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Yanmar Transmission Must be in Neutral

Tom Plummer

Member III
Just ran across this interesting piece of information and remembering several old threads on the subject of gear selection when sailing thought it worth posting here.

Yanmar states the you transmission must be in neutral when you are sailing with the engine off. See attached PDF for their announcement.
 

Attachments

  • Gear N while sailing-1.pdf
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u079721

Contributing Partner
Weird, since as most folks here know the recommendation for our Hurth transmissions is that they be put into reverse to keep the gear box from turning without sufficient engine driven lubrication.

They say they won't cover damage caused by putting the trans into gear while sailing, but what damage could result? I mean they'll be some torque on the gear box from the prop if it's a fixed design, but that can't be as much as while motoring can it?
 

Mort Fligelman

Member III
Yanmar Transmission

Interesting Tom, that for all of the years I had a Yanmar 2QM15 in my Seidelmann 299 I always left the single lever control in Neutral.....as nearly as I can remember there was nothing in the manual, either the owners handbook that came with the boat, or the shop manual that I bought from Mack Boring.

I had a Martek folder on it from day one that I installed after confering with Yanmar, Martek and Bob Seidelmann, the designer/builder.

I note that the link mentions the folding prop, so I assume that it was just dumb luck that I never had a problem.....

I am not sure if the Universal Hurth would work the same way with the folder that I have, but I keep it in reverse whenever sailing....

FWIW
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
It depends on the clutch type

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f114/prop-shaft-spinning-when-sailing-7815.html

Reply #11 in this long thread on another sailing site seems to give a reason.

I also visited a large Yanmar transmission specification site and found that while almost all of their engines have their own house-brand Kanzaki transmission, some have been delivered with Hurth or Twin Disc transmissions.

Recalling dock gossip over the years, the Kanzaki trans is the only one I recall hearing about on small/-mid size sailboat engines from that company.

Loren
 
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Maine Sail

Member III
I was

I was the one who posted that TSB. According to the Yanmar representative I spoke with the cones can chatter/vibrate/wear when locked into reverse. This chattering can cause wear that can lead to slipping and eventually a necessary re-build. Many folks lock their Yanmar gear boxes but many have also had problems.

Yanmar used to advise neutral or reverse, though un-like Universal/Westerbeke never took a position in their manuals. For a while they even told folks it was okay to start the engine in reverse when the engine would not go back into neutral after being locked in reverse. They finally examined the situation and quite adamantly changed their position on this.

It has been no big secret that the Kanzaki's some times do not like to come out of reverse after being locked.

That TSB does not apply to other engine brands like Westerbeke and Universal with Hurth/ZF boxes that allow locked in reverse or neutral..
 

HughHarv

Hugh
Give me a break...

Yanmar announcement recommends a "shaft break". Is that some kind of manufacturer's discount or did they really mean a "shaft brake"?
 

Maine Sail

Member III
Yanmar announcement recommends a "shaft break". Is that some kind of manufacturer's discount or did they really mean a "shaft brake"?


I think you're covered either way. If you don't use a shaft brake the gear box will break..:egrin:

Certainly a typo..
 
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