Ranger Tug Dealer Network

bigdealsam

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 30, 2016
Messages
76
Fluid Motion Model
C-26
Vessel Name
Almost Heaven
One of the real challenges of ownership in my area is finding high quality service. I am in the Charlotte NC area and it appears that our nearest dealer is in MD. Although several locals claim to provide top quality service NONE are Ranger Tug authorized. I'm wondering how others handle this situation.
 
What year is your tug and what engine does it have?

That will determine answer.
 
Well, I'm guessing it's out of warranty, so for Yanmar service and parts, check out the Yanmar Dealer Locator

Yanmar will only let their authorized dealers sell parts in only the states that are in their territory. A dealer in WA may not be able to sell to a customer in FL and vice versa.

Some Yanmar dealers/service centers are also full service yacht centers, with craftsmen and journeyman service staff who can repair, fix or fabricate solutions for most boats and yachts.

I have found Lamb's Yacht Center in Jacksonville, FL to be a good source for Yanmar service and parts, and a good crew of craftsmen to handle any job.

Could a local shop do some of the repairs? Maybe.

Some or most Ranger Dealers are not Yanmar certified and I have had one dealer actually refuse to touch the Yanmar engine.

As many of the components on the tugs are sub-systems from different manufacturers, some shops may not be able to work with all systems at once. It just might be worth your while to shop for a good all-around boat service center on the coast.

Good Luck!
 
I totally agree with Bill. Find a good Yanmar dealer with a tech or two that knows Yanmar engines inside out and stick with them. Both of the engine issues we have had with our Yanmar 4BY2 were due to mechanic caused problems during routine maintenance. That’s a good reason to do as much of the maintenance as possible yourself. Our Journey is currently in the shop getting an oil leak associated with the “new” turbo hose (that replaced the old recalled turbo hose) because the shop that did the replacement 5-6 years ago did it really, really wrong. We have been fortunate that the mechanics errors did not cause serious engine damage. They just messed up our trip plans.
If we ever find a Yanmar shop that can consistently get routine maintenance done right on the first try they will have a customer for life. Or for at least as long as we own a R-25 Classic with the 4BY2!
 
scross":1plt8bl0 said:
I totally agree with Bill. Find a good Yanmar dealer with a tech or two that knows Yanmar engines inside out and stick with them. Both of the engine issues we have had with our Yanmar 4BY2 were due to mechanic caused problems during routine maintenance. That’s a good reason to do as much of the maintenance as possible yourself. Our Journey is currently in the shop getting an oil leak associated with the “new” turbo hose (that replaced the old recalled turbo hose) because the shop that did the replacement 5-6 years ago did it really, really wrong. We have been fortunate that the mechanics errors did not cause serious engine damage. They just messed up our trip plans.
If we ever find a Yanmar shop that can consistently get routine maintenance done right on the first try they will have a customer for life. Or for at least as long as we own a R-25 Classic with the 4BY2!

I never heard of a Service bulletin on the turbo hose. Do you have a copy of it or can you provide a more thorough explanation as to which hose and what the issue was?
 
YANMAR 4BY2 SERVICE BULLETIN
Postby Andrew Custis on Mon May 21, 2012 5:35 pm

This Yanmar service bulletin has just been released for all owners with a 4BY2-150 and 4BY2-180. If your engine falls into this category, please contact your closest Yanmar servicing dealer to arrange repair of this oil line as soon as possible. I have also attached the Yanmar dealer list in this post.

Yanman Oil Line Service Bulletin.pdf
(372.41 KiB) Downloaded 1643 times


"Yanmar has posted a hull number break to help identify the oil lines in question. I will try and explain this in a little more detail. If you have any questions at all, please feel free to contact us at (253)839-5213 and we will be happy to assist.

YanmarMarineDealers_20090812(1).xlsx
(268.42 KiB) Downloaded 70191 times


CUTWATER 26 MODELS WITH YANMAR 4BY2-180

RANGER TUG 27 (USFMLT2711-2011) - (USFMLT2711-2012)

RANGER TUG 25SC (USFMLT2511-2010) - (USFMLT2501-2011)

RANGER R25 CLASSIC WITH YANMAR 4BY2-150 ENGINES"

Home » Forum index ‹ Ranger Tugs Factory Support ‹ Ranger Factory Technical Bulletins
 
Knotflying,
The original Yanmar oil line had angled metal tube sections which failed on a couple of boats with catastrophic engine oil loss. The replacement hose was flexible reinforced rubber the entire length. When the prior owner had the recall work done, the banjo fitting that connects hose to engine block was installed incorrectly. The washers were not installed in the proper sequence and the banjo fitting was over tightened stripping the female threads on the engine side. I have no idea exactly when or were this bad “repair” was done. Took at least 300 engine hours to fail to the point of a serious oil leak. No damage to the engine itself, just a big mess in the bilge, a ruined trip and an expensive repair bill to get it fixed.
 
bigdealsam":25b1uf0k said:
One of the real challenges of ownership in my area is finding high quality service. I am in the Charlotte NC area and it appears that our nearest dealer is in MD. Although several locals claim to provide top quality service NONE are Ranger Tug authorized. I'm wondering how others handle this situation.

Did you call Ranger Tug and ask them if they have any shops that they work with in NC?
 
scross":hwgsjxi3 said:
Knotflying,
The original Yanmar oil line had angled metal tube sections which failed on a couple of boats with catastrophic engine oil loss. The replacement hose was flexible reinforced rubber the entire length. When the prior owner had the recall work done, the banjo fitting that connects hose to engine block was installed incorrectly. The washers were not installed in the proper sequence and the banjo fitting was over tightened stripping the female threads on the engine side. I have no idea exactly when or were this bad “repair” was done. Took at least 300 engine hours to fail to the point of a serious oil leak. No damage to the engine itself, just a big mess in the bilge, a ruined trip and an expensive repair bill to get it fixed.

Got it. I did that service a while back. When he said Turbo hose I thought it was something different.
 
"One of the real challenges of ownership in my area is finding high quality service. I am in the Charlotte NC area and it appears that our nearest dealer is in MD. Although several locals claim to provide top quality service NONE are Ranger Tug authorized. I'm wondering how others handle this situation."

I'm in a similar situation. The closest Ranger authorized dealer is so far away I don't even know which one may be closest (I knew this before buying). It would be nice if one was close by, but it really only matters for warranty work - and even then Ranger may work with you and a more local repair facility for warranty repairs.

If you think about it, the only things "Ranger" on your Ranger Tug is the hull, wiring and plumbing design and installation, and the interior (wood, cushions and coverings), etc. All systems are designed and built by someone else (Yanmar, Dometic, Garmin, Raritan, etc, etc) and just installed by Ranger. So, these systems are not Ranger specific anyway - any qualified technician is as good (or bad) as a Ranger authorized facility. Yes, there would be a small learning curve to determine wire routing, for example - but even then, Ranger does a good job at labeling their wires.

So what I'm getting at is, think of your boat in terms of it's systems. The big one will be if you need Yanmar engine work, you may have to find a local Yanmar authorized repair facility. If you need A/C work, then go to the local authorized Dometic repair facility. Garman? - same thing. The only thing you miss out on (and it may not be a bad thing) is the convenience of a "one stop shop". You'll probably find that you need only a few good shops in your area that each are know to have a specialties in. Or you may find that one shop that you like who really can do it all.

So far, I've done all of my troubleshooting and repair work myself, except I did take my boat to an authorized Volvo dealer for its first maintenance, just to get it on record for any future warranty purposes. They had access to Volvo's computer system which I could not get access to.
 
This is an older thread, but I will give it a try. What are your opinions about replacing the original hard tubing oil pressure sensing line with a replacement flexible line issued per a technical bulletin. Is it worth the effort? I saw one response where the repair was made, and it was frogged up and created a problem.
Darren
 
I would replace the line. Failure of the hard tube is catastrophic. You will lose all your oil immediately and blow the engine. Get the actual replacement hoses. They are shielded as well. You need long arms. The bottom fitting is a couple of banjo fittings, I suggest that you hold them together with a sewing thread. Once you get the bolt threaded, slip the thread out. You may need a mirror as well to see where you are going, but then most of it is by feel.
 
Back
Top