Danny Jo
Well-Known Member
Having launched Freestyle, now renamed Danny Jo, and thrashed my three-year-old Yanmar to get through the Swellies two hours after high water slack last Saturday, I was dismayed to find a gallon of salt water in the bilges. The inimitable Nige traced the leak to the raw water pump. On dismantling it, we found that the lip seal was knackered, the pump shaft scored under the lip seal (presumably because some grit had been caught in the seal) and one of the bearings rough (presumably because it had been standing all winter with salt water in it).
"No problem" I reckon, "because it's a Johnson pump, Johnson pumps are everywhere, and market forces will keep the prices down." As it turned out, it was a little more complicated than that. It was indeed a Johnson pump, but a model that is exclusive to Yanmar.
Yanmar prices, to the nearest pound or two, not including VAT: lip seal £18, bearing £31, shaft £121 (from memory - I forgot to take a pencil and paper to the chandlers when I enquired earlier today).
I did a quick Google and found that Aquafax sell Johnson parts. A very helpful man at Aquafax sent me a scan of the page from the Johnson catalogue that had on it a picture of the Yanmar pump, the Yanmar part numbers and the Johnson part numbers. He explained that although he did not deal in Yanmar parts, he would be able to sell me the Johnson part if it was common to other pumps. The parts in question were.
Aquafax prices, not including VAT and carriage (£7.50 plus VAT): lip seal £3.60, bearing £6.28 and shaft £38.00.
I ordered the pucka Johnson parts through Aquafax, but for the sake of an immediate repair I called in at the local bearing suppliers, who sold me a lip seal for around £5.50 and a bearing for around £3.50.
The stuff from Aquafax arrived by next day delivery, as promised, and showed exactly the same markings as the parts on the original pump. The "generic" parts from the local bearing suppliers were made by different manufacturers, but appeared identical. Pundits may argue that Johnson parts are "marine" versions, but as an earlier thread has suggested, it appears that Johnson is using a standard lip-type oil seal as a water seal, and if the bearing was built for marine use, how come it failed after just three years (650 hours)?
A mark up of between 300% and 1000% is, I guess, sustainable either because the market will bear it or because Yanmar are quite happy for users of their engines to go elsewhere for parts. What about a forum to act as a repository for part numbers and suppliers of this sort of stuff?
"No problem" I reckon, "because it's a Johnson pump, Johnson pumps are everywhere, and market forces will keep the prices down." As it turned out, it was a little more complicated than that. It was indeed a Johnson pump, but a model that is exclusive to Yanmar.
Yanmar prices, to the nearest pound or two, not including VAT: lip seal £18, bearing £31, shaft £121 (from memory - I forgot to take a pencil and paper to the chandlers when I enquired earlier today).
I did a quick Google and found that Aquafax sell Johnson parts. A very helpful man at Aquafax sent me a scan of the page from the Johnson catalogue that had on it a picture of the Yanmar pump, the Yanmar part numbers and the Johnson part numbers. He explained that although he did not deal in Yanmar parts, he would be able to sell me the Johnson part if it was common to other pumps. The parts in question were.
Aquafax prices, not including VAT and carriage (£7.50 plus VAT): lip seal £3.60, bearing £6.28 and shaft £38.00.
I ordered the pucka Johnson parts through Aquafax, but for the sake of an immediate repair I called in at the local bearing suppliers, who sold me a lip seal for around £5.50 and a bearing for around £3.50.
The stuff from Aquafax arrived by next day delivery, as promised, and showed exactly the same markings as the parts on the original pump. The "generic" parts from the local bearing suppliers were made by different manufacturers, but appeared identical. Pundits may argue that Johnson parts are "marine" versions, but as an earlier thread has suggested, it appears that Johnson is using a standard lip-type oil seal as a water seal, and if the bearing was built for marine use, how come it failed after just three years (650 hours)?
A mark up of between 300% and 1000% is, I guess, sustainable either because the market will bear it or because Yanmar are quite happy for users of their engines to go elsewhere for parts. What about a forum to act as a repository for part numbers and suppliers of this sort of stuff?
) and when it arrived from the supplier...nicely packed in a polythene bag...was cardboard, a narrow ring of cardboard about 1.5 inches across.....
