Yanmar 2GMF starter solenoid

[mdemuth]

Hi,

'looking for a replacement starter solenoid (Yanmar 2GMF) but cannot seem to find the part or part number.

Our electrical system is in excellent shape but it appears as if the contacts in our present solenoid may be burnt ... as it takes a few cycles at the starter button to get power to the starter. The solenoid/coil action is good and strong each time.

Assistance appreciated in advance

Mike and Margie
Raven
1977 S&S 35

[deckhanddave]

You might want to try these guys.
MASCO Electrical- Marine and Industrial Yanmar Starters">

The only reason I know that link is because I've been researching the 2gm and 2gmf for weeks. How do you like yours?

[Ham1sh]

I recently had what appeared to be similar starter problems with my Yanmar 2GM20F. There are hundreds, if not thousands of pages on the internet offering advice for this problem, ranging from total replacement to cleaning all connections. I cleaned all connections and terminals, replaced the solenoid and had the starter overhauled, only to discover that the problem persisted. I eventually discovered a faulty wire between the ignition key and the starter button! The problem was solved - Ouch!

[mdemuth]

Thanks Dave,

Love the engine, reasonably quiet and reliable... some say under-powered for our Sparkman and Stephens 35 (a custom built cold-molded IOR 3/4 tonner), but with the right prop (good fortune had us inherit a Max Prop) and pitch we produce a good turn of speed with plenty of RPM left over.

The only bug bear is that for our installation, to service the freshwater pump, one must remove the entire assembly/mounting flange since the pump faceplate faces aft and we cannot quite get in there with our hands/tools.

Hint, if you get one, the foam material used for the air intake filter/silencer eventually distintgrates and ends up being suched through the engine ... not likely a problem, but messy.

Other hint, the transmission should not be overfilled as there will be glazing of the transmission cones and subsequent slip.

If you get a Yanmar, here is a good link (that you likely have)...

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...tips-1114.html

Best regards

[Waymar83]

Great Post!

No problems to date with the 13hp Yanmar! I have a 2GM in my 32ft Jeanneau Attalia. At one point I had battery problems and was anchored out (not enough power to turn the engine over). I tried cranking manually. I was never able to start it with a manual crank (with the handle that is provided) although I was able to turn the engine over by releasing the pressure. (fortunately it is a sailboat afterall ...)

Not to hijack the thread but I was wondering if anybody ever managed to get a 2GM going with the manual crank? and if so how.

[trantor12020]

1. My 2GM20F air filter disintegrated after 3 years. What a fine mess. Any solution for this ?
2. When I first got my boat, I ordered & install parts for the hand crank (fearing I would ran out of battery juice when out there). Thru these 5 years, NEVER had I managed to crank start the engine even after following some instructions from someone experienced in crank starting it. Any suggestions ?

Ken
H326, SV Millennium-2
Singapore

[mdemuth]

Hi Ken,

I think most sailboat installations/environments tend to be pretty darn clean. This being the case for us, I took my disintegrated filter and cleaned away the remainder of the foam material with a brass wire brush. You are left with just the coarse metal cone which should suffice to keep the big chunks out.

Never tried the hand-crank start, but previous experience with on our Laser 28 with a single cylinder Bukh, we could only start it with the flywheel pulley and decompression lever if the engine was warm. Cold start, no way. If you had a way to heat the up the cylinders and intake region.

Up here in the chilly north of Georgian Bay, I know a few folk with worn diesels who manage to get them going on a frosty Autumn morning by first "pre-heating" by blowing in warm air using a hair drier.

By the looks of your photo, air temperature is not a problem where you sail

[Gary M]

It has been my experience with 1 and 2 cylinder Yanmars and Universals that the hand crank is just to give you something to do while you wait for the wind to come up.

Seriously I have never been able to get a cold engine to start with a crank. On my current 2GMF when I turn the key on some times it does not make contact so I try it again till it does and then the starter button will work. I am sure it is either a defective key swtich or wiring to the starter button as stated above. Some day I will check it out and fix it. Probably right after it lets me dwon when I really need it.

[RichH]

Typical small Yanmars QMs, GMs etc. usually had a fuse on the solenoid circuit. Usually this is mounted on the aft portside of the engine ... and is very subject to corrosion in the wiring / connectors because the components were not tinned. What happens is that with a few trial attempts of starting, the corrosion in the fuse body/holder heats up and dries out the corrosion enough lower the resistance to allow enough current to flow to energize the solenoid coils.

Next time the engine doest want to start.... open the engine cover, locate the solenoid and with an insulated screwdriver simply short/jump between the large HOT battery terminal and the smaller wire from the control panel. If the 'shorting' between these two terminals immediately *engages the solenoid and the engine starts* (dont get you clothing, etc. caught in the 'moving parts' when doing this) .... then you have HIGH RESISTANCE in the solenoid control circuit (usually a corroded fuse/holder). If you actually have one of these notorious engine mounted fuse holder ... entirely replace it (dont waste your time trying to clean it) and replace the whole wiring (with 'tinned' wire) all the way back to the panel mounted 'start' button.

I'll offer odds that corrosion & high resistance in the solenoid energizing circuit (usually the fuse holder) is your problem as this is common/notorious on small Yanmars.

:-)

[wnor]

I had the same problem as in Post #1 with my Yanmar 3GM: pressing the start button always caused the solenoid to click but energized the starter only about once in five tries. I replaced the solenoid, blah, blah, blah. The problem was as follows: The Yanmar wiring schematic calls for a white wire in the wiring harness from the start button to the solenoid. On my boat someone interrupted that wire and spliced in leads that led to a microswitch in the "all-in-one" throttle/transmission control. The idea was to prevent starts with the transmission in gear. A good idea, but poorly executed: the spliced wiring and microswitch were too wimpy to carry the current necessary to reliably drive the solenoid piston all the way home such that the starter contacts closed. I restored the wiring to Yanmar's specifications, and the engine now fires up every time the start button is pushed. HTH.