Threw a rod in my Outboard (1 Viewer)

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Capt. Jim

Capt. Jim

Joined
May 1, 2005
Threads
186
Messages
2,263
Location
Sunset South Carolina, Tamassee, South Carolina
Had the port engine on my boat shut down unexpectantly a couple of weeks ago. Was difficult to re-start and limped home on one engine. Turns out I threw a rod through the side of the block. :crybaby:

Have a short block on order. I need to find the cause so that the same thing doesn't happen again. I have the local Yamaha mechanic doing the work, as the engines are computerized HPDI's, and beyond my expertise. :rolleyes:

We suspect an oil-starvation or lean mixture situation caused the failure. No signs of moisture on the inside. What a bummer. I have quickly forgot the joys of boat ownership.....:mad: :frown:
 
Ouch Jim. Sorry to hear that, how many hours on the engine?
 
Fuggin' OUCH!


sorry for your loss
 
:doh:

Cha-ching x 10. Sorry to hear about the loss. I know of kidney's that are cheaper to transplant than doing a full block rebuild on one of those pushers.... :frown:


..
 
I removed the oil pump and resevoir for all my evinrudes because of this kind of problem and went to mixing oil in the gas tank... sometimes that makes it a little rich, but I never had this kind of failure (like some friends had).
 
I've been real happy with the HPDI's. I have bi-passed the oil injection on prior motors, but it cannot be done on HPDI's as they are fuel injected. This has even got my mechanic perplexed, as he has not seen a failure like this on an HPDI in the past. Right now the primary suspect is the injector, it is one of the only components unique to the failed cylinder. We will be checking all 3 fuel pump systems and one of the two oil pumps.

Checked out re-powering but that is out of the question financially. MEchanic was telling me about an in-line 4 cylinder, 150 hp that yamaha may be bumping up to 200 HP next year. The 200 4 strokes are too heavy for my boat.

Steve, I bought the boat used and it had low hrs. when I purchased 3 years ago. After I get it fixed, come on over and help me get the hours up.

Owning a boat and having a kid in college are counter-productive......
 
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A buddy of mine smoked his powerhead on his 115 yami four stroke, still in warranty. He's a guide, boat's in the water every day, lot's of use. They still don't know why, it just seemed to let go, pretty rare for these motors.

Let me know when the dolphin are running (spring right?), I'll be right over.
 
I was up on plane doing about 3800 rpm. Backed her down slowly as I approached a no-wake zone. When she leveled out off plane, she did a death-dance vibration and stuttered and died. I did not hear the rod coming through the block. The stereo was cranking away and the noise of the block getting impacted was muffled pretty good by the engine cover.

I tried to restart and it was difficult, but it did indeed re-start and was very rough and loud. I shut it down and came home on one engine.

Upon opening the engine, the mechanic found some rust on the lower reed valves. As 3 weeks elapsed between the incident and the autopsy, we don't know if the rust was a result of the failure, or part of the cause.

Anyway, new powerhead has been ordered and will hopefully be installed by next week. Hope to fish over Thanksgiving weekend.
 
Capt. Jim said:
the joys of boat ownership.....:mad: :frown:
Click to expand...

There is an oxy-moron if ever I heard one..............:)


I too am a boat owner and I count on something that shouldn't break breaking so I am prepared for the anguish.

My first alternator broke the pivot boss off at 125 hours. I replaced the front alternator housing with a brand new OEM piece and that one broke in EXACTLY the same place at 255 hours, 130 hours after the first one let go. Do you notice a pattern there?
 
cruiserdan said:
My first alternator broke the pivot boss off at 125 hours. I replaced the front alternator housing with a brand new OEM piece and that one broke in EXACTLY the same place at 255 hours, 130 hours after the first one let go. Do you notice a pattern there?
Click to expand...

I'd say get ready for another alternator replace when you reach about 380-385 hours.
 
Capt. Jim said:
I was up on plane doing about 3800 rpm. Backed her down slowly as I approached a no-wake zone. When she leveled out off plane, she did a death-dance vibration and stuttered and died. I did not hear the rod coming through the block. The stereo was cranking away and the noise of the block getting impacted was muffled pretty good by the engine cover.

I tried to restart and it was difficult, but it did indeed re-start and was very rough and loud. I shut it down and came home on one engine.

Upon opening the engine, the mechanic found some rust on the lower reed valves. As 3 weeks elapsed between the incident and the autopsy, we don't know if the rust was a result of the failure, or part of the cause.

Anyway, new powerhead has been ordered and will hopefully be installed by next week. Hope to fish over Thanksgiving weekend.
Click to expand...

I had a computer go bad in my Evinrude Ficht and these are almost the same signs I was getting. I never threw a rod, but it did the hole die when letting off the throttle, would not start sometimes. I assume the computer controls the oil injection..

Would hate to see you get a new powerhead and not fix the problem..

Good luck
 
Capt. Jim, What horsepower are those HPDI's? I am assuming if they are 6 years old, it was a 2.6liter model which was 150HP to 200HP. The HPDI 2.6L was pretty indestructible. So this leads me to wonder which cylinder went.

The engine works like this....

Two-stroke engine oil is pumped into the intake and oozed around inside the crank. Unlike traditional two-strokes which mix the oil with gasoline to thin it out, HPDI's do not.

Fuel enters the cylinder at 700'ish PSI out of a Mitsibishi diesel fuel injector after processing through the high pressure pump mounted to the top of the engine to the rear of the flywheel. These injectors wouldn't cause an issue if they weren't firing fuel into the cylinder. The reason I know this is because at idle in neutral two of these cylinders don't inject fuel (2 and 4 to be exact).

So if you had #4 let go, and it was the rod that did it, I would look for pluged oil lines going to the intake. There are valves at the intake that prevented the oil from running back into the pump on earlier models. Then it was changed to a check valve in the pump....and I think later changed back to the individual check valves in each line. For that rod to break would mean that the rings siezed in the cylinder. These can become gummed up over time and should be inspected. The point of the check valves is so that when you start the engine there is oil immediately available.

With a little more information about this I might be able to offer more information. I know my way around a Yamaha or two.
 
Back in business!!

Took the boat out for a sea triial/break-in cruise today. Seems to be running great after a new power head install. The mechanic put the first hour on her and added 3 more today. Happy to be back on the water.:bounce:

Proven: I have the 200 HPDI's. It was cylinder #5 that let go. Lots of rust on the internal parts in this area. We suspect water backed-up into the cylinder while backing down or from launch/recovery at the ramp. #5 is the lowest of both banks.

We did indeed service the fuel and oil pumps, as well as replaced the check valves.

Appreciate all the replies. Now if I can find some time to fish.....
 
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