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E34 Engine Pull and Refurbishment

cawinter

Member III
Final update

Well, it took a while, but everything happened as planned and came out great! I am still gathering pictures to transfer them to the site, but here is a quick summary of what seemed to have been my life since we pulled the engine:

- With very few exceptions all the Messick's KUBOTA parts fit. Obviously some research required, but with the Kubota manual and a few calls there really weren't any issues. Key part was the oil pan that was indeed rusted badly. I bought the Kubota and found someone who welded on the old dipstick assembly. 60+100 vs. 300+! The water pump, injectors, glow plug, etc. all worked as planned. I have numbers just in case.
- Big surprise was (not sure why I never really saw this before) that the engine was weeping around the head gasket ever so slightly. This was the time to do it! Head off and new gasket and bolts (no shim). In the course we looked inside and found nothing dramatic. The engine had not been burning oil either. The head gasket was probably overkill.
- I had the heat exchanger cleaned out earlier (always a good idea), alternator and starter checked, and everything was finally ready for reassembly.
- Being ever the aesthetic sailor, I stripped the engine with acetone, wire brush and other accessories, primed with Rustoleum Rust Primer (the brown stuff, after checking with a few folks around here for heat resistance and compatibility) and then finally gave the engine a beautiful coat of Universal Gold! Ahhh! All of it was a bit messy, but it worked well in the shop I was able to use. It is amazing how easy some of these things become when the engine is hanging 4ft above the ground with access all around.
- We hoisted the engine back into the boat fully assembled and a LOT heavier. Yikes! Fortunately I had a spare 1/2" anchor rode that worked well on the 1:6 block and tackle, but it was still a bear! In the course, we left the old mounts behind, new mounts (PYI) waiting on board to receive the engine.
- The rest was really quite straight-forward (not that it didn't take a lot of time!). Positioning the engine leaning back was a little difficult. If we had lifted it with the right angle (back down) it would have been easier, but with the mounts gone, there was no going back. I had noticed that the front mount stud was cut off, and I had done the same on the new one. Otherwise we would have had a problem! Check this and make sure there is enough clearance. The side mounts were fine.
- I had adjusted the bottom nuts to about the hight of the previous mounts, and that was a good starting point (!) for the alignment. I left the engine hoist (halyard etc.) on to be able to move the engine around more easily. The mounts do settle, and when I launched the boat (finally after Sandy!) the bed settled some more. This is tricky stuff, and I must have aligned 3-4 times before saying 'done' (for now). I had not put the PYI flex coupling back in because alignment would have been a lot more difficult, but my plan is to check again in the fall and then, for next year put the flex back in.
- The electrics worked out perfectly with additional LEDs (Blue Seas) and the new panel. My physics education wasn't a waste after all...:nerd:
- BTW, to put in the new harness etc. I decided to pull out the holding tank again (incl. wall!) and in the course repaint my lazarette. The behind-the-wall now looks very clean, new blower hose etc., but I still have NOT replaced the fuel hose (Tom, if you are still reading, I was just too fried!)
- The temp gauge was a little off (30 deg too high), but a 30 Ohm resistor in line solved that issue. Engine RPMs were calibrated by 'experience'. :) 800 RPM in idle sounded about right. Maybe one of these days I'll find a strobe.
- Important was that, when I checked transmission lever travel (3" min!)) I found that the old attachment points for the cable sheath might have slipped a bit (ergo transmission problems?). I had bought a new set of screws and pad eye (engine dealer will have) and made sure to carefully ckeck the travel. Turns out I had to mount the cable clamp way back (not where it had been, I think), and now my lever up top engages fine WITHOUT even coming close to the pedestal. That had been the case before. YOU can check this, too, and perhaps avoid transmission problems for a little longer.
- Voila! Everything works as I had anticipated! A few folks (incl. son and girlfriend) were a little miffed how much braintime this consumed, but it seems that this is recovering nicely! Just be advised, this can become quite all-consuming.

Now the question: Would I do this again? Hmmm... It was very rewarding and with the tranny shot, it had to happen. Going to a dealer and having someone else do it would have been prohibitive. I might have overkilled a bit with the electrics, but then again, I didn't want to put it all back together and then curse myself. So the answer is 'yes', BUT of course I know a lot more now than I did then, and I could make it a lot less painful. In the end, everything looks so sweet (pictures soon) that I am happy, and Dangriga is, too! Off to the Sound later next week...with girlfriend and son! :)

Contact me for any parts lists, the panel or anything electric.

As a side note, I taught a few classes in between. A lot of big money rolling into sailing these days. I wonder whether the folks that started sailing 9 months ago and now own brand-new (!) 49 footers with 'everything' (YES, everything!) will ever have as much fun as we do with our trusted vessels...
 

cawinter

Member III
Pictures systems and electrical

Ok. Here are a few 'after' pictures of the systems panel in the engine room (stbd side), the main engine control terminal strip not fully connected yet(port side), the assembled panel (front and back) and a little detail of the lazarette before the wiring began. I had all good intentions to wire the panel cleanly from the back...but all good intentions went by the wayside. Just too many wires. All properly fused, I might add, and beautifully shrink-tubing terminated. Comments earlier. I did not take pictures behind the wall, but it looked sweet! :) BTW, I carried AWG 8 for both positive and ground aft, and most of the returns are AWG 10, except for a few of the control wires. I also added a few LEDs for bilge pump, etc.

Part 2 is engine.
 

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cawinter

Member III
Pictures Engine (Part 2)

Pictures of the engine hanging for parts etc.
Engine scrubbed and primed
Engine with my son just before we hooked it up to test run. He loved the look as you can tell!
Engine back in the boat with the chains still attached (see earlier picture). Note the utensils I used for the alignment. Worked like a charm as much as it was tedious.

In the meantime, I went back to the original air filter since the K&N was too loud for me (right now). I need to look into that some more.

Also not shown is the full wire-up and hose connected view. Looks sweet, too.

Anyway...that's it folks. She floats, runs and will hopefully have many new seasons ahead of her. BTW, I don't want to do this again, and my son was glad I did it instead of him in a few years. :)
 

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clauswk

New Member
Pictures of the engine hanging for parts etc.
Engine scrubbed and primed
Engine with my son just before we hooked it up to test run. He loved the look as you can tell!
Engine back in the boat with the chains still attached (see earlier picture). Note the utensils I used for the alignment. Worked like a charm as much as it was tedious.

In the meantime, I went back to the original air filter since the K&N was too loud for me (right now). I need to look into that some more.

Also not shown is the full wire-up and hose connected view. Looks sweet, too.

Anyway...that's it folks. She floats, runs and will hopefully have many new seasons ahead of her. BTW, I don't want to do this again, and my son was glad I did it instead of him in a few years. :)

Nice job! :)
I am thinking of replacing the engine in a E35 mk2.
Do you have an idea of how long it took to dismount and mount the engine?

Best,
Claus
 

cawinter

Member III
Nice job! :)
I am thinking of replacing the engine in a E35 mk2.
Do you have an idea of how long it took to dismount and mount the engine?

Best,
Claus

With all preparation, everything disconnected, it wasn't too long. Maybe an hour out and an hour back? All about having the right person below, one on the halyard/outhaul and one to guide. Still running great and no regrets! ;-)
 

clauswk

New Member
With all preparation, everything disconnected, it wasn't too long. Maybe an hour out and an hour back? All about having the right person below, one on the halyard/outhaul and one to guide. Still running great and no regrets! ;-)
Thank you so much for the quick reply!
I was afraid the thread was 'dead' .

Very encouraging story!

Best,
Claus
 
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