Ok, I am 55 years old and have worked on my own cars and boats for about 40 years. Never, and I mean never, has this happened to me before.
The weekend before last, we were headed out to do some scalloping. I was on the foredeck while the wife was "captaining". I made my way back to the
cockpit. Upon arrival, my wife asked, "What is that strange
noise?"
I glanced at the
engine panel and saw the
oil light lit up. Not one to panick I calmly screeched, "Kill the engine!"
I went forward and dropped the hook. Going below, I checked the
engine. All the
oil was in the
bilge. Now, here is the thing, this is a new
Yanmar. 103 hours on the meter. Professionally serviced at 50 hours.
I radioed our sailing partners in their
boat and they returned. Not wanting to spoil the day for my son who was visiting from
Texas, I dingyed him and my wife to the other
boat. I stayed behind to await TowboatUS.
Some four hours later, they arrived and towed me back to port. Later that evening, after the
family and friends had returned, my friend and his father got to brainstorming. Me? I was cursing every
Yanmar dealer in the world. Matt got to looking under the engine and said, "It looks like the
oil filter sprung a leak." We took it off and sure enough, where the crimp is at the base was a hole. He said there was a 45 degree fan of oil from that spot on the
motor. Genuine Yanmar part, by the way.
The next day, after
buying two galloons of oil (I had a spare filter). We replaced the oil and she started right up, none the worse for wear.
This filter was only 50 hours old, about eight months. Aside from the fact that it had "Made in the USA" stamped all over it, why did this happen? Has anyone else had a similar failure?
Now I carry a spare gallon of oil as well as a spare filter. Lesson learned