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The Contessa Corner → General Questions/Comments → Winter lay-up in the Maritimes
Hi skippers.
I'm very ignorant about inboard motors and I just got a Co26 with a Yanmar 1GM10. So here is the question for all of you helpful and learned skippers: What maintenance should I do to that motor before laying it up for the winter? The motor/boat has been on dry for 4 years but it amazingly the motor starts and seems to work fine. I just changed the impeller. Please advise.
Thank you all.
For winterizing the 1GM10 one must
1) remove thermostat housing (two 10mm head machine screws holding it in place, center top of front of engine) it's the part that the rubber water ines go top and bottom
2) remove thermostat
3) reinstall housing
4) disconnect raw water intake hose from thru-hull
5) start engine and stick raw water hose into a bucket of antifreeze, run until nice green antifreeze runs out of the exhaust thru hull (catching it with a bucket of course - helps to have 2 people)
6) remove impeller so it does not set over the winter.
come spring, reinstall the impeller and thermostat, and fire her up. the reason for removing the t-stat is that the engine is raw water cooled, and from a cold start there is no water circulation thru the block, it all bypasses. so if you suck up a bunch of antifreeze into a cool engine with the t-stat installed, none of it is getting where you need it.....
What Stefan said plus fill up the diesel tank to prevent rust from condensation, assuming you have a steel tank. If it is plastic and removable, remove, drain and flush a couple of times.
It's not a bad idea to replace the impeller every spring, it is cheap insurance. I keep the old one as a backup, stored in water. Not sure if the water helps but it can't hurt.
John
Stefan_d
I don't quite understand the thermostat idea. Doesn't the impeller circulate the water as long as the motor is working, regardless of the motor's temperature?
-picard-
the cooling system raw water pump (impeller) circulates water all the time. depending on the temperature of the engine, this water goes to different places. the thermostat controls where the water goes: when the engine is started and running cold, all of the water sucked up by the raw water pump goes right into the exhaust. this is to effectively 'overheat' the engine to get it to come up to a reasonable operating temperature. once the engine warms up because the closed thermostat is making the engine get wamer, the thermostat opens and allows some cold water to pass through the cooling passages, or water jacket, of the block. this cools off the engine to it's happy temperature or even a bit colder, the tstat closes again, warms the engine up, opens again, etc etc until engine and cooling water temperature reach sssf.
whats left always goes into the 'mixing elbow' or exhaust to keep it cool enough from starting a fire...
the danger with winterizing - you could theoretically run anti freeze though a warm engine and get anti freeze into the water passages of the block. if things are not warm enough, you won't get any antifreeze into where it counts. definitely safer to pull the thermostat, then you know you have antifreeze through the whole block. i've seen (not on my boat) frost plugs sitting in the bilge in the spring, luckily they didn't end up with a cracked block.....
Thank you guys for your attention to my question and taking the time to reply. Much appreciated.
The problem I have now is that the water/antifreeze is not being sucked through the cooling intake. I have replaced the impeller but used a 1/16" gasket, that I cut from that orange rubber gasket material. Because the original gasket is paper thin, now with the rubber gasket there is a ~1/16" space between the impeller and the cover of the impeller housing, and I am wondering if that gap is reducing the impeller pressure.
But if I accelerate the motor I can see that water starting to flow through the intake hose but only until a certain level (height of water in the hose) then the water stops flowing. Why does this happen? Anyway I will now re-check the impeller and install an original (thin) gasket and see what happens...
must have the impeller cover seat agains the impeller to work... you can forgo the gasket if necessary, but in a bind you can cut a gasket from brown paper bag......
Thanks stephan_d i am going to do just that. Let's see what happens.
A sheet of ordinary writing paper, saturated with varnish then wiped as dry as possible both sides, and ideally left to dry till its tack free before cutting your gaskets makes a very good thin gasket. Any spare can be kept for later use. For an emergency gasket a little more durable than brown paper, try the plasticized inner paper bag from a cereal packet. I have also used the cuff of a thin rubber glove (not a paper thin latex one) on an impeller pump. If experimenting with gaskets, it may be worth unbolting the pump base from the engine so you can check how freely it turns by hand using a pair of pliers to grip the shaft dog, when assembled and lubricated with washing up liquid. I have seen an electric pump destroyed by too thin a gasket jamming the impeller till the motor burned up.
If there is excessive wear on the inside of the pump cover plate, and the outside is in good condition, clean it up and flip it over. According to an authorised Yanmar dealer I know, excessive clearance in the pump will result in early shaft seal failure.
I get my gasket from an automotive parts store by asking for a gasket for a water pump. It sells by square inch and you cut out the shape you need. It is brown paper color but glossy and more resistant.
Thank you folks, I have the great (believe me, great) pleasure to inform you all that replacing my 1/16" impeller gasket for the right one (a thin one) the system works just great. The exhaust pipe looks like Niagara Falls!
Thanks to you also for the advice on gasket construction. Very interesting.
Next question (I'm getting addicted to this 
) - Do any of you have a raw-water strainer on the inlet hose? My boat came with just the on-the-hull strainer. Is this enough?
My boat had no strainer whatsoever since 1983 when I bought it last year. I installed an in-line strainer last summer...bought it much cheaper on e-bay than at a chandlery. It picks up the odd seaweed now and then but I find it is cheap insurance to prevent serious damage in the event the pump would suck up something more chewy. The basketweave pattern of the in-line probably picks up more than the hull strainer but the latter might be sufficient for the task...others might have more technical info.
I have an old style tubular bronze strainer on the inside of the seacock. It does the job adequately if de-weeded daily.
As there is no grille on the outside of the thruhull and the strainer body is inline, I can rod out any debris causing an gross obstruction with a length of dowel and a sponge to hold round the top of the strainer to keep flooding under control. It is usually easier, quicker, far less messy and just as effective to apply the dinghy pump to it and blow any debris clear.
A modern strainer is easier to inspect but I know plenty of people who have trouble either opening the clear plastic cover or getting it to seal properly when closing it. I've just got two wingnuts that I can use pliers on to loosen without worrying if I've previously overtightened them and a thin cork/neoprene composition gasket that seems near indestructible and is easy to cut a replacement for.
The Contessa Corner → General Questions/Comments → Winter lay-up in the Maritimes
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