Needed: good engineer in Valencia

We've been plagued with problems this summer and have asked numerous companies from Mar Menor to the Ebro inc The Balearics etc , all have been rediculous - The worst being = it will take 2 men 3 weeks to lift the engine out ,paint the engine space and refit it using new mounts - which is exceedingly humerous as two men wouldnt fit in the engine space, its a naturally aspirated four pot diesel essentially a tractor engine,with a very large removable hatch above it, I pulled the engine out last in 2005 and it took me a day from starting to it being on the ground, so guess im doing it again !

The other "joke" was the quote for a new lofrans windlass, 11,000 euros we were quoted in Southern Spain, it was 5500 pounds from a UK supplier and 150 pounds for the pallet to be delivered including the 120 meters of chain I wanted (2 anchors) ....Lofrans windlass are made in Italy, how can you ship it to the UK and back to Europe for half the price ?

so in answer to your question .... umm no , personally I have no recomendations and if it were me I'd sail on by, unless of course you have very deep pockets and can swallow without wincing

just to be Mr. Helpful though, here is the web page for the Yanmar dealer locator http://yanmar.com/dealer/ good luck
 
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hi Coastgal. I have exactly the same problem with my Yanmar gearbox and I am also based in Valencia (Real Carlos). I have been looking around too. I had some useless engineers aboard in August who purported to be Yanmar specialists - hopeless. I was at the Soton boatshow this Wednesday and talked at length to the guys on the Yanmar stand - they tell me it is just about possible to do this yourself - it could be a matter of "relapping the cone" (filing it back into shape) - man-hours required only plus a new gasket- as long as the cone has not disintegrated in which case a new gearbox is needed (£1200 + VAT). However if you have a stern drive with rope cutter, the repair is best done while the boat is out of the water. The interesting response to my concern about the lack of trustworthy local engineers was that the Yanmar website has a help line and can point you to local dealers/engineers that they "recommend". They advised first that you need to be able to quote them the model number and the gear ratio. On the 4HTE, there is a placard with these details on it. I suggested to the Yanmar guys that if I could not find anyone in Valencia, maybe I would spring for airfares for an engineer to come down and sort it. Perhaps you and I should talk about sharing his time if I go that route?

My cone has been getting progressively worse this summer, especially after prolonged bouts of motoring when the engine gets up to heat. I questioned how long my cone would last and was told with the characterisitics I described, failure was imminent.

Anyway, if any of this is of interest, perhaps you might pm me?
 
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