Engine bed problem

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BobM

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Jun 10, 2004
3,269
S2 9.2A Winthrop, MA
Just had a survey done on an S2 9.2A. One of the things that the surveyor said was common to S2's was poor engine bed mounting. When we examined the cutlass bearing it was clear that the shaft was way out of alignment. Please note, when examining the bearing for play, be sure to wet the bearing with water before attempting to turn the shaft. Upon examining the bed it became clear why. The beds have only a few tabs of fiberglass holding them to the hull and 50% of these had broken free of the hull or the beds. Furthermore, the beds were sitting on a foundation of putty, which the movement and vibration was turning to powder. Ideally, these beds should have been thoroughly glassed to the hull, encapsulated in fact. This situation is exaggerated for smaller engines, which vibrate more, and in cases where an alignment issue has been allowed to persist for a long period of time. At this point, there is no point in trying to fix the alignment before fixing the beds, which will have to be throughly retabbed to the hull...a lot of fun on a 9.2A given the poor access to the starboard side of the engine. Bob
 
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Bob McKee

I removed the YSE12 from my 9.2A and installed a 3 cylinder 3GMD that came from another boat. I runs great but I've noticed a vibration at 1200-1300 rpm and thought it was a looose/bad engine mount that neede to be replaced. With your post, I will go inspect the engine bed mounts. Regarding the engine access on the Starboard side, I made a removeable access panel under the sink. It's not perfect, but better. Now I can get to the zincs, etc. on that side of the engine. Are you going to remove the engine to do the engine bed repair, or will you do it with the engine in place? Please continue to post information as you find it. Thanks.
 
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Jim LeBlanc

Will inspect my engine mounts also

Looks like I need to inspect the engine mounts and bed on my 9.2A also. Don't think there are any problems, but need to be sure. The starboard side access leaves a lot to be desired (including getting to the fuel pump, which I had to replace). Think I will follow the suggestion to cut a hole under the sink.
 

BobM

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Jun 10, 2004
3,269
S2 9.2A Winthrop, MA
Surveyor says...

Actually my surveyor had a great idea. He suggested building a really robust tab, to form a 90 degree fiberglass angle iron, then lag bolting it to the bed to get a mechanical attachement to the stringer in addition to the chemical attachment. S2 builds a great boat, but they really blew engine mounting 101 in his opinion. The stringer sit in a bed of epoxy putty and have only marginal 90 degree tabs to the hull rather than being fully encapsulated with fiberglass. Another thing I was thinking about was to tie the aft bulkhead to the stringers to distribute the vibration more fully through the hull reducing the local impact a bit. As I recall the bulkhead is right next to the stringer but is not attached to it. For a perfect repair, I'd probably pull the engine and just glass the stringers in entirely, but that is a bit much on top of everything else I have going on this spring. Bob
 
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