I am glad to hear about the diesel engine. The cleaning of the fuel tank was
a wise thing to do. The engine internal sacrificial anode must have been
replaced regularly and done a good job. Conversely I have heard that the
water jacket on some of the fresh water cool engine build around that time
had to be refurbished or replaced.



"Roger Long" wrote in message
...
There isn't much about the engine on the site but here's the story.

It is a raw water cooled Yanmar 2QM20H installed in 1980 but was in fresh
water from at least 1985 until we bought the boat (according to peeled off
registration stickers). Judging from other things on the boat, it never
saw salt water except on sea trials and delivery.

The owner's put the boat away one year with fuel in the tank thinking they
would sail the boat the next year. The time on shore stretched into six
years before they put the boat on the market and we bought it. When it
came time to start the engine, all the fuel in the system had turned to
jelly and the fuel pump diaphragm had dissolved.

The Yanmar dealer out in Michigan told us that all the injectors needed to
be replace and probably the injector pump as well. We negotiated a deal
to have the engine work done in Maine after truck delivery.

The yard here pumped out the tank and fuel system, flushed it, and put in
new fuel and a new fuel pump. The engine was reluctant to start but, once
we got it going it ran beautifully. No new parts needed aside from the
external fuel pump, a RW impeller, and zincs.

It's one of the best running engines I've ever known. When I started it
up this spring, it lit off just like it was warmed up in the middle of a
summer daysail. With the shaft line work described on the web site, the
whole installation runs smoother than I ever thought a two cylinder diesel
could be.

This is a great and reliable engine. I've seldom had more faith in a
piece of machinery (certainly not the one in the airplane I used to fly)
than this one and listening to it throb away on a long leg under power is
nearly as enjoyable as sailing.

--

Roger Long