# New here and have a question



## drob29 (Jul 22, 2014)

Hi all. I am looking at a Bristol 29.9, 1977, hull 42 located in the Boston area. It is currently on the hard. The current owner says the following regarding the engine:

*it has the original Yanmar diesel. A 2QM15, 2 cylinder 18 hp. She cruises at 5.5 km at 2800 rpm. The cuties barring needs to be replaced. The mixing elbow, part of the exhaust system, also needs replacement.*

Can I get input on what's involved with this? Am I looking at repower? costs?

Me in a nutshell: 50, male, kids grown and recently divorced, Have been sailing since I was a kid, parents owned a 36ft Luders designed Choy Lee built sloop. I worked at Boston Sailing Center 15 years ago (solings and J24's). Sailed as much as I could on the best boats (other peoples) over the past 10 years but now looking to own. The purpose of this next boat will be to weekend on and potentially cruise on. Budget is not limitless by any means, and chances are I would keep her on the hard until next season. I am not in a rush but this one caught my eye, I have sailed the 29.9 before so I am familiar with her. I am willing to put work in and am handy with fixing things boat wise. But diesel engine repair is not on the list...

Any and all input welcome

Thanks!


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## mitiempo (Sep 19, 2008)

The cutless bearing is the brass bearing where the shaft exits the hull. Normal maintenance but will probably require the shaft to be removed to replace it.

Same with the exhaust elbow. They corrode and get clogged with carbon. It is where the exhaust leaves the engine and the cooling water is injected.

I would get a mechanic to survey the engine before buying though. Surveyors do not do complete engine surveys.


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## gamayun (Aug 20, 2009)

Ditto on the suggestion to find a good engine surveyor though mine was useless so you do need to do your research and ask multiple people for references. Replacing the mixing elbow is a job that you should be able to do yourself. Just search for info on it in past posts. It should cost less than $200. I haven't done the cutless bearing (yet) but you should be able to figure it out. Plenty of info on how to do this, though it can be a bit tricky, but not very expensive as boat repairs go. I've been doing most of my diesel engine repair by talking to people and reading on the internet. It's not hard to learn the basics and really important to know when you need to replace the impeller or bleed the engine. And I'm definitely not mechanically inclined. Just learning as I go. Good luck on your boat search!


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## killarney_sailor (May 4, 2006)

These are not terribly expensive jobs and both items are (long-term) consumables and really outside the engine (each is part of the system that connects the engine to the outside world. I would get the engine surveyed though since it is old. Does the engine have an hour meter. Number of hours is an important indicator of how much life you have in the engine before at least a rebuild which is expensive.


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