I was Bored so Pulled the Head on my Yanmar

[Tayana42]

Wow SC, you are amazing. Like so many others here I've been quietly reading this thread, quiet because I didn't have any advice to offer. But I've been inspired and impressed by your ability to take on such a major project and your grit to come out successfully on the other side. Good for you.

[RaymondR]

Originally Posted by Chas Erwin

Don't scotch the job now - replace the entire whole line.

Charles

Don't listen to them Sailorchic34, I have done the repair on this steel oil line by drilling out the steel tube ends from the banjo fittings and silver soldering in copper tube. It was fairly easy and quick and I gained a fair bit of satisfaction in being able to salvage the fittings and do the job myself.

[zeehag]

Originally Posted by brutb

SC, job well done and timely also, with just one minor problem that will be fixed in no time. A great story and a great many well wishers here on CF have enjoyed your tale. Now you will have to sail south and get ZEE on the ball, otherwise she will gradually go native in Mexico and never leave.
Again congradulations on your new engine and the places you can travel to with no concerns.....

goood work, sc---glad you found your oil line break before you went out..i found mine after i replaced all the oil a few times in short order.....now come on down and give me inspiration for leaving---err actually, i am in process of repairing my fuel system, as it went south as i went north.....

besides i know where to party here in barra.....

[cheoah]

hang tough, you got dis.....

Great job getting it back together.

Your hard-earned cruise will hopefully be everything you could want.

Obviously you're incredibly capable and confident....but did ya know you would inspire so many? Watching people take a challenging situation like this and just nail it....is incredibly satisfying. Plus then there's the spunky purple and pink business, which is just, well, fun.

Take a break, treat yourself to something and come back to your alignment issue and oil line repair. Or just push on through...whatever your M.O. is!

Over the years I've seen hard work go down the tubes because I or my staff are so over the process that we rush the last part of a difficult repair, only to pay dearly. Age has solved that problem, and I'll always stop someone or myself and come back fresh in the morning, unless we're in critical cropping operations and we don't have the luxury to stop. You have the pacing and expectations thing down, really, but I can feel your exasperation. It's hard on the bod to be all crunched up for so much time, at least for me...

Good luck sailorchic. I have had dozens of younf women work for me over the years, starting with low confidence with mechanical things, simply because their parents either didn't think it was girls work - or they didn't. Watching their successes with mechanical repairs over the course of years and develop the confidence to do anything they want is incredibly satisfying to see. Many of them are running their own operations now...

My 18 yo old daughter does her car maintenance - because it is an old car- and is running a basement renovation right now so I can Air BnB her room out when she leaves for college.

Here's a pic of some of my strong young women at work. We don't make much distinction with gender, except for some broad generalizations that overall the guys will abuse themselves more to look/feel strong (and are definitely stronger) and the ladies are much more adept at expressing their emotions accurately when in difficult situations, know their limits, don't mind asking for help, and typically get management positions because of their competitive nature and detail orientation.

[sailorchic34]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

Don't listen to them Sailorchic34, I have done the repair on this steel oil line by drilling out the steel tube ends from the banjo fittings and silver soldering in copper tube. It was fairly easy and quick and I gained a fair bit of satisfaction in being able to salvage the fittings and do the job myself.

You know I was thinking that very thing this morning. But the silver solder is pricey.. Though I might know this guy who can.

[sailorchic34]

RaymondR, Did you use silver solder or brazing. is a 470 degree melting point for silver solder enough. Just wondering.

[salticrak]

You are an inspiration.

[JayCall]

SC-this has been the best thread since I have been on CF, I have been fascinated to follow you as you have done this. Big congrats for having the confidence to tackle it and even bigger congrats for getting it done successfully.

That said, I am a bit sad you have finished, I, for one, am gong to miss the almost daily drama of doing such a job yourself and the obvious satisfaction you have from meeting and solving those challenges.

Good Luck and good sailing!

[brutb]

Anyone else need a Yanmar overhauled???? I think I know where we can get a salty sailor chick to assist you if you make it worth her while. She needs to build up the cruising kitty. So shout out if you are in the Bay area. No job to small, no job to big. SailorChick Marine Services, specializing in all thing nautical.......

ps: no charge for PR workhaha

[guyfromiowa]

Originally Posted by sailorchic34

RaymondR, Did you use silver solder or brazing. is a 470 degree melting point for silver solder enough. Just wondering.

Silver solder will work just fine. For the line you could use either copper or steel brake line stock. You'll likely find that the original is either brazed or silver soldered. If it is brazed then the original was steel. Ready? GO!

[CPseudonym]

Originally Posted by sailorchic34

is a 470 degree melting point for silver solder enough. Just wondering.

I'd say its at least 270 degrees to the good. What's your normal operating temp?

Edit: oops, just saw above post.

[Nor'Sea 27]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

Don't listen to them Sailorchic34, I have done the repair on this steel oil line by drilling out the steel tube ends from the banjo fittings and silver soldering in copper tube. It was fairly easy and quick and I gained a fair bit of satisfaction in being able to salvage the fittings and do the job myself.

The suggestion to replace has got nothing to do with whether a repair of the old line is possible. Such a repair is obviously possible and perhaps trivial.

However --- this oil leak was reported to involve corrosion in a steel line assembly. One cannot overlook the probability that there are other similar - but latent - defects in other sections of the oil line.

I favor complete elimination of all possible latent conditions. Otherwise one could face having to come up with a solution to an empty crankcase on a stormy, windblown, lee-shore-100 yards-away night. As I remember this was quite unpleasant.

Charles

[sailorchic34]

Oddly enough the rest of the oil line looks new. Only the section down by the starter was rusting. It was rusting some when I first purchased the boat in 2007. I cleaned it up then and painted it. But it was pretty bad even then.

I'm going to try a copper tube replacement for the one section. First I don't have to get contorted to remove the starter first, which requires I remove the alternator too, as I can change the routing of the oil line a little, and avoid the whole oil line trapped behind the starter thing. I swear Yanmar went to diesel school in Germany. Lets make it complicated.

Plus I can get additional copper tubing for 88 cents a foot, so can keep some on board for field repairs.

On complicated, has anyone tried changing a fuse on a gm series yanmar. They designed it for minimal parts, but complicated so that the case holds the copper clips on the fuse tight to the fuse. Nice in the factory. But they then located it to the side of the engine with short wires, where it will be hard to get at with one hand with the engine installed and it requires two hands to close. Someone needs to take their engineers to a sailboat and have them try to change the #$%^ fuse with the engine in place.

What a lovely piece of engineering and totally unusable on small sailboats. Least wise on mine. Next time yanmar, put the fuse right next to the engine wiring plugs or maybe on the panel side of the engine plugs.

[perchance]

Originally Posted by sailorchic34

You know I was thinking that very thing this morning. But the silver solder is pricey.. Though I might know this guy who can.

If you take it to a Refrigeration guy they will unsolder the old line and solder in a new one. Copper is fine in that application since it is low pressure but will be more vulnerable to mechanical damage.

[Nor'Sea 27]

You have become - understandably - impatient. You are about to put your motor at risk from work hardening copper oil line with silver solder joints because sectioning in some copper line appears cheap easy and access is limited - to say nothing of retaining possible latent defects in the other sections.

Before you commit please consult your metallurgical properties references and ask yourself why no manufacturer uses copper for oil line (nor vehicle brake line either for that matter.)

I am done and hope very good luck follows.

Charles