The engine issue that has had us sidelined actually began in 2021. But, at the time we replaced the injectors and that seemed to solve the issue. Then in 2022 after returning back to Bocas from our trip to the San Blas I found that we couldn't run our engine at full rpm and when increasing the throttle it resulted in heavy black smoke.
Before calling anyone I did as much self-help as I could conceive. I started by changing the fuel filters, cleaning the air filter (our engine doesn't really have an air filter, it is a "silencer") and running the engine with the compartment open to check if it was air constrained. I sprayed turbo cleaner into the air intake. Examined the mixing elbow but nothing helped.
In this part of the world one is forced to either do it yourself or trust in someone. Shortly after we arrived in Bocas we happened upon a mechanic named Martin who was South African. After using him on several tasks I determined that he was 1 step better than doing it myself which is still a value. So, in 2021 he correctly diagnosed the injector issue and then in 2022 he checked the injectors and found them to be working well so he concluded the next step was the fuel pump. He also checked the compression and the valve clearances. With all that fine he removed the fuel pump for me to have rebuilt, advised me to take an oil sample and that when he reinstalled the fuel pump he would need to remove the front of the engine to set the timing after reinstalling the fuel pump. So on his guidance I bought all the gaskets and seals necessary to remove the engine front.
We did the oil sample analysis and had the pump rebuilt. The oil sample didn't show anything too unusual. But, when I was trying to text Martin from the States the texts weren't going through. When we returned to Bocas we found that Martin was gone. He had been chased out of Panama by the immigration officials because he didn't have a visa and as a South African he needed one and that was problematic to get.
When I discovered that, I immediately saw our future slipping away. Martin had taken pictures and would have had an edge up that others didn't have. A day or so later the marina manager said he had a good mechanic that could reinstall the fuel pump. He did show up and install the fuel pump but the engine didn't run right. He came back once or twice and did some adjustments but he never set the timing. The engine ran ok, but we had the same problem as before.
After reinstalling the fuel pump the previous issues persisted and it began a 2 year-long hunt for the cause since it seemed like the fuel pump wasn't it.
The mechanics that actually fixed the problem working on the timing. We sought advice from many people. But, my long-known knowledge of diesels was that black smoke meant insufficient air. After talking to many people and so-called mechanics I finally agreed to pay for a Yanmar mechanic to fly in from Panama City to diagnose the issue. After spending a day he suggested that it was the turbo, Others had suggested it as well. If the turbo wasn't spinning properly it wouldn't be pushing enough air into the cylinders. So, that made sense.
We agreed with him on a course of action and costs, but, then he decided he wanted more money so we told him no. We did buy a new turbo from him that I installed myself. But, that didn't resolve the issue.
Some thought that back pressure on the turbo could be causing the turbo not to spin properly. Having replaced the turbo that idea gained more credibility with me. After we flew back from the States I decided to replace the entire exhaust hose to address the back pressure issue. So, I removed the exhaust system up to the tail pipe. I thoroughly cleaned the mixing elbow and the muffler and replaced the hose between them to no avail. Because of a nationwide protest in Panama getting the exhaust hose was delayed by about 2 months. After replacing the hose the problem persisted and we decided to spend the holidays in Bocas.
Out of ideas, I contacted another Yanmar dealer in Colon and began coordinating with him to work on our engine once we moved further east. So in the beginning of February of 2024 we moved east to Shelter Bay Marina after doing a seatrial to get confidence that we could make it. In another blog article I talk about that trip. But, even though the trip was uneventful, when we got into our slip in Shelter Bay the engine was having issues.
One of the issues I noticed on the trip from Bocas was the accumulation of debris and water in the fuel filters so I immediately replaced the primary filter along with draining the bowl to remove the dirt and water that had accumulated in it.
It took a few days before our mechanic arrived and after his review he thought the issue was in the fuel pump. So he removed it again and took it to somewhere to work on it and later came back and reinstalled it. I asked him about setting the timing and he said he didn't need to do that. The engine actually seemed to run fine so we prepared and left. However, we didn't get far and now black water and carbon were coming out of the exhaust and we turned around and went back to the marina.
The owner of the mechanic shop came by shortly after we returned because he was looking to get paid but we told and showed him where we were. He said he would send his guy back out. The guy came back out and said he needed to adjust the timing. He said he needed special tools and would come back. He came back and I'm not sure what he did but after a day the engine wouldn't start at all. I gave him 3 days to fix it and after the last day when the engine still didn't start I told him not to come back. The next day his manager came by and wanted another chance. I told him we went from not right, to bad, to worse. He had several days and he looked clueless. So, I told him no mas.
A friend who had used another mechanic and was very pleased with him contacted the mechanic for me and the mechanic agreed to come look. He came and evaluated the situation. After several hours he concluded no fuel was getting to the injectors and said the fuel pump was the problem. They pulled the fuel pump a third time and we took it into Panama City to a lab he suggested. The next day they sent a video of the pump working and said they had to replace all the seals because they were bad and did a full rebuild. The price was a fraction of what I paid in the States.
After a delay for Semana Santa, the mechanics reinstalled the fuel pump but found the engine wouldn't start and they found fuel wasn't going through the injectors. They removed the injectors and took them for testing and said they were all clogged. I had a set of rebuilt injectors on board which they installed and still the engine wouldn't start. They now determined it was the timing.
During our working the red stop button broke. I'm going to replace the whole panel. For our mechanic we were either an extra job or not high priority because he told me they would be there at 9 and usually showed up at 4 or 5 when he showed up. We sat in the boat everyday waiting for them.
When they left that night after determining the timing was off, he said no problem they would come back the next day and fix the timing. Later that night I got a text from him that said they would need to remove the engine front to set the timing. I don't know who turned on the light but we were back to what Martin told me 2 years ago and everybody else poo-pooed. The circle had finally come full turn.
It took them 2 visits to remove the front, adjust the timing manually and reinstall the front. I had the new gaskets and seals that I had previously bought and they were finally used. They put the engine together and it started. We were ecstatic. There was some initial coughing from all the non-starts but it ran fine in the slip.
We took the boat out for a seatrial and it overheated. Immediately 2 things came to mind. The first was the thermostat and the second was that we sat in our slip for over 2 months and the growth on the bottom would be incredible and could contribute to over heating.
My first thought was that I had a thermostat on board but later when I checked I found the thermostat for the generator. I checked my records and I had replaced the thermostat in the engine 3 years ago. So, I dismissed the thermostat as the cause.
But, we got a diver to clean the bottom and we also had the fuel polished that removed hunks of sediment. So after that, we again tried to leave but the engine was running hot and we turned back again.
This time I pulled the thermostat and tested it and found it indeed failed. I tested it in a pan of boiling water and it failed to open. I checked with the store in the marina and of course they didn't have any. They called the local dealer who didn't have any but he ordered one for me. It took a week-and-a-half to arrive. I tested it and it opened. I installed it and after some bad weather we finally left Shelter Bay for good.
Looking back over the whole sorry episode I'm convinced that had Martin reinstalled the fuel pump and set the timing in 2022 the issues of 2 years would have been avoided. It's been almost 50 years since I worked on tank diesel engines and most of that memory is gone. What I've relearned in the past 13 years is still increasing. Also, having a language barrier with people doing the work makes progress difficult but, the first thing is they have to show up.
So, in the final analysis the issue was always the fuel pump and then the bad timing. The clogged injectors no doubt resulted from the over-fueled engine and the thermostat issue and stop button were totally unrelated.
Key lessons learned is always have the spares and don't believe all the "experts".
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