mriley
Member
I've recently disposed of my largish motor cruiser, 2 petrol engines on shaft drives, with engines easily accessible. I'm now looking for something more compact (less than 30'), which generally entails engines with outdrives. The problem is that on everyboat I've seen,only half the engine is accessible through the deck hatch,the engines themselves are set so far back. How do you work on them (change plugs,clean distributer etc) when,on a volvo penta for example,you can't even seem to be able to get a spanner on to all the bolts holding the air intake box down, as the rear 4 bolts seem to be inaccessible under the deck at the back (with often only an inch or so of clearance between the bolt head and the underside of the deck above). And you can't reach anything with the air box in place. It's almost as if you have to remove the engine and slide it forward to do even the most basic work on it. Does this mean getting a mechanic in every time, = £££££, or is there a trick I'm missing here?