This could have ruined our boat and engine!
Imagine you have been out sailing and the weather turns bad. You point your bow towards harbor to seek shelter but see yourself pounding waves going just a few knots by engine.
Out of the blue, your whole boat starts to shake and rattle like you’ve never experienced before.
With no clue what is going on you check your engine and see the engine bouncing violently in the engine bay secured to - Nothing.
Your engine has come lose from the only thing that keeps it attached to your boat.
The Engine Mounts.
I know this is fictional - But the reality could be very close and the above really could happen.
And if we did not check our engine mounts and replaced them with new ones - I am pretty sure it would have happened to us.
Did it really look that bad?
We have continuously tried to identify the critical areas of our boat that needed work done. And the logical place to start is with the areas you can see and use often - And our Engine mounts has never shown any sign of failure or reason not to work.
But when I looked at the engine - There has always been one or two of the mounts that looked a bit sketchy and I really did not want to replace them because I thought the job would require professional help. Or at least some sort of professional knowledge.
And when I looked into the prices of replacing our mounts, it seemed overwhelming.
Replacing all 4 of our Engine mounts would set us back more than 1000 Euros if we bought original Yanmar mounts.
It was simply too much for us in our whole ‘’get the boat ready budget’’.
I had originally knocked off the idea of replacing the mounts but the consequence of not replacing them kind of scared me.
The top priority of this voyage of ours is to do it as safely as possible.
Thank you google - You did something good
After my intensive research - Google picked up my thought and one day suggested a company in Spain called Ellebogen Engine Mounts.
I went on with my research and it turned out that not only do they produce engine mounts - But the owners are sailors themselves.
The prices they promote mounts to - seemed a bit ‘’on the low side’’ compared to original spare parts from Yanmar and I, therefore, went on to contact them. Hoping they could assist me with finding the correct mounts and hopefully still at those fair prices.
Within a couple of hours I received a reply and sure enough - the prices were correct.
And together with the reply, they suggested I take a good look at the instructional videos about installing the mounts.
It kind of made the call for me - Quick precise reply - good service trying to assist with the installation and then some decent prices.
Shortly after we put in the order (We ordered these mounts for our Yanmar)
Getting ready for the install
Before diving into the installation of the engine mounts, I ensured that I had the correct tools for the job. I used the following tools:
Socket wrenches
Wrenches/Spanner in different sizes
Hammer
Different sizes of plywood for support
A few days before the installation, I ensured to spray the bolts with a small dose of WD40 - Just to be sure that the bolts would come loose.
Installation process
I was uncertain how long time the installation would take - Therefore having enough time is crucial.
Besides that - The process is pretty straightforward. I went through the installation in these steps.
Support the propeller shaft to ensure that it stays in its intended position.
Remove the propeller shaft from the gear box. The installation will cause the engine to move a bit and you will do a shaft/engine alignment after the installation.
Ensure support under the engine. With plywood spacers and a 2T hydraulic jack that can lift the engine just a few centimeters. Like this one from Amazon.com
Losen the Engine Mount bolts (those securing the mount to the boat) and remove them.
Losen and remove the bolts that secure the engine mount to the engine.
Remove the engine mount.
Ensure to clean the surface, before installing the new mounts.
When preparing the new mounts for installation. Make sure that you align the hight of the new mount to match that of the old mount.
Installing the new mount:
Loosely attach the engine bracket to the new mount.
Position the engine mount in the engine bay and connect it to the engine first.
Then align with the engine bay mounting holes and secure it with bolts. (Should not be firmly tightened as you will need to make an alignment for the shaft later.
Use the same process for the remaining engine mounts.
Alignment
Depending on your setup - The engine can move a few degrees/mm and thereby making the shaft attachment more difficult.
It is REALLY important that you do not force the shaft back into place. The shaft has to be as straight as possible or else it can cause an uneven use when you start sailing.
You should therefore move the engine in order to align it with the shaft. This can be done by gently pushing it in the wanted direction or lifting/lowering it by adjusting the individual engine mounts.
When the engine is well aligned witht the shaft. Connect the two and secure it tightly.
Then secure the engine mounts to the engine bay by tightening all the bolts.
After a few days, you can check on the different bolts and ensure that they are still tight.
Runtime check
When all is tightened and secured - make sure you test the engine at various Rpm. Just to see if all works well and nothing seems loose.
A good idea to do a dock-side test with the engine in gear to check the alignments under stress.
If you notice any shaking or changed behaviour - stop the engine and look for the cause.
Could be bolts that need to be tightened our that the alignment is not precise enough.
Was it worth the back pain?
And yes, this gave a certain amount of back pain from crawling around in the engine bay.
That’s okay.
Because when we look at the old engine mounts it is clear that it was a disaster waiting to happen. Two of the four mounts were in such a bad shape that they could have caused some serious damage to our boat if they had come lose our broken off.
And to think of the consequences it would have had during a rough harbour entrance or emergency at sea it was well worth diving into this project!
Working on Marine equipment and especially marine engine can seem very frightening to many - So it did to me.
But when working together with a company like Ellebogen who guides and assist with the process (Not physical - just by mail and giving good advice) it because relatively easy to handle.
Like all other things - Once you dive into a project and do your research good enough it can be done by most people.