1GM maintaining or replacing the engine control panel

[Dick Kobayashi]

My 25D is 30 years old +/-. There have been occasional mentions of sales of control panels for Yanmar engines. Is one available for the 1 GM and baring that, what kind of PM should be done. I have had no problems but everything mechanical or electrical breaks sometime and I am in a Preventative Maint mood.

[gates_cliff]

A related question - Do the engine controls correspoind with the the make of the engine? I have a Westerbeke and the controls have developed some "slop" or "slap" (term used in reference to heavy equip) and I'd like to figure out how to repair or replace them.

[Steve Laume]

Hi Dick, I can tell you what has gone wrong with Raven's panel if that is any help.

As long as the panel board itself is not cracked or badly sun damaged it seems like complete replacement money could be better spent elsewhere.

My tach was reading very erratically. It was a simple matter of buying a new one and installing it in the original panel. This was not of any great concern when it failed so I would not do it preemptively. I have a Universal engine so some things might be different but I have had the starter push button fail. This could be a definite problem along with the preheater button. They are easy to replace and pretty cheap. You might want to do this ahead of time and keep the old ones for spares. My key has been sticky on more than one occasion. A shot of WD-40 quickly cures this.

The worst thing I had happen was the failure of a small in line fuse at the back of the panel. The part that made it bad was that I had fouled some fish lines in a lobster buoy and it was blowing like stink with a heavy current. I didn't want to lose all my line and both lures so the engine would have been very helpful but refused to respond. I eventually managed to sail back and retrieve everything more by luck than skill while tacking and reeling in two rods during several passes. Once I had cleared up the fishing gear I had room to pull the panel and managed to find that the fuse and holder were completely corroded. I jumped the connection and all was well. This situation could have had far more risk than some fishing tackle so I am glad it happened when it did. I would advise everyone to find that little in line fuse and replace it before it fails.

Some lubrication of the stop cable would be a very good idea.

You could pull all the connections one at a time and clean them if you really wanted to go over things. At the very least find the two trailer type connections that join the wiring harness to the engine and panel wiring. These are just plug type connectors and are prone to corrosion. Pulling them apart and cleaning them is easy and will add some major points to your black box, Steve.

[John G.]

Preventitive mode, I asked about zincs and thermostats and you had no idea, sometimes I wonder what kind of thought process is in operation. I recieved only 1 response to my question of replacement. Maybe answers should stick to the question proposed. Once again I find my opinions probably are offensive, I'm sorry but I am what I am.

[marka]

The panel itself is just a flat plate to which switches instruments etc are mounted. If you are concerned about the age of the instruments they are easy enough to change. I suggest a bit of google research on "stewart warner" who manufactures high quality instruments. The switches are likely to fail due to corrosion at some point and these too are easy to replace with new sourced from defender, jamestown distributor, west marine etc.

None of this is difficult, just a bit time consuming. If it were up to me, i would label and disconnect all the wiring in the fall, pull the panel out and do all my replacements over the winter in the warmth of the shop.

[hilbert]

The electrical system of the 1GM is not essential to the running of the motor. Unlike a gasoline engine, the diesel will run happily without it.

It does the following:

• *A switch powers a larger capacity solenoid switch that powers a starter motor. In theory, one can turn over the engine with a hand crank (I can't).
  *An alternator charges a battery (that is needed because one can't crank the engine by hand).
  *Sensors are connected to lights and a buzzer to let one know that the oil pressure is low, the temperature is high or the alternator is not charging (I usually fail to see the lamp or hear the noise when any of these things happen).
  *A tachometer displays the engine speed (my ears do the same).

The manufacturer provided a wiring harness for the convenience of the manufacturer. The wires are not tinned, undersized and not properly fused. Over time, corrosion lets gremlins in. Understanding the electrical schematic will give you confidence to handle problems as they occur. The "Marine Diesel Engines" by Nigel Calder and "The 12 Volt Doctor's practical Handbook" by Edgar Beyn are good references.

As Mark suggested, rebuilding an old panel or constructing a new one can be a good winter project. I constructed a new panel last winter and I am in process of rewiring the engine: