Engine access on twin engined Aquafibre Ocean 30

[doinguptheboat]

Hi all,

I'm having terrible trouble accessing some areas on the port engine of my boat (Merc OM636s). It seems to me to be almost impossible to get to the fresh water pump to inspect/change the impeller. I also need to get to the pump mounting bolts as I want to change the pump and alternator belts. I also have new alternators to fit, but can't seem to reach the lower mounting bolts. The whole arrangement seems crazy! I cant reach from the top, I may be able to crawl in beside the engine, but I'd have to - at the very least - remove my black water tank to stand any chance - I'd rather not! Spoke to one marine engineer with a lot of experience of these boats - he said changing impeller is the worst job he's ever done and changing alternator was the second worst!

Interested to hear if anybody has any experience with this boat/engine. I feel like I need to find a three-year-old who's handy with a spanner!

Thanks in advance
Simon

 

[burgundyben]

Stop whining and get on with it. ?

 

[Portofino]

Not helpful I’m know to you individually, but for for others place engine access for regular service fairly highish on the must have list when looking at boats to buy .
Forget prawn griddles , standing head room in sleeping cabins , and cubic M fridge sizes . .

 

[burgundyben]

Whilst I've no idea about the boat in question, its worth noting that sometimes its less painfull just to hook them out and sit them on a pallet.

 

[Greg2]

We had an Ocean 37 way back when but with Perkins engines so I can’t help unfortunately.

The location of raw water pumps and access to change impellers can be just awful on some boats. On our Hardy stbd is okay but port is close to the fuel tank and they are down low so an engineer with the physique of a very slim orangutan is desirable. It was the same on our Broom 41. That said, whilst a difficult job it is doable and I managed it on the Broom and Tom, who did our engines this year, managed to change both impellers but it took a couple of hours.

 

[BruceK]

Most items on my engines are reachable. It's anything on the back third that is dire. I find that if you remove any obstacle that can get you stuck by getting caught between your beer gut and ribcage is advisable for starters. Then a thick blanket and duvet over the engines you propose to drape yourself over like a tart works wonders by extending working time from 2 min a go to about 10. Comfort is everything. You also want someone nearby to pass tools to you, but that someone needs to be intimately familiar with you because going in with a belt round your pants is another recipe for getting stuck. And it cant be your wife either, most dont know tools and that's a recipe for a domestic that will see you land with the boat as your sole accommodation. Finally tie all tools to your hand with a length of string. Bilge access security is the envy of HMPS.
PS. If you ever work out how to tie a socket to a piece of string so it's still usable, please forward the technique. I have several 10mm, 13mm 14mm and 15mm that roll around in the bilge while at anchor and they drive me nuts at night.

 

[tico]

Bruce... a small magnet on the end of a piece of the stuff that net curtains mount on is great. allows you to wiggle it round the obstacles to retrieve sockets etc.

 

[BruceK]

My sockets are chrome vanadium and are not magnetic unfortunately. I have one of these but it's equally useless because I cant see what I am grappling for most times. My bilge is for tools and bolts what washing machines are for socks. Loads of f***ing fairys playing silly bu**ers with my head. 18 hours is what it took for me to change one turbo

 

[tico]

Simples... buy steel sockets!

 

[simonfraser]

this is the view of my impellor, thought the access was poor
now where is the prawn griddle ?

 

[Seastoke]

My sockets are chrome vanadium and are not magnetic unfortunately. I have one of these but it's equally useless because I cant see what I am grappling for most times. My bilge is for tools and bolts what washing machines are for socks. Loads of f***ing fairys playing silly bu**ers with my head. 18 hours is what it took for me to change one turbo

Get a fly bridge, you open the door and walk in the engine room , don’t forget to switch on the led lighting and take in the polish for the bilge.

 

[penfold]

My sockets are chrome vanadium and are not magnetic unfortunately. I have one of these but it's equally useless because I cant see what I am grappling for most times. My bilge is for tools and bolts what washing machines are for socks. Loads of f***ing fairys playing silly bu**ers with my head. 18 hours is what it took for me to change one turbo

They are mostly steel, CrVn is only a few percent; get a neodymium or similar magnet, and provided you can avoid it sticking irretrievably to the engine block or other steel things it will pick up your sockets. To avoid further such irritation you could try one of the Wera Zyklop socket sets as they lock themselves together, pricy though.

 

[BruceK]

Saw this on the net and it sums it up perfectly

Interviewing for a marine engineer position. Demonstrating major qualification