R25 Problem with fuel filter gasket blowing!

[briandrew]

Yesterday I was heading out for the long weekend and 1/2 hour out of port my engine alarm went off warning me to check my engine. After throttling down and putting it in neutral I opened the engine hatch and was instantly sprayed with diesel gushing up from the engine. After shutting off the engine I was able to determine that the fuel filter gasket had been blown and diesel was everywhere, quite a mess.

I have a Yanmar 4BY2 150hp turbo engine and it was the primary Yanmar diesel filter on the engine that blew it's gasket. This filter was just changed 23 hours ago by a qualified marine mechanic and yet somehow the filter must have loosened just enough to blow its gasket. After getting towed in and have the mechanic look at it he was quite perplexed and wondered if this was a design flaw and whether other Yanmar 4BY2 engine owners have experienced the same problem? Naturally he checked to confirm the correct filter had been used and that there were no visible flaws in the mounting head that the filter attaches too. As you can imagine my confidence in going on long trips has been somewhat dampened. If anyone else has experience a similar problem I would love to hear or talk with you.

Thanks, Andrew

 

[jroyle]

Same thing happened to me. Called my mechanic and he replaced the fuel filter with a new one (free) and sent the defective one back to Yanmar. Apparently they have/had a quality control problem with their filters. Made quite a mess in the engine compartment.

 

[Capt. Wanabe]

Yep. Happened 2 years ago with the group Desolation Sound trip. We have an R27 (4BY2 180) that had just been serviced (by a certified Yanmar mechanic) before we left on the cruise. We discovered the bilge was full of pink stuff the morning of the third day when I did the "pre-flight" check. Andrew had an extra filter and helped with the change. Probably just refitting the O-ring would have fixed it but with the other filter available Andrew thought that would be a safer plan. Changing the filter was not the hardest part of the mishap. Cleaning all of the fuel from the bilge and then finding someone who would dispose of it legally was a trick. We finally found a kind mechanic at the Pilot House Marina area who helped us out.

The take home message for me from that was the following: The O-ring seal is easily folded or wrinkled when the filter is installed so not only should the seal be checked carefully after the filter change but should be checked for several days afterward. Up to this point I would not call this an engineering failure as much as just not being careful. That could change if many others had the same problem. So now I carry an extra filter AND a clean up kit that includes absorbent pads/pillows for fuel spills. Apparently, any fuel spill that "leaves a sheen" on the water is a reportable event to the USCG. That would be only a few drops so ALL of the fuel must be recovered from the bilge and bilge pump and surrounding water if any escapes. Seems a little excessive to me but that is what I have read.
Frank

 

[LADYBUG TOO]

We have had the same issue. I now tighten the heck out of the filter and have not had any leakage since. The booster pressure is in the neighborhood of 70 PSI so a tight seal is a must. We carry two spares for the primary, engine filter and the generator. A load of crappy fuel can really be a headache.

Pat
Ladybug, Too

 

[doke01]

I went to a Yanmar class recently and they said that the filters now have the gasket crimped in and those are the ones you should use now.

 

[nzfisher]

I check my engine oil, coolant, strainer every time before I go out. Recently I noticed the odor of diesel when opening the engine hatch. I steadily got worse so I started putting blue tape on things to see if I could trace a leak. Eventually it looked like there was a slow leak/drip from the primary fuel filter. I tightened it up as that seemed like a reasonable fix. Did anyone notice this before their filter failed? Does anyone else have any related experience to this problem? Starting to be a little paranoid as I have had more than my share of issues with the Yanmar power plant.