Balancer Assembly replacement

[rodbolt17]

I go behind helpful neighbors and backyardigans all the time.

my procedure for changing the balancer is a tad different than the service manual or bulliten.
my old eyes cant line up the flywheel marks with the center of the starter drive,per tech bulliten, and I am to lazy to pull the flywheel and line up the keyway with the crankcase parting line.
however if you use the bulliten method you will notice a timing mark that will line up with the timing pointer.

hold the balancer level and face the gears down and its self alighning.

good thing is if you misss it no real damage occurs other than it shakes and you get to try again.

and no I wont let an untrained tech play with cam timing,timing tensioners or belts.

[chrissy t]

Did the balancer yesterday and took 1.5 hours not knowing what I was doing. Next time probably only an hour. Surprisingly there was very little sealer between the balancer and the block. Old balancer still looked good, but now I have confidence in the motor.

[kevinb98]

Union guy Boscoe99

B99 of course you want the tech know what he's doing on a passenger jet but on an outboard really? Isn't this forum to get answers on how to do certain procedures on your outboard. If I make a mistake my money my time nobody dies.

[TownsendsFJR1300]

The balancer is pretty simple to replace, I don't quite get all this training needed on every mechanical device in the known world before you can touch anything, if that was truly the case, you would spend your life at training and never have time to actually work....of course training is necessary, but not for every part of every piece of equipment ever made. I do agree some people don't know how to repair even minor things, but lots do have good mechanical aptitude and don't require training to (say) change bolt on parts?

Agreed ^^^^ 100%.. At least in this case..

They changed mine out under warranty. Took maybe 35 minutes and I watched the entire time.

It was NOT terribly difficult.

If it needed changing again, I would certainly do it myself with the manual next to me to verify the marks...

Not much harder than R&Ring a LU and WP..

[boscoe99]

B99 of course you want the tech know what he's doing on a passenger jet but on an outboard really? Isn't this forum to get answers on how to do certain procedures on your outboard. If I make a mistake my money my time nobody dies.

If I am paying a mechanic to work on my motor/stuff then absolutely positively I expect him to know what he is doing. And to have the resources needed to do the job correctly. I don't want my money, at upwards of over a hundred bucks an hour, paying for someone to gain on-the-job experience, possibly to the detriment of my motor/stuff.

Ever see the automatic transmission commercial where the shade tree shop had a grease covered mechanic, who more than likely did not make it out of junior high school, with a hammer and a pair of pliers in his hands, who said "I always wanted to work on one of them there fancy transmissions". His normal job was changing wheels and tires. Maybe you would have had to see the commercial to understand what I am talking about.

Now if I am doing my own work then I am willing to take the risk of screwing up as I go through the job. I learn best when I screw up. But I think that I am ten times more careful with my own stuff than anyone else will be with my stuff.

I am not sure what the stated purpose of this forum is. It might be more of a general bullshit session place for all that I know. I see good information, bad information and benign information. At least this place is civil. Usually. Actually, given that it is sponsored by a Yamaha dealer who wishes to sell spare parts I think it started as a place to help folks find the parts needed to repair their motors. Not a place to instruct folks as to how to repair their motors. Might be wrong though. Only boats.net knows.

[rodbolt17]

actually
If I screw up someone may die .
30 miles offshore isn't wher I want my customer to find my mistake when the weather is turning.

my motto
I really don't care if you go out.
I do care that you make it back.

[TownsendsFJR1300]

I've had trained mechanics (both motorcycles and Yamaha marine) screw my machines up worse than when I brought them in.

My F150, mech tuned (I watched) a nasty vib into the engine trying to raise the idle. A Master mech, at another dealership and $ was able to fix it.

A Kawasaki dealership, said my KLR 250 engine didn't have a compression release and the super hard to kick was normal. BS, it says on the side of the head of the compression release. After I pulled the valve cover, I found the tiny spring laying there(for the valve release). put it back on, FIXED.

Honda G0ldwing, under warranty a bearing let less for the alternator(pull the motor time). Bearing fixed, missing parts, major OIL LEAK, WTF??? Oh yea, a professional mechanic...Another shop had to fix it (sloppy work-nicked clutch cover case, pinched o-rings)

Yamaha FJR, throttle sync, had some issues under warranty. They wouldn't touch it without a sync. $125 later, bike still not fixed. Found the issue with the help of a forum. Once I bought a sync tool (Morgan Carbtune), I found my $125 sync done incorrectly- It adjusts with air screws, NOT the springed, adjustable butterfly shaft which is EXACTLY what they did. Its in LARGE LETTERS in the SHOP MANUAL, NOT TO ADJUST these. You could easily see the white 'FACTORY PAINT" broken. I had to adjust that back to stock, then re-sync properly...

I can go on but you get the idea..

Not all mechanic's are the same. (as with any profession).

Find a good one and stick with him if needed. If not, and you can do it yourself and understand what your doing, ELIMINATE the new guy that's learning on your machine..

[zenoahphobic]

This argument about using "qualified" people goes across all professions.

And we all have stories about a person who should have known better (professional) stuff up. And stuff up big time (plumber, doctor, electrician, surgeon, building inspector, engineer, councils, public servant, police, lawyers etc.) Not because they simply made a "human" error, but because of their arrogant approach to their perceived position in society.

The dumbing down of society is making it increasingly difficult for ordinary people, those that choose to tackle something, to do so because of vested interests wishing to protect their jobs etc.

It comes down too three things: IQ, mechanical aptitude, method of approach.

There are mechanics that have good motor skills (excuse pun) but low IQ. Similarly there are mechanics that have high IQ but poor manual skills. There also those that rush at something like a bull and don't care if they stuff up because they simply add more parts and labour to the bill (the customer won't know).

In my opinion, to tell a good mechanic (or any other professional), he/she must be clean and tidy, not ham fisted, and can be easily tested on his knowledge and on how he/she diagnoses the problem and how he/she intends to carry out the work.

Experience and qualifications go only so far. Knowledge and technique needs to be brought up to date.

[ausnoelm]

There's the problem. You don't get it.

If the guy was as confident of his mechanical abilities as he says that he is, why in the world would he be asking us about doing it?

Have you ever loosened a camshaft drive belt on a Yam V6 four stroke?

Yamaha cautions and cautions about being very careful loosening it. Folks try to file claims all the time with Yamaha for a defective tensioning device. That was only defective after the mechanic got done messing with it.

Having said this, there is nothing like the school of hard knocks as being a valuable educator. And Yamaha gets to sell more parts. It is a win win situation.

Another thing I just "don't get" what has the camshaft drive belt on a V6 got to do with the balancer on a 150?

[fairdeal]

Another thing I just "don't get" what has the camshaft drive belt on a V6 got to do with the balancer on a 150?

as an example of a "bolt on part"

that even someone with "good mechanical aptitude"

if not "trained" (simply, informed)

could, and commonly has, damaged

it looks simple & obvious to "back off" the timing belt tensioner

the "secret" is, that particular device has to be done verrry slowly

[Nautical]

I think this forum as in all forums is designed to open discuss issues with their Yamaha outboard engines and in this regard related to parts and assembly of parts. Therefore diagnosis discussions as well as procedural repair discussions are essential to choosing the right part and correctly installing it. There is good info, bad info like you say, but in most cases its all in trying to help out another fellow Yamaha enthusiast.The technicians that comment on here are especially appreciated by all of us participating in trying to learn , choosing the right parts, repair procedures , pitfalls etc and to enhance their Yamaha motoring experience. Its all good and much appreciated!