J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment concerns with older j30

I couldn't agree more. Very good advice in that post! If you do get too squeemish about that particular boat, drop me an email and I'll put you in touch with others who have J/30s for sale.

Ideally, we want you to have your new boat all ready to join as at the J/30 NAs on Narragansett Bay in 2008!

Unless the motor badly overheated and caused major damage (which sounds unlikely if it still runs) then I can't imagine a cooling system issue that would require a repower.

It's a very simple system on the 2QM15 motor, which is raw water cooled. You can replace most of the parts you mentioned for less than $100 dollars:

Hoses, impeller, belts, zincs, and thermostat.

Even if the water pump needs to be replaced, it's only $350 (not enough to kill a boat deal by itself).

These motors rarely have corrosion issues, the zincs do a good job of protecting the motor. What is vastly more common is an issue with sedimentary build up and scale. As the motor pumps raw water, the deposits in the water (salts and other minerals) can separate from the cooling water (particularly if the motor is run too hot) and cause blockages in the cooling passages. This is fixed with an acid flush, which is good to do every 4 or 5 years as preventative maintenance on any raw water cooled motor. If you would me to outline that procedure, let me know.

What is causing the mechanic to question the head gasket? Did he do a compression test?

These motors are truly very tough and part of that toughness comes from their simplicity. If there is something very wrong with the motor, then it probably won't run at all. Certainly, it will exhibit a clear symptom from the problem.

If the motor exhausts a lot of smoke more than a couple minutes after start up, doesn't start, doesn't produce much power, or has evidence of significant corrosion or leaks, then you'll have some issue to address.

Even then, though, there's not much that isn't fixable on these motors. If the rest of the boat is sound and the price compensates for the deficiencies, I personally would not let the motor stop me.
Of course, the decision is yours to make. Is this boat at this price better than the next best alternative?

No boat is perfect, particularly these old J/30's.

I had a number of issues with my boat that I wasn't thrilled about finding during the inspection. However, the good outweighed the bad and I couldn't be happier with Rambunctious.

I'm not trying to talk you into this boat, and I obviously don't know the precise state of the motor, but I can guarantee minor motor issues are - usually - easily overcome.

[This message has been edited by Jason King (edited 10-25-2007).]

Thanks folks for the words of encouragement. I have not given up on this deal yet though I don't feel all warm and fuzzy about it like I did before the mechanical inspection.

The mechanic is recommending the head gasket change as some rust stains have been noted coming off the head/block seam. I think this is behind the inspector's suspicion of corrosion damage in the block. The only way to really know is to open it up and find out.

I am hoping that this raw water problem is one that is easily addressed. I would like to clean the raw water strainer, check/replace raw water impeller etc. fix the temperature guage and install the temperature and oil pressure alarms while I'm at it and see what happens. If this does not relieve the raw water flow problem then the next step would be to open up the head.

I have forwarded the mechanical report and the large lines of my discussion with the local Yanmar dealer who performed the inspection and my concerns to the seller via the broker.

It's still not my boat. Any possible work will need to be discussed, agreed to and at least partially paid for by the the current owner. The ball is pretty much in his court.

I appreciate the offer of helping me to find another boat. However this is the only decent boat that I or my broker know of for sale on the West coast (I am in Vancouver BC). Trucking a boat in from the Eastern seaboard, Chicago or the Gulf of Mexico is not really an option. The cost would be more than a professional engine re-build. If this deal falls through I would have to start looking for a different boat altogether.

[This message has been edited by dlabrosse (edited 10-26-2007).]

I am no diesel mechanic that is for sure. But for the first 4 years I owned the boat I fought overheating. Always happend at the worst times. So I decided to dive in. Torreson was a HUGE help. I was able to solve my prolem for about $60 in gaskets and a new thermostat. It was basically scale buildup and pieces of an old impeller jamming the thermostat. I chipped away the scale etc. put her back together and we had a perfect season together - our first.

I found that the motor is amazingly easy to work on and with the help people like Torrenson and this list everthing was just as explained.

It seems that if it runs and has good compression then everthing else is relativly inexpensive and you can do it yourself.

Can't think of a J/30 that has been repowered.

If you need counseling, Teresa had the same up's and down when she was buying Triple Play.

David
#397

Things are looking up again. The current owner is going to pay the cash to pull the head and solve the raw water problem. The deal is still on for now...

Well. I have not seen the result yet but the owner of the boat I'd like to buy instructed the local Yanmar dealer to repair the diesel. They opened it up, chipped out the scale in the water passages, cleaned up the head, replaced the head gasket, changed the temperature gauge sending unit, rebuilt the water pump and boiled out the mixing elbow. Raw water problem solved apparently.

I will be looking at it first hand on Wednesday and will close the deal the same day if it all looks good. This is very exciting.

Many thanks to the members of this forum for all the help and encouragement. I can't wait to participate more in these discussions.

I hope all goes well with the rest. That engine repair is exactly what I did in my basement last year and it worked great - pictures here: http://j30rhapsody348.blogspot.com/p/rhapsody-j30-348-yanmar-2gm-rebuild.html

Rhapsody,

Thanks for posting the link. I found it earlier as I was researching this problem. I'm very thankful for this forum and for people like you who have been sharing information with the rest of us!