Hi,

Sorry, but asking dumb questions is the only way I know of to get
smarter!! ;-)

I have a '79 Yanmar 2QM15 on my Hunter 33 that runs smoothly at some RPM
and clanky at others, with black smoke at start up and sometimes for a
while with heavy loads. I noticed very tiny air bubbles and a very small
amount of oil dripping from the head gasket just under the forward cylinder.

Not sure how many hours the motor has on it. It starts kind of hard too
but seems to be improving the more I run it. Anyway, I'm afraid to put
too much money into the motor because I don't know what shape the bottom
end is in. I have a guy who will change the gasket for $300, $85 for all
the gaskets.

Anyway, is it surely bad to run the motor much with the gasket like
that? Must I change it ASAP? I want to take the family cruising around
on some easy cruises this weekend. We have a backup motor. Bad idea? Any
other advise about what I should look for during the head gasket change
when I finally do it?

Thanks for any help!




--
Stephen