Diesel engine rust problems

[bluey]

Hi,

I am in the process of restoring a 19 ft Fiberglass boat. It was seriously neglected by the previous owner but with some TLC it should restore well. I've posted a couple of shots of the boat as well. I originally intended to buy a wooden boat for a project but the deal fell through and somehow I ended up buying this fiberglass one instead.

The engine is a Yanmar 2QM15 Diesel which has some serious rust problems as can be seen in the attached photos.



I've been using the Battery Charger Electrolysis method to remove rust from some of the parts that can be dismantled from the engine, but I don't know what to do about the engine itself. Does anyone know if it is feasible or even acceptable to immerse the entire engine into an Electrolysis bath for the couple of days it would take the process to do it's work? I would of course remove alternator and starter motor etc. and make sure that any opening into the internals of the engine (such as the dipstick hole) were blocked to stop water entering.

Has anyone else had this severe rust problem and if so, how did you overcome it?

Cheers,
bluey.

 

[kilowatts]

Re: Diesel engine rust problems

Hi Guys:

I've been in this position several times in the last couple of years as I've purchased 5 engines from wrecked/abandoned boats complete with rust. What I did is completely dismantle the engine and rebuild it from the ground up repainting as I went forward. I sanded or cleaned on a bench grinder all the parts to bare metal if required, then shot with primer and 2 coats of rattle can Rusto. The parts and the engine look almost as good as new. I'd love to take a crack at that Yanmar diesel!
I don't know of anything you could immerse the thing in to remove rust, though.

kilowatts

 

[Luhrs28]

Re: Diesel engine rust problems

If the engine runs OK I wouldn't go taking it apart. I think I'd try something like soaking it down with PB Blaster or WD-40 every day for a week and then sandblasting the hell out of it, then prime and paint.

 

[oops!]

Re: Diesel engine rust problems

muriatic acid will remove the rust faster than you can type the rust is gone....

but its nasty stuff...hose the bilge down with water first...keep the water hose ready....dont get any on you......use a mask.

as soon as you hose the motor down with water......dry it with an air hose......then paint it immeadately

 

[Allbutwet]

Re: Diesel engine rust problems

This works www.ospho.com . I bought a gallon a couple of years ago at Ace Hardware for around $25. Just follow the safety precautions. I used it in a spray bottle with scotch brite then rinsed with water to neutralize. Would be good if things were warm too so you don't get that light flash rust thing going on. But this stuff works good.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Diesel engine rust problems

Does anyone know if it is feasible or even acceptable to immerse the entire engine into an Electrolysis bath for the couple of days it would take the process to do it's work?

Ayuh,... That sounds like a sure fire way to turn that motor, into an Anchor...

 

[bluey]

Re: Diesel engine rust problems

Hi Folks,

Thought I would show you a couple of pics of the Yanmar Engine after I spent the past couple of weeks cleaning it up. There were some very helpful replies to my query with good advice but in the end I just did what I should have done in the first place. That is I removed the engine from the boat and dismantled it as far as I could without getting too carried away. I then used Electrolysis to clean the removed parts and wire brushes of varying sizes in a cordless screwdriver to clean the block, head and oilpan etc. I then used a red oxide primer on the bare metal and topcoated with Wattyl Killrust Epoxy paint. There was a lot of nooks and crannies on the engine that needed cleaning so I rigged up an old snap-in screwdiver shaft as an extension for the smaller diameter wire brushes. This allowed me to get into all the small spaces and really clean them out. It worked well.

Another nifty thing I did was rig up an old 9v cordless screwdriver so that I could run it off a 12v car battery. I did this because I thought all the wire brushing I needed to do would burn out my expensive 240 volt electric drill. The cordlees screwdriver worked perfectly with the wire brushes even though the RPM's were lower than my drill. Anyway, have a look and see what you reckon of the job.

I've got AU$600 worth of new Yanmar parts being shipped out to me so when they arrive I'll reassemble the engine and crank it up.

Thanks for the good advice. But I can't get Ospho or PB blaster in Australia.

Cheers,
Bluey.

 

[kilowatts]

Re: Diesel engine rust problems

Hi Guys:
I can't see how anyone could find fault with such a result. Great job.
kilowatts

 

[Luhrs28]

Re: Diesel engine rust problems

You did an amazing job! That's a really cute little diesel. Is it a 2 cylinder? I bet it'll run another 20 years now.

 

[bluey]

Re: Diesel engine rust problems

You did an amazing job! That's a really cute little diesel. Is it a 2 cylinder? I bet it'll run another 20 years now.

Thanks for the encouragement Kilowats and Luhrs28.

Yes it is a 2 Cylinder Diesel, 15HP. Another 20 years running will just about see me out!

Cheers,
bluey.