Tranona
Well-known member
Some boats, (particularly centre cockpit) have a fixed bulkhead immediately in front of the engine and access only from the side, so a front mounted water pump as on many modern engines including the latest Soles of this size present difficulties. The water pump location is often determined by where the power take off is on the base engine, The Mitsubishi engines used in the smaller Sole and Vetus have the pump rear facing on the starboard side. Many smaller boats which have poor access on this side and one of the reasons why I crossed that off my list. The other major reason was that the notional 29hp is actually only 27 as the engine's capacity is 200cc smaller than its competitors, but physically the same size.May ask why you want a rear facing waterpump? That sounds like a real nuisance to get the impeller out and I would have presumed to have be considered a negative. What have I not considered/not realised?
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Have I had a reading and comprehension fail and by rear facing water pump you mean when you face the front of the ending the water pump cover is looking at you with the pump behind?
As I said in post#9 you have to look at each installation and determine what the access issues are. Many boats are designed around the original engine and have access accordingly. The Perkins M50 / Volvo MD22 was very popular from the mid 80s up to 2004 and was unusual in having the exhaust and heat exchanger on the starboard side, the water pump at the rear, taken off the aft end of the camshaft and the fuel systems on the port side. Broadly the opposite of most replacement engines. Some boats that originally had the MD22 had a solid bulkhead on the starboard side with a loo/shower the other side, fuel tank in front and access only from the port side where all the service points were. A replacement engine is a challenge in such boats.