We have a 1993 C36-MKI (Hull #1270) with a Yanmar 3JH2E. It has the B2-type instrument panel in the cockpit which only has the tachometer and idiot lights. I’m looking to add actual gauges for Oil Pressure / Coolant Temp / Voltage and wanted to poll the forum for a sanity check on whether to replace the B2 panel with the C-type Yanmar panel from an authorized Yanmar Distributor (at $1,361!?) which has all the gauges AND warning lights/horn that I want or should I keep the B2 panel and can I just add on a multiguage from a generic supplier (like Faria for about $120). It appears that I have the harness that includes wiring for the additional senders (temp and oil switches each have a wad of wiring taped up in a bundle next to the wiring attached to the switch), but I will still have to purchase senders for the oil pressure and water temperature regardless of which direction I go.
I have reviewed the C36/C375 Tech Forums, but don’t see much on my Yanmar situation (mostly reference to Universal Diesels) – if I missed any threads which cover my situation (or would help to review), please point me in the right direction (found a couple threads by neilroach which were informative, but just not a perfect match to what I want to do). I have also reviewed other forums, so I’m familiar with Yanmar oil pressure sender using 1/8” JIB B 0203 threading (28tpi) vs US NPT (27tpi) and have found an adapter on ebay… I haven’t found anything on the water temp sender (yet)… I also found Gord May’s most excellent “gauge sender data table” which will be valuable reference for me in this project.
I guess my bottom line question is whether I can use Yanmar senders for oil pressure and water temp to avoid any incompatible threading issues in the block/waterpump (even if a bit on the pricey side), but will a generic gauge display appropriately? (I assume if you have an oil pressure sender with range from 0-80psi, the gauge needs to a scale from 0-80psi, etc) Or is Yanmar setup with some sort of proprietary arrangement that requires Yanmar gauges with Yanmar senders, etc…
I don’t have unlimited money for the boat, so I don’t want to shell out $1300 on the C-type gauge if I don’t have to – but I don’t want to be penny-wise and pound-foolish either (saving about $1100 in expense can quickly evaporate in frustration if I’m trying to pound a square peg into a round whole)…
Would greatly appreciate any insights from the forum – THANKS!
Jim Slager
s/v Salty Soul
1993 C36 (#1270)
Cape Coral, FL
what I did on my universal 25M was replace the oil idiot light sensor with a dual sender guage and idiot then install a NoLand Engineering RS11 - With both Raymarine e7d & i70's I can display voltage, RPM, oil pressure, coolant temp, fuel level, fresh water level, and black water level all right at the helm -- before I'd have to get on my knees to see the panel on the MK 1. I also get instant alarms when something goes out of spec. Even if you had to buy both the chart plotter and RS11 - its still cheaper than a new pannel.
Les & Trish Troyer
Mahalo
Everett, WA
1983 C-36 Hull #0094
C-36 MK 1 Technical Editor.
Commodore
Thanks much Les and/or Trish! Actually, we already have a chartplotter which will accept that level of information, but never researched a CANbus option as you suggest. We will check into that further! Also, I haven't found dual switch/senders for Yanmar in my internet searching - I will explicitly call my Yanmar dealer to check into that (one less thing to figure out on getting a "joint" to plug new senders into). I am getting more confident that I can use a generic gauge to receive and display info from the Yanmar senders...
Thanks! Jim