potential consequences could be pretty serious, and others may want to be aware. I was out on the water the other day, and when I tried to open up the throttle it would only go to about half throttle. I tried several times to back off and take it up again, both in forward and in neutral, but it just seemed to be gated at about half throttle. I had a couple of passengers with me so I just went back in to be safe. I thought perhaps I had a contanimated fuel issue.

Last night I started checking things out, and found out right away that a hose (I believe it is a fuel hose), was hanging down on top of the throttle control, preventing it from opening all the way. I used a tie wrap to secure the hose up higher so it can't interfere with the throttle now. This would have been a much more serious issue if it had been preventing the throttle from closing - which was quite possible.

While I was doing this I noticed that the wiring harness was lying across the back end of the engine (routing from the starboard side of the engine compartment to the port side of the engine). It didn't seem like a good idea for it to be in contact with areas that could get hot, so I pulled it up and inspected it. Sure enough, the wire wrap was burned through as was the insulation on two of the wires. I re-wrapped these and secured the harness to the bracket for the clutch control with another tie wrap, well away from the engine itself. I don't know hopw much current the wires in that harness are carrying, but any electrical short in the engine compartment would be a concern - not to mention the possibility of losing power.

I know the installation of the 125 was something of a one-off (I only know of one other Ranger with a 125), so perhaps these issues are unique to my vessel. It may be worth taking a look at your engine to insure things like this are clear and well-secured.

 

[commander bill]

A photo of your engine configuration would help. I had thought that the 125 hp was the same engine block as the more common 110 hp and my 75 hp (just more & even more turbo boost). We could look at the photo & determine if it applies.

 

[Andrew Custis]

Good information Ram. One thing to remember is this. Your boat was the 11th boat built in 2007. It is coming up on three years old. It is a good idea to check hose clamps as they do loosen overtime. I would reccomend doing this twice a year. The engine configuration is going to be close to the same as the 110hp engines. It is completly different then any cummins or new yanmar engines installed.

 

[Ram]

As requested, here are a few photos. The first one is a general shot of the engine installation. The second shows a detail of the hose that was interfering with the throttle (in the photo I've tied the hose up with a tie wrap, but if you look closely you can see where the outer wall on the bottom of the hose was damaged slightly by being caught on the throttle control). The third photo is a "before" showing the wiring harness across the back of the manifold, and the fourth shows the wiring harness re-routed and tied back to the bracket for the clutch cable.

Yes Andrew, I know things go bad over time (I'm a surveyor, remember?), so this is not a commentary on the original construction. Just a couple of things to watch out for.

 

[rt11002003]

I was looking at that last photo and the stuffing box and bilge caught my eye.

Do you think the boat designers design the size of the bilge and then look for the largest stuffing box they can find to put into it? :lol: I've never seen a bilge area that had any working room around the stuffing box. Looks like that box doesn't require adjusting.

Gene

 

[doke01]

I also have a 125HP, Hull #7, 2007 (Nauti Dream). I noticed the same thing with the wiring harness across the back of the manifold and moved it a but too, just a little differently then you did. I will check out the other hose.

I also had a issue where the big hose that comes off the exhaust elbow was cut a bit too long and was too far up the elbow and getting hot. The hose was actually crumbling on the underside around the clamps near the exhaust elbow due to the heat and, if I waited a bit longer, it would have been compromised and let water into the boat. I discovered it during my spring hose checks (as Andrew suggests) while the boat was still out of the water. I was able to cut a few inches off of the hose and re-clamp it. It now looks exactly like yours so I feel much more comfortable about it.

Doug
Nauti Dream

 

[doke01]

Ram,

By the way, do you get a lot of water in the bilge when it rains? I have been thinking about re-doing the rubber seals to the hatches.

Doug

 

[Ram]

I'm going to move the discussion of water in the bilge to a new topic.

It turns out that the problem with my engine not going to full power was not the restriction in the throttle (although that was still a concern), but a clogged fuel filter. Unlike lter R25's, mine did not come with a primary and secondary fuel filter. I've decided to install a Racor filter as a primary (15 gph), which I've already purchased, but I have a question about the appropriate filter element to use with the Yanmar 125. The unit I got came with a 10 micron filter (R12T), but when I asked for a spare filter element the only thing they had was a 2 micron filter (R12S). There is also a 30 micron filter available for this unit. My understanding is that there is a tradeoff between how much of the filtering is done in the primary and how much in the secondary filter. I'm curious as to what filter element was used in the other R25 Yanmar installations.

 

[j&lgray]

About your Racor fuel filter, the Laurie Ann follows the recommendation of our marine mechanic and uses the 30 micron filter. The 2 micron filter sounds nice but it apparently clogs quicker and therefore may replicate the problem that you had. The Yanmar filter is the final filtering process that brings the fuel to the Yanmar's specs. We used the 10 micron filter until it was no longer available, then we switched to the 30. It all works fine with no issues. We change our fuel filters at the start of every season anyway.

 

[doke01]

Ram

It would be great to see a picture once you get the filter installed. I also only have the one filter and we had the same issue on our trip 2 years ago. I didn't have a spare at the time and it was a lot of fun finding one.

Doug
Nauti Dream

 

[Ram]

I completed the installation of the primary fuel filter last night, all went well except that I mistook the existing fuel hose for 1/4" i.d. instead of the 5/16" that it really is, mainly because it has thin walls and looks more like a 1/4". I just had to get some extra barbs and hose to correct the mistake.

All went well and basically pretty easy once I figured out where to place things. I wound up removing the fresh water overflow tank, using the backing plate for that to mount the fuel filter, and reinstalling the overflow tank on the other side of the engine. I now have to top off the fresh water from outside, but that's a minor issue. Here are a few photos (sorry for the quality, I took them with my Blackberry in poor light, but I think it gets the point across). As you can see, I put a shutoff stopcock on the in side of the fuel filter. Using the elbow barbs helped things line up and fit into this position.

I went with a 10 micron filter in spite of the suggestion to use a 30 micron. I think the Racor filter is easier to replace, and certainly a lot cheaper than the Yanmar filter, so I'm opting to have it trap more of the sediment. We'll see how that works out. There is no clear "better way" on balancing the primary and secondary filter settings.

Closeup of the filter:

Filter installation:

Relocated overflow tank:

Overflow tank from aft engine compartment: