Yanmar white smoke

Engines, Drive trains, Propellers, Steering, Ground Tackle and other mechanical system
User avatar
mike cunningham
Posts: 489
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 11:21 am
Location: Jacqueline, F30 #3, Discovery Bay, California

Re: Yanmar white smoke

Post by mike cunningham »

Word to the wise, if you fix something and then you start having the same problem in a few months, do not perform the same fix without going through all the troubleshooting steps.

Case in point. My white smoke started again after 45 hrs of engine ops. Rather than do full troubleshooting I told myself, must have installed flaky injectors. So i pulled the injectors and slapped my spares in there. Problem solved - for about 8 hours - then back to white smoke. This was on a trip up to an SF Bay race. The trip up was bumpy and cold. Got to Berkeley Marina with no issue but she was smoking a lot when I arrived. Shut the engine down and could not restart...period... AARGH.. I had one day to fix.

I had been looking at the primary Racor bowl during this episode and could see no water under the diesel so my initial though was - well it's not water. but just to be safe I drained the bowl. Guess what, all the visible liquid in the bowl was water!! Holy crap says I - or something along those lines. Anyway, off the filters came and sure enough, evidence of crud and water in both. So this meant the tank had to be opened again, Did that and found about a cup of water lurking around the pickup area. During the bumpy ride I am sure a lot of water got sucked into the fuel system.

So out came all the fuel via the inspection port and my handy 10 ounce plastic measuring cup. Then a thorough cleaning of the tank interior, then replacement of primary and secondary fuel filters, then replacement of both injectors - for the third time is six months. (Note: if anyone on the West Coast needs 2GM20F injectors replaced, I have become and expert and can do it in two hours flat). Literally a whole 10 hour day getting this stuff done at the transient dock in Berkeley. Engine started right up and ran like a top. Made it over to the race and back home. Now I need to troubleshoot how more than a cup of water made it into the tank over a period of six months. There must be a leak at the fill cap because I am almost sure I have not been putting wet fuel into the tank.

I also need to take two more injectors to Diamond Diesel for rebuild. Those guys see me and say "here comes our best customer" I am singlehandedly keeping their business afloat.
Mike Cunningham
Freedom 30 (Mull) Hull #3
Build date...June, 1986 . Freedom Yachts USA, sloop, shoal keel
Gun Mount and pole retrofitted (purchased from a Hoyt Freedom 32)
Yanmar 2gm20F , 1600 hrs fixed two blade prop
e-rud and ocean racing equipment

User avatar
Camino
Posts: 358
Joined: Fri Oct 28, 2016 4:51 pm
Location: Stockton, CA

Re: Yanmar white smoke

Post by Camino »

Mike - how full of diesel was / has been your tank? In our cold weather, if the tank is not always full, condensation can occur and water forms inside -I don’t know about how much forms.... but worth a thought. Your descriptions are way more than my knowledge on yanmars....

User avatar
gamayun
Posts: 270
Joined: Thu Dec 06, 2012 9:14 pm

Re: Yanmar white smoke

Post by gamayun »

Funny (and yet not), but my injectors are also at Diamond Diesel right now. The nozzles were all shot. Perhaps I should check for water in the Raycor, too. As to how water can get in the tank, I periodically change the O-ring on the deck cap. It's incredibly expensive to buy just the single pack at WM, so let me know and I can measure it. If they're the same and you're interested in buying in bulk, I could split it with you. As to tank condensation as Camino points out, I have heard this can be a problem. I try to keep my tank filled, but it doesn't always happen. Usually at the most, however, it only gets about half-way drained before I fill up. There's also a tank vent on the stern coaming. I try to be careful when hosing off the boat because I'd heard that's another way water can find its way into the tank.

So how'd you do at the race?
Kynntana, Freedom 38

User avatar
mike cunningham
Posts: 489
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 11:21 am
Location: Jacqueline, F30 #3, Discovery Bay, California

Re: Yanmar white smoke

Post by mike cunningham »

Camino wrote:Mike - how full of diesel was / has been your tank? In our cold weather, if the tank is not always full, condensation can occur and water forms inside -I don’t know about how much forms.... but worth a thought. Your descriptions are way more than my knowledge on yanmars....
Camino,

I have read this too. However, I had my boat for years and years at the Stockton Sailing Club often with only a partial tank of fuel. Never had any issue with water. I did have an issue offshore one time which led me to install the inspection port but in that case I found little balls some paraffin like substance in the bottom of the tank. These would pull up and block the uptake tube. That adventure is recorded on the forum somewhere.

Mike
Mike Cunningham
Freedom 30 (Mull) Hull #3
Build date...June, 1986 . Freedom Yachts USA, sloop, shoal keel
Gun Mount and pole retrofitted (purchased from a Hoyt Freedom 32)
Yanmar 2gm20F , 1600 hrs fixed two blade prop
e-rud and ocean racing equipment

User avatar
mike cunningham
Posts: 489
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 11:21 am
Location: Jacqueline, F30 #3, Discovery Bay, California

Re: Yanmar white smoke

Post by mike cunningham »

gamayun wrote:Funny (and yet not), but my injectors are also at Diamond Diesel right now. The nozzles were all shot. Perhaps I should check for water in the Raycor, too. As to how water can get in the tank, I periodically change the O-ring on the deck cap. It's incredibly expensive to buy just the single pack at WM, so let me know and I can measure it. If they're the same and you're interested in buying in bulk, I could split it with you. As to tank condensation as Camino points out, I have heard this can be a problem. I try to keep my tank filled, but it doesn't always happen. Usually at the most, however, it only gets about half-way drained before I fill up. There's also a tank vent on the stern coaming. I try to be careful when hosing off the boat because I'd heard that's another way water can find its way into the tank.

So how'd you do at the race?
Carliane,

I had forgotten all about the tank vent. Excellent point. I will check that to make sure I haven"t gotten anything going on there. I just washed the boat down before leaving for the race so it could be either of the causes you mentioned. I have not changed the Perko O ring in forever. Shame on me. I would be very interested in sharing a bulk buy. Let me know how we would complete this.

With regard to the race - well, depends on how you measure. You don't want to look at division or overall results by course, but if you just look at single-handed monohull I came in 9th out of 18 boats which is pretty good for me. I am moving up!

Mike
Mike Cunningham
Freedom 30 (Mull) Hull #3
Build date...June, 1986 . Freedom Yachts USA, sloop, shoal keel
Gun Mount and pole retrofitted (purchased from a Hoyt Freedom 32)
Yanmar 2gm20F , 1600 hrs fixed two blade prop
e-rud and ocean racing equipment

User avatar
mike cunningham
Posts: 489
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 11:21 am
Location: Jacqueline, F30 #3, Discovery Bay, California

Re: Yanmar white smoke

Post by mike cunningham »

Carliane, By the way, the Corinthian always seems to be a challenge at the finish. You have fluky wind and, in our case, an ebb setting in. Consequently the approach to the line is slow and very hard to judge as the boat moves every which way in the current. Sweet Pea and I were very close for the last hour of the race. We literally finished within two or three seconds of each other (and about 15 feet apart) after five hours of racing. I beat him by a whisker. It was very exciting in an incredibly slow moving kind of way.
Mike Cunningham
Freedom 30 (Mull) Hull #3
Build date...June, 1986 . Freedom Yachts USA, sloop, shoal keel
Gun Mount and pole retrofitted (purchased from a Hoyt Freedom 32)
Yanmar 2gm20F , 1600 hrs fixed two blade prop
e-rud and ocean racing equipment

User avatar
Camino
Posts: 358
Joined: Fri Oct 28, 2016 4:51 pm
Location: Stockton, CA

Re: Yanmar white smoke

Post by Camino »

Lol I’m dense. You’ve mentioned SSC a few times in posts! I’ve been a member there since I think 1998-9. I haven’t had a boat there in over 6 hrs though except my once a year visit for a week or two. I do go there a lot however (but am not active there) and know only a few people. We should meet for a brew there. Carliane made a good point on the deck fills - when I bought Goodway II the o rings on all the fills were disintegrated. Bought new at wm and keep extras. I used a good amount of marlube on each o ring to keep them more fresh and seal as they should.

User avatar
rvivian
Posts: 210
Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2010 2:08 pm

Re: Yanmar white smoke

Post by rvivian »

The o-rings on the deck fills fail and there is also often water and sediment in the fuel coming off the dock.

Having had to replace a leaking aluminum fuel tank due to water corrosion right after I bought my boat; I don't want water in my tank or my injectors. I filter all the fuel that goes into the tank through a filter that removes the crud and water. I find a lot of stuff in the filter.

After reading about it in one of Nigel Calder's books I installed a ball valve in the hose below the diesel deck fill. I keep it closed when I leave the boat at the dock and between taking on fuel during longer cruises. If any water leaks through the deck fill O-ring I swab it out before opening the valve.
Heart's Desire
Freedom 30
Shelton, WA

User avatar
mike cunningham
Posts: 489
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 11:21 am
Location: Jacqueline, F30 #3, Discovery Bay, California

Re: Yanmar white smoke

Post by mike cunningham »

The ball valve sounds like an interesting idea. How do you operate it? Do you have to crawl into the lazarette or?

What feck level fuel filter do you use?

Mike
Mike Cunningham
Freedom 30 (Mull) Hull #3
Build date...June, 1986 . Freedom Yachts USA, sloop, shoal keel
Gun Mount and pole retrofitted (purchased from a Hoyt Freedom 32)
Yanmar 2gm20F , 1600 hrs fixed two blade prop
e-rud and ocean racing equipment

User avatar
rvivian
Posts: 210
Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2010 2:08 pm

Re: Yanmar white smoke

Post by rvivian »

Yeah, I don't want to cut another access port so I crawl into that deep hole to operate the valve. It really isn't that often. Besides, I've built a plywood cover over my relocated water heater installed at the bottom that makes a good platform for access.

Filling from a diesel dispenser at the fuel dock or pouring fuel from a 5-gal can I filter through the three filters of a Baja Funnel. http://myboatsgear.com/2017/01/09/baja-filter/

Pretty anal, but once you see the stuff prevented from entering the fuel tank you will know why.
Heart's Desire
Freedom 30
Shelton, WA

Post Reply