F150 balancer issue

[Reece1706]

Hi,

I've recently been told by my yamaha dealer that the f150 on the back of my sailfish 218 cc may be expecting some issues with the counter balancer? I assume this is due to the "whine", I personally can't tell.

He has advised me that I can either fix it or remove it completely? Sounds like its there for a reason? The reasoning given was that he thought the balancer only really came into play above 5500rpm and that my boat maxes out at 5700rpm. Most of the time I cruise between 4000-5000rpm as the boat is mostly used for fishing.

Has anybody completely removed the balancer and what was the effect? Were vibrations excessive?

Any help is appreciated.

Cheers

[rodbolt17]

cheers
find a real dealership.
yes the balancer issue is real.
can and will take out a powerhead.
but please find a real dealership.
EVERY balancer built for the US market I have ever seen failed in the 07 and prior run.
most in the 08 and 09 failed.
my F150 is on its second balancer.
goodluck.

[Sequoiha]

and you cant remove it, it leaves a great big hole in the block... like rodbolt said,, find a real dealership,,,

[Reece1706]

Thanks.

So, once replaced is the balancer still likely to be an ongoing issue? Or will it be the type of thing that you just fix and forget for 500hrs etc?

I've read forums where people say they are on their third balancer....

[rodbolt17]

the lastest -03 balancer seems to work.
its the 3rd revision to the original design.
mine is the -02 and is making noise again after about 60 hours.
ill change it again next spring.

[JARB]

I think there is even a 04 revision of the balancer unit, at least here in Europe.

A bit off-topic but here in Europe there is also a commercial version of the F150 called F150B. It has among other things been modified to have better low end power than the normal F150, maximum recommended rpm is 5500 rpm and the limiter is at 5750 rpm, the balancer unit is replaced by a simple cover plate.

Just for fun I checked the price for the cover plate and it was at US$ 1500, the balancer is at US$ 2000. Yamaha parts arent cheap in Sweden The part number for the cover is 6BM-11511-00-94 as can be seen in the picture but it seems like the cover is not in boats.net's spare part listings.

In Sweden were I live Yamaha only pays for a bad balancer if the engine has been constantly serviced by an authorised dealer, also expensive as h-ll , and has low hours. When these engines gets older and people gets sick of changing the balancer every know and then I guess it will be popular to just take the internals out of it instead. Probably not recommended if you constantly revs high..

[Reece1706]

Thanks for your reply, this is exactly what the dealer said. Good to hear it from another source. He didn't think it would matter for my boat and gave the "commercial model comparison". I'm thinking I'll give removing the balancer a go and see what the vibration is like. I spend a lot of time 40 miles offshore so I really don't want to risk a catastrophic balancer failure. If fixing the balancer was going to sort out the issue I'd be happy but it seems that there a few people who have changed the part out a few times.

Thanks again for the info.

[Reece1706]

BYM Marine & Maritime News

Some additional info on the f150b and the omission of the balancer from its design.

[rodbolt17]

I would check the crankshaft part numbers.
I have seen a few commercial engines run many months after the balancer failed.
usually I get them due to low oil pressure alarms.
typically debris from the nylon balancer driven gear ends up in the oil pressure regulator and dumps pressure.
easy fix but a PITA.
anything that runs at twice crankshaft speed with a nylon against steel gear assy without full filtered pressure lubrication is an invitation to failures.

[JARB]

The F150B has a crank without the drive gear for the balancer that the normal F150 has. Perhaps this creates an interference-problem if mounting a F150B coverplate on a F150. But the cheapest and easiest way to get rid of the balancer must be to just take out the balancer shafts, plug the lubeholes and re-mount just the housing..
The picture I attached become very small but here is a link to the complete parts list of the F150B.

http://gjoel-marinecenter.dk/upload/...1L6BM300F1.pdf

[Reece1706]

Balancer gone!

A quick update...

The balancer has now been removed by my dealer, lube holes plugged up and housing replaced. Took it for a good run 20 miles offshore and so far can't tell the difference. I generally don't run over 5500 rpm anyway due to the conditions offshore...but... I did do a small test with the engine up over 5600rpm and I'm not sure if there was a minor vibration there that wasn't there before. If there is its a very minor change.

So far so good. It was a $300 fix versus a potentially major repair bill. No I can hopefully run offshore without it being an issue.

If anybody else is thinking about doing it maybe ask me in 6 months for an update. Thanks also to JARB for info.

[rodbolt17]

balancer is 330 and it takes about 45 min to change.

[Reece1706]

I did get two quotes from two different major yamaha dealers (in Australia - our dollar isn't far from parity with the US). They came in at $1500 and $1800 to do the work. I'm sure Yamaha wouldn't be dealing with them if they were consistently 500% over market price....

Cost aside, I don't fancy being stuck at sea for the sake of a part I don't need, let alone continually pay to replace a part i don't need. Seemed to work well, like it or not.... If anybody is interested I'm happy to give you any info I've got. On the other hand, if you're of the opinion that constantly replacing the balancer for only $300 and having to monitor it is a good option, good for you.

[rodbolt17]

like I say. retail on the balancer is about 330 dollars, can be replaced for 45min,1.5 hours at the most.
your trying to tell me that for only 500 RPM yamaha spent a lot of money developing a balancer for the same 150 hp?
myself I never saw the need for it.
yet its there and I typically dont redesign engines.
it becomes a liability issue.

[Reece1706]

I'm not saying anything of like, I don't know squat hence the post. I'm sure you do. But authorised reps looked at it and both arrived at the same conclusion for about the same price. Maybe there was more to it than simply replacing the part... I believe JARB is talking their language. Either way, I'm happy with the result. I won't spend any more time worrying about it while i'm offshore and I won't need to replace it again. Thanks for your opinion, the work has been completed. Case closed.