[Webmaster] Yes, there is an emergency shutdown for a 3JH4 Engine.

I had an incident yesterday afternoon that stumped me for awhile, and concerned me too.  As some background I had wired in a warning light at the helm to alert me when the Racor filter is filing with water.  Since completing this project last week, I had not had an opportunity to use the engine.

Yesterday, I wanted to run the engine for a bit and maybe finally take Alderu out for a day cruise.  I placed the key in the ignition (and possibly turned it, not sure) and the engine just came right on.  No hitting any start buttons, nothing, just key in and RUN.  At first I didn’t even comprehend what was going on, but realized that the Yanmar was running.  None of the instruments were alive; the tach, temp, fuel gauge, etc, all dead. But

OK, I have successfully replaced my Transmission Cable. Here is the info for anyone interested. The final result is a very smooth shift…Sweet!

The cable length is 17 feet (I used a Teleflex, CCX63317). The toughest part of the whole project was getting the Cable holder out. I had to loosen the steering cables at the quadrant in order to shift the chain forward at the top of the binnacle to have enough room to pull the holder out. The left side of the binnacle has a little more room than the right side, so this is the side to use. The other trick was to totally flip the cable holder over to remove it,   Use the two cable like chopsticks as the Edison Tech told me, and flip it so that the bolt side was facing towards the middle of the binnacle (this will only make sense to those

Today I removed, inspected, and reinstalled my exhaust mixing elbow.  As you know the engine manual says replace at 500 hours and they make two exhaust elbows.  One at approx. $260. and one at approx. $900.  Naturally, the C-387 has the larger, heavier, more expensive one, but it should last longer.  I talked with a fellow sailor who attended the Yanmar engine school and the mechanic/instructor said to inspect at recommended interval and only replace when needed.  I have 950 engine hrs. and my elbow looked good inside.  No visible wearing away of the metal or carbon build up.  The following is the procedure I recommend for removal:

1. Remove raw water hose.
2. Unbolt 4 nuts and remove elbow.
3. Have someone hold exhaust hose (3 3/8 in. O.D.) while you twist elbow out.

The exhaust hose is large and only slightly flexible.  I was unable to  remove it from the elbow

Friends have had numerous discussions about how to store gas tanks with the gasoline that is now required to have 10% ethanol (called E-10 Gas).  For potable gas tanks I just pour the gas into my car and leave the tanks totally empty over the winter.  For gas tanks (such as on a boat) that can’t be emptied and stored inside, this article gives some very good input.

We should always add stabilizer to any gas tank that isn’t going to be totally used in six weeks, which I understand is the ‘shelf life’ of gasoline that we purchase at the local gas station.  I always add stabilizer to the outboard gas and any other small engine gas tanks, even in the summer.  Actually I also add diesel stabilizer every time I fill the boat fuel tank as well, but that is a different subject.

The last paragraph has a

My westerbeke 42b has run for years flawlessly. Several days ago it began to
stall. Suspected it was starved fotbfeul and I raced primary an secondary filters. They came out black and grimy. Since then engine still stalls after running at 3/4 throttle for 15 minutes. Seems starved for fuel.

Any ideas?

Check that the electric fuel pump is working. I had a loose connection on the fuel pump wiring that caused a similar problem. Fuel pump should click during glow plug operation and when the engine is running.

Paul McManus
Sea Sea Rider C380 #185
Port Orchard, WA

I had the same problem. It was a clogged fuel line with lots of gunk inside the fuel tank. You will need to clean the line and the tank, and replace both filters. I had the work done by a mechanic. He also recommended a fuel additive to prevent