Last week I changed the engine oil & filter and replaced the raw water impeller. It was only 11 hours since last change. I also learned Speed Seal is out of business so no more spare parts are available.

Today with the help of Grant Ball we installed new cabin port lights on the boat. They were made by Bomon in Canada. Because the new port lights were longer we had to cut the cabin opening with a saber saw. The internal window lip also needed to be cut away. Grant made a template so we could mark the opening for the cuts. A dusty mess was created.

Here is the port side installed and the pattern Grant made up he used to mark the holes for cutting:

  These are the starboard side opening cut out for the new port lights. Some core was exposed which I sealed with penetrating epoxy.

 Here are the starboard side port lights after installation.

 Here are the port side port lights installed

The port lights seal to the cabin top with foam tape. I did a hose down test and didn't see any leaks. Whew.

Got a new main sail cover this month from Mauri.

It came 15" too long but they fixed it.

Yanmar 2GM Oil pipe replacement

I've been chasing slow oil leak from rear of the engine. I've replaced that valve cover gasket and the lift pump. My next try is to replace the oil pipe that supplies the rocker arms.
It is shown here:

As you can see three types of copper gaskets are used. One 8mm gasket is thicker and goes against the head, P/N 104884-59170. The other 8 mm gasket is P/N 23414-08000. The two 10 mm gaskets are P/N 23414-10000.  The oil pipe is P/N 128270-39200 along with a new tie down clamp P/N 124450-39420. The parts cost was about $40.

The starter did have to come out to get the new oil pipe installed. The oil pipe routes behind the starter near the engine block. time will tell.

I removed the chain plates earlier this week and had new ones made up by Grant's Marine Service. Grant re-purposed the old chain plates into backing plates as the plastic ones showed signs of crushing. Total parts costs were $222 plus new bolts ($60 ) and new 1/2" pins for the turnbuckles ($30).

Here are the new and re-purposed parts:

Thankfully the balsa core was dry at the chain plate holes. They were sealed with penetrating epoxy. The bulkhead was also in good shape with no rot. I'll be sealing the chain plate holes with "thru the roof" caulking from Ace Hardware.

I also replaced all the cooling system hose clamps with the closed variety. After adjusting the valves I have a slow oil leak from the valve cover. Will try that again.

Engine Cooling Adventures

I was seeing some milky exhaust discharge at engine start up so I had the exhaust elbow cleaned out. It seems better. After chasing slow loss of antifreeze from the FWC we found the 35 year old Yanmar "fresh water" pump needs replacement. It is an eye watering $500 with tax and is on order.  I will also torque the cylinder head nuts and adjust the valves.

The next major project is to take the chain plates apart and probably replace them. They have never been inspected in 35 years so it is way overdue. One of the J/30s at our club had to have its bulkhead substantially rebuilt after an inspection.

Heat Exchanger Installation Info

Two days ago I replaced the heat exchanger, hoses, gaskets in raw water strainer, impellers in both pumps, all belts and the engine over temp alarm switch. I learned from Grant that raw water cooled engine alarms are set lower than fresh water cooled engines. The replacement temp switch is for a fresh water cooled with a 65 C trigger point. Raw water engines use 60 C. I had to borrow some sockets to change the sender so a new 1/2 drive & socket set was added to the boat tool locker. Here is the P/N of the new over temp sensor:

Below is a hookup diagram/parts list for the coolant hoses.

I was appalled to see that the impeller on the freshwater pump lost one of its vanes after only 2 years of service. It was a Yanmar part too...

Today I installed two stainless hose clamps around the lower body of the heat exchanger to prevent cracking of the mounting lugs. The heat exchanger came without the clamps unfortunately this time. The old unit had the clamps from the factory 18 years ago.

The raw water pump would not pull seawater through initially until the strainer was primed with water. In past work on the cooling system I don't recall having this issue.