Yanmar 4BY2-150/180 Engine zincs

[baz]

Back in 2009 sometime the Yanmar engine zincs obtained from the RangerTug parts Dept were priced at $38.70 each. These were full replacement zincs that included the Hex bolt and integral pencil zinc.

FYI... Today, RangerTugs price these at $23.69... but their online parts Excel spreadsheet at http://www.tugnuts.com/viewtopic.php?p=6676#p6676 dated May 2012 still shows $38.70 each.

There are less expensive options if you choose to go to alternatives. For example, you can buy just the threaded pencil zinc for $3.80 from BoatZincs.com (120650-13420 Yanmar 120650-13420-ZINC). This requires you remove the engine zinc bolt and remove any zinc residue and clean up the internal threads in the bolt head. Then you can screw in these $3.80 pencil zincs and you're done. BoatZincs.com also sells the complete zinc for $12.74 that includes a new bolt, copper washer and the pencil zinc is already installed into the bolt head. I've researched this and the BoatZinc.com Yanmar engine zinc carries the exact same Yanmar part number as that sold by RangerTug.

Zinc only: http://www.boatzincs.com/yan120650-13420-ZINC.html
Complete anode with washer: http://www.boatzincs.com/yan120650-13420.html

I brought this BoatZinc.com info to Ranger Tug's attention in Oct 2012 and was told by Andrew that he was aware of this and that the engine zincs provided to them by Yanmar are a little different. He also said a zinc is a zinc if it fits; better or worse -- dunno ??

I've examine both what Ranger Tugs sells and what BoatZincs.com sells and quite honestly the only difference I see is that the pencil zinc is a tad longer for the Yanmar provided zinc. In addition, when you buy the zinc from Ranger Tugs a copper washer is not part of the purchase. If care is taken when removing the zinc's bolt head from the engine the old copper washer can be used as there's low pressure in the engine's water system where these zincs reside. The copper washer can be purchased separately from BoatZincs.com if you want. I'm not sure if Ranger Tugs also sells the copper washer.

A further Ref is at http://www.tugnuts.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1749&p=12644&hilit=BoatZinc#p12644

 

[trailertrawlerkismet]

Barry:

I've been using BoatZincs.com for the last 6 years with a previous boat and now our Ranger Tug. BoatZincs has been both efficient and better priced then just about anyone. In addition they keep all your prior orders on hand, making for quick access when you call to place an order. This works well if you're away from your boat or where you might have your zinc part # info written down, while you're placing an order. I've been very happy with them and as far as I can tell there zincs are of the same quality.

Jim F

 

[baz]

I receive my BoatZinc.com ordered Yanmar 4BY2-150 engine's threaded pencil zincs this week and I'm ready with my old original cleaned bolt heads to screw them in. The bolt heads cleaned up nicely.. copper washer still fixed so that its surface was easily cleaned with a slight rub of sandpaper. The inner threads of the bolt head were cleaned up nicely using my wife's sewing machine oil. :lol: So, I'm ready to go and replace the engine zincs which I've made an annual task for myself before getting underway for the year.

Now this is what I call cost effective maintenance at 2 x $3.80 as apposed to what I could pay elsewhere at around $50. I wish there were more things like this I could do. 😉

 

[trailertrawlerkismet]

Barry:

Even thou boating can be an expensive lifestyle, in my opinion I think our Ranger Tugs/Cutwaters offer a great value and this is why they are such popular selling boats. With that said its always nice to find ways to save money, such as Barry's zinc project. Barry, how often are you having to replace your pencil zincs?

Jim

 

[baz]

Absolutely.... The Ranger Tug models are great value for money... no doubt about it IMO. They are akin to the Volvo autos that I also consider to be great value for money. :lol:

I replaced my engine zincs in July 2011 after neglecting them for 2 years. They were completely gone.

I checked them Apr 24, 2012 and it appeared the lower one erodes faster than the upper one. Lower one about 50% gone while upper one looks about 30% gone. This then was for a period of 10 months.

The above erosion rate tells me to check them no more than 1 year apart considering the lower one erodes faster.

However, I had my 250 hr service performed in Sep 17, 2012 and the engine zincs were replaced regardless of their state.

So it's been close to 8 months since both were replaced, and it's time IMO to check them again. I'll post here later what I observe. Each of our boat's engine zincs will erode at a different rate so this should be kept in mind as well as having the boat in fresh water or salt water.

You should review my post at http://www.tugnuts.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3018&start=0&hilit=250+hr+service as this also discusses how just looking at an engine pencil zinc can be very deceptive. That is, make sure you squeeze that little pencil zinc between your fingers -- you just might be surprised.

Quote from the referenced post above...

When removing an engine zinc for inspection/replacement there are two things to look for...
1) Obviously the amount of erosion - but more importantly even if the zinc looks hardly eroded you MUST squeeze the zinc between your fingers... and this may surprise you because you will/might find the zinc will completely collapse under slight squeezing pressure... it's essentially hollow and just a shell and has been eaten away from the inside.

2) Because the top zinc goes through wet and dry states a white scale can build up on the zinc's surface over time. If this white scale completely covers the outer surface of the zinc it makes the zinc useless. I suppose the scale can be removed but for me I would simply replace the zinc and be done with it. Typically, when the scale is removed the zinc's color is dark charcoal in color rather than the nice light gray color when brand new.

 

[nzfisher]

I replaced my engine zincs after 1 season, 180 hours, and they were just about gone. I will now replace them about every three months while in the water. I purchased the replacement zincs from boatzincs.com as well as a large hanging zinc to slow down the other zinc deterioration. The bolt heads on the engine zincs were a slightly different size but the threads were the same. In the future I will just buy the threaded inserts. You can reuse the copper washers if you heat them cherry red with a propane torch, then quench them in water. This annealing process can be used a couple of times at least before they need to be replaced.

If anyone has suggestions about how to hook up the hanging zinc I would like to hear about them.

 

[HRowland]

I had an interesting experience this weekend. I replaced the anodes on my 4BY2-180. I have used spare complete anodes (purchased from Ranger Tugs a couple of years ago) and zinc refills from BoatZincs.
Both anodes needed replacing. As Barry mentions they appeared to be nearly full size but crumbled when squeezed and they had less than half solid material. In unscrewed the zinc from one of them and replaced it with a refill, no problem. The second zinc just spun in the plug and would not come out. No big deal, I had a spare previously re-zinced anode that I used.

I brought the spinning one home so I could use my vise to hold the hex head and work out the zinc using vise grips. I was surprised to see that it was not threaded, the hole in the brass portion was the diameter of the zinc and the zinc was originally either press fit or bonded in place. This particular anode was purchased from Ranger Tugs a couple of years ago and was used before I started purchasing replacement inserts from BoatZincs last year. The original anodes that were installed by Yanmar are threaded and can be reused.

I think annealing the washers is probably overkill, the pressure in the raw water system is very low. I just reuse the washer and have never had an issue with leaking. A mechanic confirmed this for me.

Howard

 

[baz]

I replaced my Yanmar 4BY2-150 engine's anodes today.

BTW Howard... I have seen the same issue with the anodes provided by Ranger Tugs... that is, they are not threaded into the bolt head and really cannot be reused with the threaded anodes from BoatZinc.com. I speculate that Yanmar maybe designs them this way to not be reusable... or at least very difficult to reuse. Follow the money as they say... 😉

The upper one was badly scaled and I would say about 85% was remaining. The scaling was severe. I scraped some of the scale away to expose the zinc and I would say it was about 1/6" thick. I thought at first I would simply scrape off the scale but this was not satisfactory IMO. I decided to replace it with a brand new one I had received from BoatZinc.com.

The lower one was also badly scaled and I would say 75% remained. I decided I would replace it with a new one.

This scaling affect on the anode pencil has me a bit concerned. I say this because the scaling material really is protecting the zinc material from the sea water (in my case) and therefore I don't see how the zinc is providing any protection. The scale material is quite hard as evidenced by me having difficulty scraping it off using my sharp penknife.

My advice is if you go to the trouble of removing the engine anodes (say every 9 months if in salt water like me) and they are badly scaled, then simply replace them and be done with it. Purchasing the pencil zincs from BoatZinc.com makes this a sensible approach IMO.

Now, I really must get on with my Tax return as I'm sure Uncle Sam wants its pound of flesh from me having saved for years to my 401K tax free.... sigh. :roll:

Here's a photo of the engine anodes I removed from my engine today. This is the engine's upper anode. The left one is the one I removed and the right one is brand new.

Here's a photo of the removed lower and upper engine anodes side by side. The left is the lower and the right is the upper.

Oh.... and I did squeeze these old anodes to make sure they weren't deceiving me.... :lol:

Another issue/point I'd like to post concerns the engine mount that is in my case almost directly below the lower anodes bolt head. When this bolt/anode is removed salt water (in my case) will initially squirt out and then continue to dribble. This really cannot be helped. However, the issue I see is that the sea water that comes out will easily fill and remain in the recessed engine mount assembly. The last time I changed out the engine anodes I really did take that much notice of this. The fact that I left sea water in this recessed mount assembly cause a fair amount of rusting (see photos below). Now having seen this I will ensure any sea water collected in this manner is thoroughly removed and the engine mount bracket assembly thoroughly dried. I use paper towels to soak up the sea water from the recess and around the securing bolt and nut.