Universal M25-XP Alternator Support Arm Failure - Again

Twice in the past 7 years, I have purchased a pair of OEM Support arms for our Alternator on our Universal M25-XP Diesel engine, I have one left and have no reason to think that it will last as long as the others, in other words, failure is imminent. 

When they fail, they break near the top attachment slot and, luckily, it has not been a disaster. When they break, the arm falls down about an 1/8" of an inch, not much, but enough for the arm to rub against the Coolant piping and the potential rupture of the pipe and consequential loss of engine coolant. That could be a disaster.

I went to a local machine shop and described the problem and taking the last remaining arm with me to use as a template.

My request was to double the thickness of the arm from 3/16" to 3/8" and to expand the width at the slotted end by a 1/4" They did a great job.

The Gray arm is the original

The Original is laying on top of the new arm

Just spent a few minutes cleaning the surfaces with a nylon sanding pad, clean with Acetone and  then a couple of coats of spray High Heat Resistant Rust-oleum paint followed by a couple of coats of Rust-Oleum Metallic paint ( just happened to have some of that on the shelf) .  

L-to-R Original, Primed, Finished

Should be able to get down to the boat on Friday to install one, the second piece will get wrapped with clingfilm and stored on the boat with all of the other engine spares.

They were not cheap! The new arms cost $150 for one and $200 for two, but they now have a Drawing of them incase anyone wants one or two.

If you want one ( or two) reach out to them. The invoice number is 25326 for reference.

Tropic Marine Products

217 SW 29th Street

Fort Lauderdale FL 333015

Phone: 954-779-7038

I'm not getting any compensation for promoting these, but I know that so many Universal M25-XP owners have had similar issues.  

See you on the water.

Expensive Oil change

 Expensive Oil Change - NOT!

In preparation for the Palm Beach Regatta this weekend, our plans included doing an Oil change on Eximius - not really due - we did an oil change last year - didn't record it but barely used the boat.

Anyway... Oil changes on Eximius are actually pretty easy.

The process (there is a point to this, so bare with me.)

• Warm up the engine for about 10 mins
• Shut down the engine
• Insert the Oil Extraction Pump hose into the Dipstick - as low as it will go.
• 10 to 20 pumps on the extraction unit - 2 mins
• Wait for a few minutes until the sound of sucking air is heard from the dipstick  - it's clearly audible.
• Put a couple of Puppy mats beneath the Oil Filter and release the oil filter with the filter wrench
• Coat the seal surface of the replacement Oil Filter - of course we carry spares.
• Replace the filter tight by hand
• Pour in 2 quarts of oil and check the oil level with the dipstick - add more - check again until oil level is correct on the dipstick.
• Check the other fluid levels, clean up, run the engine for a few minutes, check the level again.
• Wait till engine cools down and check again (we typically do this the next morning)

See, no big deal. I decant the oil from the pump into an empty laundry detergent bottle and take it to the city recycling center.

The actual oil change may take about 15 minutes. 'Normally'

So, yesterday, we got to the point where we were ready to install the new oil filter I noticed that it was defective. The cylinder that should be inside the threaded hole was clearly bent, totally unusable. Grr.

Not to worry, I keep spares on board, quickly pull one out, apply a coat of oil to the seal and install it. It's a different color from the other spare and original, no big deal. But we now do not have a spare, so we take pics of it in order to ease the purchase of spares.

Then we add the fresh oil, Opp! added to much. This if never a problem as long as it's no so much that it overflows from the Dipstick. Just use the oil extraction pump to suck out some of the excess oil and check with the dipstick again.  As we had to suck out some oil and test with the dipstick multiple times until the level was correct we put a flashlight in the work area of the Stbd side of the engine. Oh Look! There's  the Engine Fuel Filter just astern of the dipstick and look, that number on the side of the filter looks like the number we took a photo of the spare oil filter we just used.

DUH! I had just used a Fuel Filter for the replacement Oil Filter! Huge DUH! As I now had neither a spare Oil filter or Fuel Filter - we have to go get some.

Checking online - Walmart was nearest - no good - no equivalents.

Checking on google - West marine was pretty near, they'll have them for sure. 20 mins later - no they don't. 'But' the helpful guy at West Marine said - They're Napa Filters and their store is on the other side of the road.

Quick drive and into Napa - WooHoo! They have them $16 and $10 each. Not so bad, I'll take two of each. Surprise! The $52 dropped to $26 - at that price I'll take more! Always need spare filters on the boat.

I walked away with 15 filters and two Gallons of Engine Oil for $116 that's crazy! Sorry if you got to the store after me, but I cleaned out their stock on Thursday.

Back to the boat, prepped the new oil filter (double checked I had the right one), installed. Checked the oil lever, ran the engine for 5 mins and checked again. Time to wait overnight.

Friday morning, we're at the boat loading it for today's trip, 1st thing: Check the oil level - spot on!

So we're good to go.

We motored from our dock to the Ocean, put the sails out, headed out to the 3 mile limit, did a dump, turned up towards Hillsboro Inlet, Sailed to within a half mile, then ran the engine for the two hours it took from the Inlet up to Lake Boca. We're sat at anchor right now. Taking a break before the skipper's meeting this evening and the Regatta start at 10:05 Saturday (tomorrow)

See you on the Water.