Check your engine mounts!

[lustyd]

Having got my prop off (thanks again WRR!) and the cutless out we found the engine out of alignment by enough to make the end of the shaft feel heavy when pushed up. Upon further investigation I found the nut on one of the rear mounts missing entirely, and the lower nut had presumably vibrated itself down to the bottom of the thread. This meant one corner of the engine was about an inch too low.
We did a very big trip last year so lots of miles and plenty of hours on the engine. Not once did it occur to me to check my nuts, hence this thread telling you to check yours regularly. They should be tight, so any movement at all in the top nut suggests a problem that needs fixing. The fix is simple, just adjust the nuts and align the engine again. Adjusting a nut 1/8th of a turn at a time and having to flip the massive spanner every time due to limited space, hoses, wiring, etc. is exceedingly frustrating work, especially when it needs 10-20 full turns!

When did you last check yours?

 

[Commercial Dave]

When did you last check yours?

Every year during the engine service...

 

[sailoppopotamus]

Perhaps it's worth using Nordlock washers to prevent this from happening again. Ellebogen ship their mounts with these.

 

[lustyd]

Perhaps it's worth using Nordlock washers to prevent this from happening again. Ellebogen ship their mounts with these.

These were still in place so the previous owner must have fitted some. I assume just not enough torque on the bolt but not something to fit and forget either way.
Also thanks, didn’t know that’s what they were I assumed a standard part of the mounts. This is useful to know!

 

[Plum]

Having got my prop off (thanks again WRR!) and the cutless out we found the engine out of alignment by enough to make the end of the shaft feel heavy when pushed up. Upon further investigation I found the nut on one of the rear mounts missing entirely, and the lower nut had presumably vibrated itself down to the bottom of the thread. This meant one corner of the engine was about an inch too low.
We did a very big trip last year so lots of miles and plenty of hours on the engine. Not once did it occur to me to check my nuts, hence this thread telling you to check yours regularly. They should be tight, so any movement at all in the top nut suggests a problem that needs fixing. The fix is simple, just adjust the nuts and align the engine again. Adjusting a nut 1/8th of a turn at a time and having to flip the massive spanner every time due to limited space, hoses, wiring, etc. is exceedingly frustrating work, especially when it needs 10-20 full turns!

When did you last check yours?

I have mine marked with a black marker pen for an easy visual check.

Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk

 

[jamie N]

Absolutely 100% agree. I'm not blessed with confidence about my engineering abilities, but having fitted my last 2 engines check mine on a monthly basis. The 1st couple of times I did find that the nuts hadn't become loose or slack, but were about to as the torque on them was now 'finger tight'. I've retorqued them and thread locked, which seems to have been OK for a year now. I was lucky also in that the alignment was still spot on.
Good heads up, thanks.

 

[lustyd]

Hadn’t thought of a simple line that’s a great idea!

How would I go about thread locking? It seems a great idea but I can’t think how to practically achieve it while aligning the engine. I’m now having visions of a 24 hour spanner fest getting it aligned then counting turns as I move the engine up/down to add threadlock.

I do realise that with a crowfoot much of the frustration will go away but with a launch deadline looming and modern shops not really selling/stocking anything useful I had to use the big spanner this time.

 

[Boater Sam]

Hadn’t thought of a simple line that’s a great idea!

How would I go about thread locking? It seems a great idea but I can’t think how to practically achieve it while aligning the engine. I’m now having visions of a 24 hour spanner fest getting it aligned then counting turns as I move the engine up/down to add threadlock.

I do realise that with a crowfoot much of the frustration will go away but with a launch deadline looming and modern shops not really selling/stocking anything useful I had to use the big spanner this time.

Align engine using the bottom nuts, wind the top nuts up out of the way. Mark nuts on the outside flat with red paint.
Threadlock dripped onto thread and allowed to run down to the bottom nuts. Capillary action will take it into the unstressed threads.
Wind down and torque top nuts.
Check position of marked nuts and retorque top nuts annually or at service.

 

[Poignard]

If there is room, you could add a thin locknut to prevent the supporting nut loosening.
Put the thin nut between the engine foot and the thick nut.

 

[RJJ]

I check my nuts often. A second opinion is always good and my wife helps.

I want to ask my wife's sister, who is a doctor, to have a quick feel but my wife is less keen on this idea.

All this talk of spanners sounds extremely odd. You guys....

 

[bikedaft]

Ours have an extra normal nut on top, as a lock nut. Never had any issues. Or use a nylock (as mentioned above) for one of them. Having just two normal nuts does seem to be asking for trouble?