Yanmar recall-defective coolant hoses.

[hal4cal]

I guess this is a question for Andrew.

I've gone to a certified Yanmar Service Dealer and requested that they replace the coolant hoses pursuant to the recall announced earlier this year. At first they didn't seem to know what I was talking about but I showed them a copy of Yanmar's notice to service dealers on the topic and they told me they would get right on it. That was three weeks ago and I have heard nothing. I have learned from various sources that Yanmar doesn't have the replacement parts. Is this true? Since Ranger is now installing Yanmar engines in all of its tugs, I figure you could bring a lot of pressure on them to provide a minimally acceptable support/warranty service for your and their customers. Could you look ionto this and let me know. Everytime I go out I worry that the hoses are going to fail and that I. Ranger and Yanmar are going to have much larger problems to resolve, especially if I burn up my engine.

Thanks, Hal Teasdale

 

[Jerold Geisenheimer]

I recently had hoses replaced and had no such problem. I would suggest you find a different dealer because the hoses are available. They were replaced under warrantee at my marina at no cost and I might add according to the tech just in time.
Jerry

 

[baz]

Hal: Don't wait and hang about... give Andrew a call ASAP and/or call Ranger Tugs directly. I had a somewhat similar issue and Jeff Messmer stepped in, made a call or two, and I had my hoses replaced within 2 days.

 

[commander bill]

I assume this recall is only for hoses on the newer Yanmar engines. Does it have any impact on those of with older 110hp engines?

 

[knotflying]

I had a similar problem with a local "Yanmar approved" mechanic. He told me the hoses were on back order. As I was in conversation with him I asked him what oil he uses in the 4BY2 and he told me Shell Rotella. When I heard that I knew it was time to go elsewhere. I called Mack Boring, the Yanmar distributor here on the East Coast. They told me they had the hoses and I scheduled them to do the install. Very accommodating and thorough people. I would suggest you go as high up in the chain to get the work done. There are some very inexperienced mechanics out there who seem to do more damage the repair. Ask Jerry from ALTO, after his simple hose replacement his boat was out of service for about 3 weeks!! And it had to be towed to Mack Boring for the repair of the repair.

 

[C&PSmith]

The hose replacements are considered a "factory recall" and were replaced "free of charge" an my "out of warranty" 2009 R-25, Yanmar 4BY2-150.

 

[JerryE]

A problem I have seen from Massachusetts to Florida with "Yanmar certified mechanics" is their typical comment: "Oh wow, that's the new BY engine, I've never seen one before..." As my issues have been related to warranty work, I always start with the regional Yanmar distributor who refers me to a specific local Yanmar certified mechanic. You may have to help them along, like show them a copy of the recall on your heater hoses and then the local guys can follow up.

I'm learning that local Yanmar marine shops are supposed to have at least one Yanmar certified (for warranty work) mechanic who takes ongoing courses through the distributor are part of their franchise arrangement. You'd think a shop would be anxious to do this, since they make more money on repowering (i.e., installing new replacement engines) than repairing old engines. Not so! When in doubt at all, or if the issue is even slightly complex, work directly with the distributor. In New England Mack Boring has a small shop you can trailer your boat to, and they have a couple of mechanics that will come out to your boat on-site for more money, of course. But, the trip is free for warranty work.

For the record, my heater hose repair went fine. It was done in Florida by the certified mechanics in Cocoa Beach to whom I was referred by the Florida area distributor. They have also done work on Frank's boat, Ainokea, for which he has been pleased. Still, neither mechanic had ever seen a BY type engine like mine! By reviewing the recall notice they got the right parts and instruction from the distributor and effected the repair a week later all at no cost with no problem.

My problems, after Alto came back to her summer berth in Mass., were due to a defective high pressure fuel pump which was misdiagnosed by the local Yanmar "certified" mechanics (Kingman Marine on Cape Cod, our largest marina) who also left my boat in a mess (ECU dangling in the engine compartment, stains on the helm seat, parts in the bilge) and then charged me over $600 for diagnosing... Mack Boring actually sent their chief mechanic down to Kingman's who took one look and then asked me to bring the boat to their shop, which I gladly did. He fixed it quickly and correctly and cleaned the bilge where fuel had substantially leaked, etc. The distributor actually had the first BY style engine brought to America, because the in-house mechanics and even the administrators had torn it apart and rebuilt it several times for practice. It's a shame that more local Yanmar mechanics don't go take the courses, they are supposed to, at the distributors to stay up-to-date. It was even fun to see the enthusiasm the manager at Mack Boring had for these engines which he had torn completely apart along side his mechanics.

If you are near your dealer, I'll bet they have Yanmar certified mechanics who "have seen BY engines" before. For example, Peter at Winter Island Yacht Yard in Salem, MA is a wizard with the engines and all things Ranger. If you need a mechanic and are not near a dealer, start with the distributor. I called Andrew, who called the distributor in Florida, who had the Cocoa Beach mechanics call me. You can probably skip Andrew and go direct to your distributor. The price we pay for having such cutting edge technology in the newer Rangers and in the Cut Waters is that the repair guys will need another year or two in the field to develop more experience in the newer common rail engines. BTW, on instructions from the distributor I never paid Kingman's the $600+ for wasting 3 weeks of my time while they dickered about. They even made me pick up the boat and bring it home every Friday night and return it Monday morning, so as to free up a parking spot for their restaurant!

Be careful out there...

 

[PhilR]

I won't tell my story about a local Yanmar shop re: the hoses...it might elevate my blood pressure to a dangerous level. In the future, I will haul my boat to the Mack Boring shop in Massachussets for anything but routine service.

Phil

 

[baz]

Hal: When you do get those two hoses replaced by a Yanmar trained mechanic make sure the beauty plates are secured down tight with the bolts. As a test... Press the beauty plates down by hand to see if there's any play/gap between the bolts head and when the beauty plates bottoms out. I had this issue which caused very annoying and severe rattle noises between 3000 and 3700 RPMs.

 

[GulfSailor]

As I was in conversation with him I asked him what oil he uses in the 4BY2 and he told me Shell Rotella. When I heard that I knew it was time to go elsewhere.

It's not essential that it has 'Yanmar' written on the side of the container, just that it meets Yanmar's specs, which the full synthetic Rotella does.

Discussed here: http://www.tugnuts.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2261

 

[knotflying]

Just to clarify, the Rotella the dealer wanted to use was the non-synthetic.

 

[GulfSailor]

Just to clarify, the Rotella the dealer wanted to use was the non-synthetic.

In that case I agree, don't walk, run! :shock: