bertram31.com

Hi guy's I haven't been around lately been a busy winter, I just got a class action suite letter in the mail from Yanmar...Bruce maybe you can tell me what its about. A lot of legal mumbo jumbo but it sounds like they are increasing the warrants to 8 years and 5000 hours and refunding money that was spent on repairs due to exhaust valve damage. I have never had a problem with my 300lp's or herd of anyone that did so it took me a little by surprise.

Jimmy, do your serial numbers have a letter after them. It may be an "M".
Mine do, i think "maybe" it stands for modified. There was a problem with earlier 6LP's with the valves, but with the hours you have on the engines you may be past that problem. Good Luck

There is a bunch of posts on Boatdiesel.com under yanmar lp6 about the valve issue. I had my lp6s checked to make sure they had the rubber valve seats that I think were green. The #6 exaust valve would stick after long stints of low rpm operation ie: trolling. The valve would not get enough oil on it at low rpms. I dont know all that much about it but I think thats what the law suit is about.

I just got an email from Tony Athens attaching a copy of the suit and the class notice. The suit is pending in state court in Ga. Deals with valve problems in 6LPS.

I'd suggest anyone with a 6LP should see this and take action now to get on whatever bandwagon there will be....... send me an email at VLR@RKKDLAW.COM and I'll forward the Tony email to you.

UV

As a Yanmar dealer, I can only tell you what I have seen with the engines I have installed and what I have heard from Mastry, a Yanmar distributor.

First I have had no failures with any 6Lp's and I installed one of the first pairs available in a 31.
I have seen two failures come thru in service work and both were related to under turning the engine.

The signs are a valve tap noise comming off of planing rpm.
The noise is from the exhaust valves sticking and hitting the pistons.
This if not addressed will lead to the valve bridge loosening up and then valve failure.

Early engines had a stem seal that prevented proper lubrication and added to the problem. They were changed in later engines.

This is why I have always stressed proper rpm and checking with a aux rpm device other than a tach on any engine
.
Also most of the failed engines beside under turning them, had no maintance records or indications that proper breakin adjustments were ever done by an authorized Yanmar dealer.

Forums like this and boat diesel can be good but in alot of cases spread misinformation, conjecture and supposition like the clap on a Navy shore leave.

We have good people here, but sometimes I see stuff that's posted that is so full of **** that its almost funny.
I know some are addicted to boat diesels forum, and they have it bad over there.

You can almost see those that will see a post, research it on boat diesel and come back and answer a question with what they find.

Bottom line is as far as what I am told, the failures were few and related to rpm.
If it were not so then Yanmar would not have this engine slated to continue production thru 2010.

Lp owners don't get your shorts in a knot and I don't want to see anyone start slinging piles of **** around. So far this has been a quality thread, lets keep it that way.

I think most of you that know me know that if I knew the engines were ****, I would tell you.

As Vic has stated, the suit has not been settled yet.
If you are a 6lp owner, I would at least find out whats going on.

Its very easy to get a class action suit started. I get 1 or 2 a year from stuff I register. Most end up being nothing as this may be.

If I hear anything else, I will post.

Everyone I have met or heard from never had any troubles with there lp6s. Everyone has said that they love them. I read some stuff from unhappy people on another site but like Bruce said no descussion about maintnance or how they treated them. I looked into it because I bought mine used and was triing to find out everything about these engines I could so I could keep them as happy as I could in their new home my Bert.

The Tony Athens email was just him passing on to folks what he got as a Yannie dealer. Seems the suit claims Yannie did not keep good records of who they sold the 6LPs to, so the sue-ers (a legal term?) decided to send the suit notice to all Yannie dealers, thus how Tony got it. His email to me and others just passed it on, did not express any opinion.

In any event, the suit is there, and it would be, in my view, foolish for any 6LP owner not to look into it.

UV

UV,

sue-ers (a legal term?)

That's pronounced "sewer".

Bruce - good one, I led with my chin on that one. Been around Thudd too much this past weekend, made me sorta slow on the draw.

I don't even know why I'm in this Yannie cat fight, I got Cummins....like the Bride always tells me, keep your goddam mouth shut and you would be better off......yes mam, I will.......

Puff the magic dragon, lives by the sea.........anyone hear that one today?

UV

UV. No fight.

You were correct, as is the case most of the time, to let the 6LP owners know and offer them a copy of the suit if they didn't already have one.

Funny thing about the address problem. It came up at the last Yanmar meeting.

Selling dealers were not filling out the paper work and sending in the engine registrations. So Yanmar had no idea who owned what engine.

There are so little warrantee problems with Yanmars that it didn't become an issue until the suit came about and Yanmar realized that how many 6LP owners they had on file didn't match the number of engines sold.

Now you can lose your dealership if you don't register the engines online with Yanmar direct. They also gave us a cash back incentive for doing so.

You know like turning in your crackhead cousin for robbing the local bodega for a 50 dollar reward.

Been around Thudd too much this past weekend

Take a long hot shower and do some crossword puzzles to get the old brain working again.

, Back into the real world been out of the country and then out of touch with a computer
,,,I have had that ticking noise coming off of plane for the last 2 seasons ,, When we were at he reunion at oaks bluff on the vineyard i was talking to someone who had not that many hours maybe 150 hours maybe more on his boat who had the noise also.,., But he had the noise with very little hours I didnt here anything like that till I was like 700 or 800 hours into the engines....................................,Now i know .,.,
., So Bruce what needs to be done to correct the problem? I dont feel like waiting and letting something fail if I can attack it now .,Do the engines need to come out? How big a job ?., I saw that manilla envelope from yanmar but havent opened it yet.,., is there talk of the dealers doing the "fix" and getting reimbursed, somebody said something about getting reimbursed for valve exhaust issues. Extending the warranty to 8 years and 5 thousand hours.,.,wow
yes I am a contender for this designation, I have heard this ticking coming off of plane ( both engines ) but not every single time "intermittant" by extending the warranty to 8 years and 5k hours is a clear indication that something is happeneing .,Being one of the ones it is happening to what do you suggest as a course of action...

Well I just read the paperwork, and according to them (Yanmar) they do not acknowledge that there is a problem. that this extension is just them standing behind thier product. which is all well and good .. They want the engine to fail before any remedy's..
Thats not how i operate I would rather fix the problem and move on .,.,.,to know about it , to become aware of it and to do nothing until it "FAILS" especially after you hit the nail directly on the head with your analysis of what will happen and the
reasons for it makes me very apprehensive,,,,,,,,,,,,,,it needs to be addressed "BEFORE" it fails.,..,if you had 2 engines in a boat in your yard right now with this problem with the symtems you described as indicators of future failure,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,You Would,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, :cry:

Ric, what year did you put your engines in the boat. Thanks

Ric,
If you heard that noise, don't run the boat any further.
The heads will need to be pulled and sent to a shop that knows how to deal with the problem.

That noise is the exhaust valves just hitting the pistons when they are hanging up in the guide..
Valves need to be checked for damaged.

Yanmar should pay the costs thru a dealer. Get with the paper work.

Make sure those engines are turning 3900 to 3950 when the boat is loaded at its max.

Bruce,,,,,,,,,
My engines turn out at 3950 and have since day 1.,.,your prop, pitch, and blade reccomendation as i was setting the boat up was right on the money from day one.,
Ed I recieved them xmas 2k.,and sea trialed the boat august 01
a few points and I have only scratched the surface 1 1/2 years before the in house fix

1.the suit was brought about by somebody who claims the valve assembly is faulty

2. yanmar refutes this, says the valve assembly is not faulty.,..,they could be right .,ie. they are not lying

3. the question that needs answering and they are not saying is what is faulty..example...you bring a suit against dodge auto inc ,, you say the steering column is bad in thier car they know the steering column is good and not the problem and stand by the steering column but the real problem is in the steering box.and they are not telling ya ,.,.,this could be the case here.

4 the suit involves engines from 96 to 02 the first engine off the line to 2002 it is safe and reasonable to assume that they corrected the problem in house by 2003.. .,.,that would give credence to your statement about continuing manufacture of the engines past 2010

5. Pulling the heads to look for valve assembly damage could be" looking to fix the results and the aftermath of damage that occurred as a result of something else.,.,.Like maybe a design flaw .,tolerances to tight and upon break in allows that piston to "FREEWHEEL" when backing down from high r.p.m. .,thus hitting the exhaust vlave.,., i wonder if I can change out the head gasket to a thicker one creating that "skosh" of clearance that is obviously needed to stop the piston hiiting the exhaust vale.(while freewheeling),.,Would change specs and cubic inches though and might effect bolt patterns on other assemblys .,but it was an idea

6.Extending the warranty's and the hours on the engines is nothing more than acturarial chess by numbers,,,I wish they would just come clean and tell us what the problem with the engines really is... that way .,.,I would know what the real problem is and fix it .,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,(if it is even possible),., they know what the problem is .,.,they fixed it in 03.,(in house)
.,
it took 5 years of history and 5 more years to bring the class action to where it is now .,.,.,., these thoughts represent a cursory look at my problem dilemma.,.
:cry: ,I want to go back to florida I only came up here to do my taxes when it rains it really pours :cry:
,,,,well thats that,,,Bruce have you heard that dealers are actually responding to this and trying to correct it before the engine fails.,., because language i read in the suit says they want the engine dead before they will act and then only if,., they can have your virgin daughter, and you changed your antifreeze coolant every year {sic}

Ric,
I understand legalease about as much as I understand women.

An attorney would be best for that.

Yanmar or any other company would not want the engine to fail as it would cost much more to repair or replace it.

Contact your local dealer and get them to get the ball rolling on your behalf, but make sure you follow up.

Mac Boring should be your dist. You can contact them also.

Your rpm is okay. You may have the early stem seals depending on the serial number.

If you get the run around up there, call Yanmar in Adairsville Ga. or I will be happy to help you out.

You may have to pay the cost out of pocket and submit them for recoup thru the suit. Not alot of time for submitting a claim as I read it, so don't drag your feet.

I checked with my dealer up here in newburyport and he made some calls and I showed him the thread I copied out "our thread" and my engine numbers #5334 and #5339 .. He had seen the suit and knew of it but had no idea what the issues were,etc other than what he read cause he hasnt had anybody come forth except me and he said he did a lot of 300 installs maybe all after 03 I dont know
He called me back and said there will be a "protocol" established in the next 10 days as to how and when mack will be dealing with this .,and he will call me back We will do what we need to do.
, ..........................................can you tell by those engine numbers which are right in the Lower end of the "run" as they go up to #59etc if these are the early models you mentioned having a stem seal issue (lubrication" i think the run from 96 to 02 is #51etc to #59Etc and i'M 53
replacing stem seals! wow would that be nice
.,off to florida and De/stress ...and recover from my 19th nervous breakdown