I want to buy and old J/30 (there all old). How much longer can an 20 year old Yamnar run? What does it cost to repair one? Nobody buys a sailboat so they can motor around but you've got to get in and out of the marina.

If you have done major work on your Yamnar let me know what it cost you.

I'm not a diesel mechanic by any means, so I don't really have quality information.

My 22 yo Yanmar seems to be doing just fine on normal maintenance. The only thing I have done in the last 16 years is replace the impellor on the water pump (once), fuel filter (twice), and both injectors once (for preventive maintenance).

Outside of that, it's been changing the oil and oil filter every season, and filling the water intake with anti-freeze in the winter.

The engine is a bit hard to start when it's cold out (like under 50 degrees), but never a problem when warm.

My boat has always been in fresh water.

ditto what dennis said execpt the injectors(never replaced)

I've heard that one of the applications for the non-marinized version of the Yanmar engine was to power the reefer units on diesel trucks. As you can imagine that is a very long endurance application -- thousands of hours. It's also why the engine doesn't have things like glow plugs. You just fire it up and forget it. In Mondial's case, I have had the injectors serviced but haven't ever had to do any more. I've changed out the internal zincs a couple of times since I keep her in brackish water.

I had my 1981 2GM completely disassembled and rebuilt 2 years ago. Due to my own stupid mistake, one of the pistons seized. The piston and cylinder sleeve had to be replaced. But, I was able to inspect the engine as it was disassembled. The parts all looked brand new! Except for a little scale in the cooling water passages, everything looked quite good. Not surprising when you consider the typical engine usage - motoring a few minutes in and out of the slip a few times a month. Add that up over 20 yrs, I think you'll find that the actual engine usage is probably less than your car's engine with 10,000 miles. Figure you motor 5 minutes in 5 minutes out of the slip, once a week for 20 yrs, thats 173 hrs. If you drive your car at 60mph for 173 hrs thats a little more than 10K miles. Do you worry much about your car's engine when it has 10k miles? So, how much longer can a 20 yr old Yanmar run? I guess it depends on how it has been used and maintained. My old Jeep has 156,000 miles and it still runs like a champ, my 20 yr old Yanmar runs great too.