Yanmar bogged down and quit R21-EC 207 - 246 hours

P

Pilotboater

Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2019
Messages
9
Fluid Motion Model
C-24 C SE
Hull Identification Number
FMLT2152B707
Vessel Name
Good-Year II
Yanmar 3 -cylinder in a 2007 Ranger R21EC. Cruising fine for a couple hours at 2000RPM and engine started to bog down and quit. Starting with the fuel system. One rear filte at the tank looked full and good. Any ideals as I work my way forward ? I was going to go next to the fuel filter on the engine.
 
Might ck prop for fowling...probably not, but on checklist...Tex
 
sounds like fuel starvation? any errors?
 
Cutwater28GG":2qzlibcb said:
sounds like fuel starvation? any errors?
Click to expand...
Where would I catch the error code ?
 
I would eliminate the easy stuff first!
1- does the prop turn freely by hand
2- no binding at cutless bearing
3- both fuel filters replaced and good fuel flow when bleeding system
4- clean air filter
Does motor run at idle ? Do you have good water flow out exhaust?
If running for a hour at 2000 rpm with low water flow your motor could over heat and cause a power problem! (How many hrs on motor and have you inspected or replaced the exhaust elbow?)
Good luck they are great little motors, I'm sure it'll be a easy fix once you isolate the problem.
Bob
 
(i dont have a yanmar - so not sure if there is a display that shows errors.) the volvos do.

bobs right try simple stuff first.

do you have fuel, air, compression. and fuel and air being the easiest to check first

does it start and run now?
 
Pilotboater
Check out a post from Marcus (Exhaust Elbow on R-21)
In general technical discussion section posted about Feb-2015. I think?
Would bet you a cold beer that's your problem, even though you have less hours on your motor.
Bob
 
Good morning. We have a 2009, 21EC with the 3 cylinder Yanmar, 3YM30 Diesel engine. These engines are very reliable when they have clean fuel and clean air. There are no electronic codes on this engine. If your prop is spinning easily it’s likely a fuel issue. Does it idle ok? With the transmission in neutral start the engine and then disengage the transmission by pushing the black button on the throttle handle. Make sure you’ve got water coming out the starboard exhaust. Rev the engine up to see what it does. If the engine bogs down start looking at fuel issues. If you happened to get a bad batch of diesel it can clogged the primary and secondary fuel filters quickly. Let us know what you find.
Karl
 
Going back after it tonight ! Thanks all for the good diagnostics tips. Very much appreciated and headed towards the fuel first. I do note that I don't have a fuel turn off valve at the tank or before the 1st filter.
 
I doubt there’s much difference between your boat and mine. There is a fuel shut off valve at the point the fuel hose exits the fuel tank heading to the first fuel filter. If your filter is like mine it’s aRacor 110A.
 
Three things come to mind. Fuel tank vent/water issues, clogged air filter and exhaust elbow mixing chamber.
I have a 2007 with approximately the same number of hours that was compromised by water getting in the fuel tank vent while sitting on my lift. Though my lift has a roof, blowing heavy rain was collecting on the small shelf where the tank vent is located on the port stern and running through the vent back into the fuel tank.
The boat sat for several months happily sipping the accumulated rain through the vent into the tank in heavy storms. There was also an accumulation of water in the fuel through just sitting.I didn't monitor the main RACOR water separator filter bowl and the engine ingested water through both fuel filters then chugged to a stop. Thank you Boat US insurance for the 8 mile tow
home!!! After cleaning and flushing the ENTIRE system, it is back to being happy. When I leave for extended periods, I reroute the vent and now check the water separator bowl on a very regular basis. It was a real pain to remove the fuel tank for the thorough cleaning. Fuel additives should help a bit for extended storage with water and bacteria growth... fuel polishing after extended storage is the best solution that eliminates the potential fuel problem.

The exhaust mixing elbow is another area to monitor on the YM30...even with low engine time this can be very problematic, heavy accumulation of rust and deterioration in this cast iron elbow can clog this critical piece and choke the engine. A sailboat friend showed me his very low time elbow compromised by rust. I examined mine and found a similar issue. It is simple to replace and should be replaced after a few years or less. I replaced mine with the cast stainless steel aftermarket elbow in hopes to avoid some of the deterioration issues.
 
So, its the fuel tank, water or growth on the inside. Changed the filters and could get it to run for a few minutes and quit. I then took the supply line off and put one into a one gallon tank and runs fine. Trying to decide how to go about cleaning the fuel tank and corrected the problem for good. I just read a previous helpful post and I thank you all for taking the time to post. Nice group of folks. I have smelled like diesel for a week ! 🙂
 
Good job finding the culprit. Dirty fuel/clogged fuel lines were at the top of the list. I’ve never removed the entire fuel tank but I think it’s possible. You might want to get a large trash can and siphon as much fuel out as you can. I’d then put a couple of gallons of clean diesel fuel in, slosh it around and siphon that out then repeat that a couple more times before filling the tank up with clean new diesel. Put some Seafoam in the tank as well as some diesel antifungal additive. Change both fuel filters and see how it runs. I’d probably change the fuel filters again after ripening a couple of hours. Thanks for the follow up and keep us posted.
Cheers,
Karl
 
So, I have it running, and running well when I disconnect the incoming fuel line and connect it to my carry on 5 gallon tank. It will run for several minutes on the main tank but eventually dies. Obviously the fuel tank is contaminated. This is after I have changed the fuel filters, and air filters and impeller. Interesting from a previous comment that there could be water coming in the vent. That could be a problem. Can you get this tank out of here without cutting anything ? How about just replacing it might be cheaper.

Cheers !

Steve
 
I would have the tank “polished” by a fuel polishing company first.
 
you can also build yourself a fuel polishing kit with a couple of racor filters and a 12v fuel pump. it would be a few hundred bucks in parts.
 
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