Water heater woes A27FC

[Jay Knoll]

My water pressure pump has been periodically cycling when the taps are closed, I've tightened all the connections and found a tell tale patch of water underneath the water heater, I'm afraid it is going to have to be replaced.,

And those xxxxx, xxxing, xxxxards that built the boat put the water heater in before they installed the engine. Yep, you know what I'm going to say, I'm going to have to take a Sawzall to it to get it out and I'm having a hard time finding another one that I will be able to slide by the engine. It looks like I've got about 9" of clearance between the engine and the edge of the hatch!

Anyone else tackled this problem? Any recommendations on tanks that will fit?

Jay

[Beta Don]

You have a bigger engine than just about anyone here, Jay. In all probability, everything in the engine room *was* installed before the engine - It's much easier to work in there when the engine isn't there

I was able to install a 2.5 Kw diesel genset on the starboard side of the engine when my old 4D61 was still installed in the boat and putting a new stainless 6 gallon water heater in there beside it was no problem with my Yanmar already in the boat, but it doesn't surprise me at all that you have clearance problems with that monster 157 HP Isuzu you have in there

Don

[tego]

Jay, Do you know for sure that it's the tank that's leaking? I'd pull the cover plate off over the thermostat/110 volt element and check those items. Some of the tanks have an anode under there too. If it's not the tank itself, you might get lucky. The hose adapters and plumbing fittings go bad too. Seriously, only about 9"? I thought my Nissan is too big, but I can pull my batteries and lie down beside it to work on the raw water pump. Good luck. Ben

[sail149]

Jay, when you remove the insulation how much smaller would it be?
What do you need to remove from the engine so it will come out in one piece. Maybe not much? If your lucky.....
Also I looked at a A27 where they put a large holding tank in by cutting the aft bulkhead partly out so they could slid in the large tank from the stb locker area. Then fiberglassed up the bulkhead.
Cheers Warren

[Jay Knoll]

Hi Guys

Summer in FL isn't the time to fight with this problem, so I'm living with the situation for now. Warren, there is a holding tank aft of the water tank, don't know if I'm ready to cut that bulkhead. I've been thinking about taking stuff off the engine, or even disconnecting the engine from the drive shaft and the mounts and sliding it over to the port side to get access. Lots of time to think about alternatives!

[thomashwagar]

Hi Jay, why not by-pass the old heater and add an electric instant water heater, my 27 is equipped with one and it works fine. Mine is located in the storage bins in the aft cabin. I know because I neglected to get all the water out and had to replace the element this spring. I hate cutting fiberglass. Tom