Yanmar Engine Problems

[JackK]

The courts appear to have approved class action status to the claims against Yanmar. Everyone should check their engines to see if they fall within the covered range of serial numbers. I attached the text from the site below.

http://www.yanmarsettlement.com

I am going to check mine tomorrow.

Jack
___________________
2003 28 TE Dogonit


Yanmar Class Action Suit -

On March 13, 2007, the Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia gave preliminary approval to a class action settlement in litigation entitled AK El Oso, LLC et al. v. Yanmar Marine USA Corporation et al.,Civil Action No. 2005-CV-102150. If you are a current or former owner of one of the Yanmar engines involved in the class action, there may be benefits available to you under the settlement and your rights may be affected.

The Class consists of all persons or entities who as of March 15, 2007, are current or former owners of Yanmar 6LP or 6LPA series engines manufactured by Yanmar between September 1996 and February 1, 2002, specifically including those which a) have a model designation of 6LP-STE, 6LP-STZE, 6LPA-STE, 6LPA-STZE, 6LPA-STP or 6LPA-STZP and b) bear a serial number in the range of 50101-53988 or M50001-51195. Excluded from the class are (a) those persons who prior to the date of this Notice have resolved claims with Yanmar regarding an Engine, as defined in the Settlement Agreement, relating to a Covered Engine Failure, as defined in the Settlement Agreement, and (b) any judges, referees, or special masters presiding over any aspect of this litigation and their immediate family members.

If you are a class member, you should read the Notice of Class Action available on the Case Documents Tab. Other documents regarding the Settlement are also available on the Case Documents Tab

[Capt Paul]

Jack,

My engine serial number falls within that range, I have over 800Hrs on my engine and have not seen any of the tell tail signs people tallk about on the forums. I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. I clicked on the WEB page you provided , but it now says under construction. Is this the page you are talking about when you say click on Case Documents TAB?

Paul

[Pitou]

Jack, Not being a Yanmar owner nor familiar with the situation, could you share what the basis of the suit and court decision entailed. I have a few friends with Yanmars of that vintage. Thanks

I hit the link and it came up Network Solutions under construction.

[Capt Paul]

This is the correct link:

http://www.yanmarsettlement.com/

Suttle difference.

Paul

[JackK]

Thanks Capt Paul. Yes that is the page. The period at the end of my url got picked up as part of the link so it pointed to the wrong place.

If your engine falls within the range, you should at least join the class so that you are covered in the event of a future failure. If I understand it correctly, your warranty will be extended to 8 yrs / 8000 hrs. for any problems related to valves.

Jack
___________________
2003 28 TE Dogonit

[chiefrcd]

Pitou,
The 6LP Engine manufactured by Yanmar for certain years ( not sure if anyone knows exactly the year) but a range of Serial Numbers apparently had a issue with the valve seals. After a year of research and reading articles on various forums, it seems that the seal didn't allow sufficient oil by the valve stems. As a results coking took place and eventually the valve stuck in the down position causing the piston to strike it. Sometimes you heard a loud clacking when you decelerated, sometimes you just destroyed the engine. Anyway, a bunch of folks posted on boatdiesel.com a few years ago and there was talk of a class action suit to correct/pay for/replace parts etc. for engines who experienced this problem. I for one had Yanmar replace all the valve guides/seals/keepers etc. which was about a $1000.00 worth of work. They paid all but $35.00. In addition I switch to Amsoil Synthetic oil which I felt offered me better protection/lub in my engine ( my personal opinion ....no flaming allowed). Some folks who's engines were ruined received new long blocks, new heads, new engines.....
For me, Yanmar was very cooperative and easy to deal with, but I guess some felt the suit was necessary. Yanmar has never agreed with the suits issues but have agreed to settle this whole thing. So, if you have a clacking older model Yanmar or one that has had valve issues and it falls in that series of serial numbers you should really REALLY look into it. I can give you just one reason why....the replacement bobtail engine is about $26,000.00 (not including labor)

[tomcat rio]

...a new peninsular engine and transmission with labor.
the yanmars are higher tech and about 25-30% more fuel efficent, but to me, the peninsular made more sense. we'll see what happens at re-sale time.
15-16 kt cruise at 2800-2900 rpm and 9 gph.

[Denis]

TC, you are just shaking up that bees nest!

[tomcat rio]

i did not mean to shake up anything if i did...sorry.
just wanted to provide some data to the yanmar guys for comparison.

[DougSea]

i did not mean to shake up anything if i did...sorry.
just wanted to provide some data to the yanmar guys for comparison.

Revenge of the BEAST!

(Someday we'll convince potential buyers "You'd really be better off looking for a TE with the Peninsular engine")

[Double Lucky]

How many hours do you guys have on your engines? What do you think the useful life is for these engines?

Double Lucky is a 1999 28 TE (Yanmar) with 1230 hours. The previous owner (original owner) told me that Yanmar fixed the valve issue when the engine was almost new. We acquired Double Lucky in Sept 06 with 1017 hours. No problems with valves so far. Actually very few problems at all--mainly deferred maintenance on an eight year old boat.

I was encouraged that Yanmar was putting the warranty out to 5000 hours for these engines. I am interested in what the consensus is about how long to expect the engine to last. I plan to use it alot and need to know if its time to start saving for the next one.

Russ

[chiefrcd]

Yanmars are great engines and highly desirable on the used boat market. I think you'll find several post here where engines have gone 3 to 4 thousand hours. Most diesels when properly taken care of and RUN will last for years compared to a gasoline engine. When I was looking for my Albin, all the brokers and dealers had nothing but praise for the Yanmars. I personally think it's a great engine for this boat...my only issues have been with the cost of parts. Btw you are AT the change point for your timing belt. If you have not given that any thought you really need to at around 1250 hours. Its in the manual.

[Russell]

Russ, you might want to check on your valves to be sure. The correction was made in new engines from Feb. of 2002. If the previous owner said it was fixed before that date I would check it. The new exhaust valves have a green stripe on their stem. Russ

[jpwrist]

A little bit more information and a question.

I just bought my Albin in January and had one of the local Texas Yanmar reps look at the 6LP-STE engine in January (post purchase) to see if its valves were ones to be concerned about. He did and he also called the regional Yanmar representative in Louisians to check the serial number. In sum, I am disappointed. The local Yanmar rep said the color was ok and he said that the Louisiana office said that my engine's serial number did not cover an engine to be concerned about. In fact they are both wrong. I watched the gentleman try to read the color and he called it every color, but the correct one. The serial number is in fact one covered by the settlement. With respect to the latter, he misread an M for a H. This is a 2001 boat and I estimate that the cost for the misinformation was around $300-500. The total cost for the service call was around $650, but that included an oil, zinc and water impeller change.

I have two questions: 1) What has Yanmar done to the new valves stem seals to correct the problem and does this solution appear to correct the supposed problem 2) Should I do preventive maintainance and have the valve stem seals changed out now for the newer design or wait to until the telltale ticking sound that people refer to occurs?

By the way, my wife and I just finished a 2000 mi round trip from Galveston to Apalachicola FL in this Albin. The boat and the engine performed beautifully. We generally ran the engine at 3000-3100 rpm and 13-15 knots. Thus, I am not a dissatisfied customer, but one that is concerned and wants to do the proper maintainance to make sure the boat continues to perform as well in the future.

Thanks in advance for any comments/answers

Jos

[tomcat rio]

...fuel comsumption? if so, how did you do?
thanks.
ed