Engine Spares to carry on board.

There is one spare part I now have ..... Epoxy Metal and blanking plugs ..... as engines get older - they rust and then when they fail - that's all your cooling water in the bilges !
I have Epoxy Metal as a repair for these .... and it works to get you home. Just mix and fill the plug ... let set and job done. Once home - remove and put new plug.

Happened twice in last 7 years.
 
An infallible rule:

The day will come when you need a part that you don't have.

When you buy a replacement part, you will also decide to buy another one to keep as a spare.

You will never need the spare.
 
Last edited:
A golden rule that I always had was asking myself ' What If'. Then I would work out ways of being ready for an eventuality whether it required certain spares or solutions. Not just in having say a spare fuel filter but why should you need one. Keep the bottom of the fuel tank sucked out to remove any 'unwanted' debris. Check properly the alignment of the alternator pulleys as slightly misaligned pulleys will eat belts. Have a gravity fed fuel backup which then doesn't depend on the fuel pump and shows up air/fuel leaks. Etc, Etc. I would carry a full kit of spares but rarely had to use them because I focussed on the potential causes rather than hoping I had the right spare with me. Hope this helps.
 
My previous about Epoxy Metal .....

The tubes that you can buy and you just kneed the two together as a putty are Gods Gift when you need to plug a hole in something like exhaust ... blanking plugs etc. It may not last long - but it gets you home.
 
LittleSister said:
I agree with Martyn G on having more than one primary fuel filter. If you start pulling up crud from your tank, it might clog up more than one filter.
Click to expand...
And if you do need to use your spare, you will immediately want to buy a new spare.
We carry our spare filters in tupperware type plastic boxes, it helps to put the dirty one in the box as even in a poly bag, the fuel or oil seems to get out?

Add poly bags and blue gloves to the list.
 
Sounds like a good stock of spares. I also carry as many spares as I can think of on my motor cruiser. But two weeks ago on a trip my bottom coolant hose sprang a leak and dumped all the coolant in the bilge. Managed to get a tow back home but never thought to carry spares. They looked original circa 2004. I changed the old ones and I have spares.
 
At least 2 of each filter.
Spare belts.
Impellers.
Maybe a length of wire.
Selection of hose clips
Maybe spare hoses.

But most important I'd say was the filters

W.
 
Hose leaks ..... something I dread ... one day manufacturers / designers will understand that having 6 foot snake thin arms and the fingers of a vice are not human ... and maybe make it easy to fix them !!!!
 
If not mentioned already:
Electrical insulating tape, many roles, not just used around the engine.
Self amagamating silicon tape
Exhaust elbow
5mm fexible fuel line 5M with bulb style pump
Selection of funnels
Role of kitchen role or similar.
sealable platic bags
 
A printer so that you can print off the relevant page/s of the manual so it won't matter if they get wet or dirty.
 
graham said:
We are weekend summer holiday type sailors with a 26 foot boat with a 20 hp beta marine engine.
I like to be self sufficient and would kick myself to lose the use of the main engine for want of something easy to fit at sea.

At the moment we have the following spares'
Primary fuel filter
Engine fuel filter
alternator / pump belt
Pump impeller
5litres engine oil
Half litre gearbox oil
sterntube grease
Engine manual
Variety of tools.

Can anyone think of any thing else worth carrying aboard?
Click to expand...
One of the reasons I sold my last boat was the availability of engine spares. I had a 1986 boat with a BMC (Thornycroft) Engine. I worked on these Diesel Engines in the 1980.s and they were reliable. I was hoping to sail my boat from the North West to a mooring I had in Brittany and I wanted more than just service items. I was obviously going to take impellers etc, but with my boat there was very little history. I remembered from my garage days that on these BMC engines the Water Pump would sometimes need changing. So as well as ordinary spares I wanted to buy a Water Pump and they are unavailable.
Yes you could buy an Exchange one but you had to send your old one back . I wanted a spare. And I could not find one. So this was one of the reasons I did not go to France.
I certainly believe with old boat engines when parts are available its better to buy stuff when you can.
If I was going on a trip now I would perhaps also buy a Spare Diesel Lift Pump. (Once had a Lift Pump where the lever which is lifted up and down by the camshaft had virtually worn away as the lever is softer metal than the camshaft to stop the camshaft wearing)
Also a spare battery. I once bought a Brand New Battery in the Channel Islands and it failed between Land End and Cork It turned out that it was one of a faulty batch and was the subject to a recall which the had not done.
 
One thing to think about is whether or not you can change a fuel filter in the dark, in bad weather. CAV filters are notorious for being awkward, as they have two O rings of different, but not obviously so, sizes. Losing my engine from a blocked filter and having to enter Portsmouth Harbour under sail in a 6-7 was traumatic enough, without being really dangerous, that it inspired me to set up a pair of spin-on filters from a car breakers in parallel, with taps from ASAP and a bit of plumbing so I have one filter running and the other ready to go. If necessary, I can switch in seconds. I carry spares, but fuel filters are no longer a regular service part for me. I carry spares, but I changed them at about 10 years, because they were getting rusty.

As for the oil filter, it sounds obvious, but has anyone ever needed to change one, other than as part of an oil change? I never have in over 50 years of motoring, rally servicing and sailing. This boating malarkey is supposed to be about getting out and having fun, not weighing the boat down with stuff just in case. OK, if I were setting off round the world, I'd carry a spare starter and alternator, plus a set of injectors, but not for cruising the South Coast!
 
I sail in some off the beaten track areas, so I carry all the normal spares already mentioned. My engine has twice been incapacitated, once by the starter motor, and once by the water pump. I now carry a spare starter motor (the old one, rebuilt) but obtaining a replacement water pump on a deserted island, west of the Hebrides, was challenging. That's one really good thing about sails, if necessary one can usually make a jury rig of some sort.
 
graham said:
We are weekend summer holiday type sailors with a 26 foot boat with a 20 hp beta marine engine.
I like to be self sufficient and would kick myself to lose the use of the main engine for want of something easy to fit at sea.

At the moment we have the following spares'
Primary fuel filter
Engine fuel filter
alternator / pump belt
Pump impeller
5litres engine oil
Half litre gearbox oil
sterntube grease
Engine manual
Variety of tools.

Can anyone think of any thing else worth carrying aboard?
Click to expand...
Jump leads so you can start from the domestic battery in an emergency. I used mine twice last year but only to start other peoples boats.
I also had a throttle cable break but managed a get home bodge with some string. Now keep spare throttle and gear cables taped in place alongside the in-use ones. This guarantees they won't be needed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top