Routine Service - R21-EC (long)

abcandjrc

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 10, 2010
Messages
363
Fluid Motion Model
C-24 C SE
Hull Identification Number
FMLT2160D707
Vessel Name
Little Lady (2007)
We bought Little Lady about a month ago. She is a 2007 R21-EC with a Yanmar 3YM30. We did the service on the trailer in our driveway. The only thing I would do differently is that I would drain the marine gear lube at a launch site immediately after use. That way the oil would be hotter and any solids might be in suspension a bit better. To prevent damaging the shaft packing I did not run the propshaft and not much heat transfers to the marine gear in 15 minutes of idle.

I had already made a water tank by installing an old thru-hull fitting in the side of a square plastic pail (neighbor has 7 cats, so kitty-litter pails galore). I wanted to make sure the hose could not come out of the bucket while working, nor suck itself to the bottom and block the water flow. I used 3/4” hose and installed a female hose connector on the other end. (A thought: I would bet they use a male fitting in the Tee just to keep people from easily hooking up a garden hose and risking engine trouble.) During the warm-up Janice kept an eye on the water level in the bucket and adjusted the nozzle on a garden hose to keep up.

I ran the engine for about 15 minutes and then siphoned out the oil. Yanmar runs the dipstick tubes on most of their marine engines all the way to the bottom of the pan. That makes it possible to remove essentially all the oil using it as the siphon instead of snaking a smaller tube with less capacity down the dipstick tube. I used a small hand pump I bought from NAPA. Part # BK 7511023

http://www.napaonline.com/Search/Detail ... 0006392786

I have used similar pumps with dismal results. One big advantage of this pump is that the rubber ends are captive. The previous pumps I have used had slip-on ends which always slipped-off in the middle of the job, and leaked even when in place. I used a 2-inch length of 5/8” hose over the input end and pressed it fully down over the dipstick tube. To reduce the mess of cleaning up yet another hose I discharged the oil directly into an old 5 quart oil container which my wife held in place as I pumped. It did not take long to get the bulk of the oil out.

Changing the filter has always been messy so this time I tried something different. First, I used a sharp punch to make a small hole in the top end of the filter. Then I put a plastic bag over the filter and turned that hole to the downside. Then I punched another hole in what was now the top end. The bulk of the oil ran out into the baggie. This is the neatest I have ever managed it. Of course there is always a residual in the housing, but a few paper towels placed under it as I took off the filter pretty much contained it.

I let the engine sit for a few minutes while I pumped the oil out of the marine gear. For this I used about half of one of the tubes that came with the NAPA pump in the input end and pumped directly into a 1 litre bottle so I could later measure the amount. I had seen comments that it was difficult to get the oil out. I got 10 ounces out, essentially the 0.3 litre capacity. As I mentioned earlier, it is too bad the oil was not hot and stirred up a bit, but ……

By then I figured as much oil in the engine would have settled as ever would. I pumped it again, and netted just a little over 3 quarts total from the engine, actually slightly more than the spec, so the pump and dipstick tube did the job quite well.

I ran the engine for a few minutes and then checked the oil level and topped it up.

Next, I changed the fuel filter. Another baggie helps contain the small leakage that is inevitable there. I exhausted the air using the vent screw and the hand pump and started the engine. It stumbled and stalled twice, but by the third start, it ran continuously with no problems. It started with no unusual cranking-time each time, but I assume small amounts of residual air progressively worked its way through the injectors until they all cleared.

Finally I removed the hose from the thru-hull in the bucket and stuck it in a container of 30/70 antifreeze mix. We get an occasional freeze here, but the low 20s is a quite-rare event. Janice watched the exhaust and green showed up after about 2 litres were siphoned out of the container.

Total elapsed time, including prep, engine warm-up, and most of the cleanup was about 2 hours.
 
Thanks for a very thorough and detailed lesson in engine service "on the hard". Since I will be doing the same from now on, I read every word with interest. The only part of the process that I'm not as familiar with is bleeding the fuel system after replacing the filter. Things like "vent screw & hand pump" are nowhere to be found in Yanmar's documentation. Can you possibly expand on these two items for me. I'm not sure where to look for them. Thanks, Alex.
 
It is actually pretty simple. It might have been better if I had said "bleed screw" instead of "vent screw". Too much typing, not enough proof reading.

There is a description of the steps in the YM Series Operation Manual if you have one. It is on Page 31, Paragraph 3.3.2(4) in ours. If you don't have a manual you can download and view and/or save a copy at:

http://www.yanmarmarine.com/theme/yanma ... 1JAN09.pdf

The procedure in that version has a good diagram and begins on page 26.

Basically, after replacing the filter and snugging up the filter housing ring, look on the top of the filter housing. There is a small bolt there with a Philips-head slot in it. You loosen that a turn or so, then pump fuel into the housing by moving the lever on the after side of the fuel pump up and down. Air will first come out around the bolt, and with enough strokes fuel will start to come out. You want to be able to catch that and clean up with a paper towel or such. When only fuel with no air comes out, close the bolt snuggly. That should be all you need to do to get back in business.

You will note that after changing the oil I started the engine before changing the fuel filter. That was to assure that if any extra cranking was required to get the engine running again after changing the fuel filter there would be plenty of lubrication available. Like in my case, you may have to do several re-starts, but if you have gotten a good flow of fuel with no air past the bolt, the engine should start easily for each. If you must crank for a longer time than normal, stop and try bleeding the air out of the filter again.
 
Another thing I should have noted, but which has had a lot of play on the forum lately, is that the seacock should be closed all during the procedure when running the engine and feeding water, and later antifreeze, into the raw water system.

When I had completed the entire job I opened the seacock and removed the sea-strainer cover to drain any water that went in that direction which might not be the full-strength of the antifreeze mixture. That should preclude either of those freezing. One could open the seacock and pour antifreeze into the Tee fitting until antifreeze came out of the seacock, but that seemed unnecessary in general, and especially in our relatively moderate winters.

Maybe some Fargo-area folks could weigh in on that.
 
The only issue I have with your raw water cooling system winterizing procedure is that it sounds as if you you have used standard Ethylene Glycol antifreeze/coolant to winterize the raw water side of the cooling system. Ethylene Glycol is toxic to the environment and potentially lethal to any pets or children that might come into contact with this product after it has been discharged by the exhaust system, especially if it is ingested. Ethylene Glycol tastes sweet and accidental poisonings as a result are a regular occurrence.

Propylene Glycol Antifreeze, or what is commonly referred to as RV Antifreeze is the preferred and safest product for winterizing the raw water system on marine engines as well as the potable water water systems on boats, RV's and campers, as it is considered non-toxic. It is also used in vacation home water systems for places that don't get used over the winter but are in climates where freezing temperatures are an issue. This product provides protection to -50 degrees Fahrenheit and is available at your local big box store like Home Depot, Lowe's or Wally World. You can also find it at most local hardware stores or auto supply houses or online http://www.amazon.com/Camco-FREEZEBAN-N ... 107&sr=8-4

RV Antifreeze comes packaged ready for use, right from the bottle, there is no need to dilute with water before performing any winterizing procedures.

Since you have already performed your winterizing procedure for this season I suppose it is a moot point but if there is any residual antifreeze that was discharged on the ground, do the environment and any kids or pets a favor and make sure you hose it down with fresh water to dilute it. Then at the end of the next boating season buy the RV Antifreeze to winterize your engine.

For anyone who is reading this that has not yet winterized their boat please do not use standard automotive radiator Ethylene Glycol Antifreeze/Coolant in the raw water side of the cooling system. Use only RV Antifreeze (Propylene Glycol) in the raw water side of the cooling system and exclusively in your potable water systems.

Eric
 
tuggertoy: Good and valid point. I had considered some of the points you make but you have convinced me that I did not think it out far enough.

I had a partial container of antifreeze which had been left at this house when we bought it 8 years ago that was too dated for coolant use and wanted to use it up. The trailer sits in an extension of our driveway surfaced in crushed stone so I knew I could leave no puddles of antifreeze. And I know that the persistence of ethylene glycol is short once in the ground or in open air. But all-in-all not that good an idea anyway.
 
abcandjrc,

I appreciate your reply and understand your reasoning behind your decision to use the old Ethylene Glycol this time around. While it is true that this product will break down in the environment over a reasonably short period of time, and the risk of unintentional poisoning under your particular circumstances was low, it is important to understand that people reading this thread may be lead to believe that the use of Ethylene Glycol is the generally accepted method of winterizing their systems.

The other concern, that you need to consider is that upon launching your boat next season you may still have some Ethylene Glycol in the exhaust system which will then be discharged into whatever waterway you are navigating at that time.

As I stated earlier, be safe and be courteous to the environment - stick to RV Antifreeze (Propylene Glycol).

Eric
 
A very timely topic for me as I am trying to figure out which antifreeze to use. I want to use the RV stuff but where I live all the jugs quite clearly say on the front that it is for plastic pipes only. For this reason I have not used it yet as I am not sure if it is safe to run through the raw water side. It sounds through this forum though that it is. Does anyone know for sure that RV won't hurt anything. I don't want to use the auto antifreeze due to the risks and the fact that we have 2 cats. If a cat dies, I walk the plank.

Dave
 
I don't know the answer either, but I was cautioned to use a certain blend of coolant that was formulated for the aluminum in these engines. Can anyone expand on this?
 
The factories winterizing instructions on the TugNuts home page says to use RV antifreeze for everything. That is, for everything except the engine closed circuit cooling. For the engine, you need to use Yanmar YG-30, or Texaco Long Life Coolant 7997 or 7998, or Havoline Extended Life 7994.

The RV antifreeze I bought at Walmart says it is compatible for all metal and plastic components. The brand name is Winter-EEZ.
 
We are a boat yard in Salem MA and use the RV type on all our engine/boat systems winterizing and have for over 15 years. Always use the mfg recommended antifreeze for the engine cooling system.
Cheers,
Peter
 
I change the oil on my 21EC while it is on the traier and run the engine to warm the oil. In a through review of routine service, abcandjrc suggests that hooking a garden hose direcly to the T-connection on the Yanmar can cause damage and discribes the use of a bucket of water. Is this the accepted procedure ... that is, to not hook up a hose directly to the T?.
 
If your city water pressure is too high use a pressure reducer. They make a cheap plastic one for RVs. Or a more expensive bronze one that is used in household plumbing would be better.

My reducer lowers the pressure from over 100 psi to 25 psi.

I dont think the bucket is necessary. The danger is over filling the exhaust system and water backing up into the engine. I simply crank the engine until it starts and then turn the water on and I turn the water off before I turn the engine off.
 
gonzo, Thanks for the info.
 
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