How Can This Happen?

[sjs]

Last week I had a yard do a tune up of my engine on my 1997 Catalina 270. They called me at my office and told me my motor mounts were shot. I should have waited until I had the chance to go down and inspect them myself but I was in the middle of a very busy time at work and wanted the boat ready for Memorial Day weekend so told them to go ahead and replace them and ensure the engine was aligned properly.

Having acted like a fool I am now doing the thinking I should have done before acting. I don't recall mounts going unless you do something like going aground hard. I have not done that or had any other kind of collision. I suppose over time they can go with normal age and use but this boat is only 8 years old. I suppose the prior owner could have done this but I had a throrough survey by a reputable surveyor just last May when I bought it. I suppose when I worked on the engine I could have failed to notice it. I suppose the 4 times I got caught in severe and sustained thunderstorms last year could have strained them but I can't believe rough weather and seas can cause that. I suppose the yard could have lied in order to make more money on an unnecessary job but they are awfully backlogged for work to be interested in that.

It seems to me that the best explanation is that the yard where I had the boat on the hard dropped the boat while moving it to launch it this spring. If anyone had the patience to keep reading this far I have two questions:

1. Is it possible the mounts could have gone bad through fair wear and tear after only 8 years?

2. If they went because of some traumatic impact, where should I look and what should I look for to inspect for other damage to the boat now that it is in the water (very muddy water that will not allow much if any visibility going underwater with a mask)?

I will be very grateful for any advice.

[BC Mike]

Ask the yard to save the old mounts for your inspection. They should keep them on hand and you do own them. The Yanmar help line has info on engine mounts. I do not think a grounding or the dropping of the boat is a logical cause. The quality and suitability of the mount would be a more likely cause. Maybe they were a bit loose, or the engine was out of alignment ?? Ask other owners of similar boats if they have had a problem.
The mounts on my boat are original from 1979.
Michael

[Talbot]

The one reason that mounts do go is if they get soaked in oil.

[Alan Wheeler]

Both replies so far are spot on. Firstly, Petroleum softens rubber. So Oil and fuel will degrade the mount. Apart from that, the only way a drop can damage a mount is if the hull was dropped on its lid or side, not the bottom. and if a drop hard enough to damage the mounts occured, then your engine mounts would be the least of your worries.
There really is only one possibility. The incorrect mounts, meaning way too small, were originaly fitted. Any other reason would have shown its ugly head in other more expensive way's, way before now. I would ask for a look at the mounts and if nothing is obviously wrong, ask what they thought was wrong with them. Maybe they are busy for a reason other than just boat volume. Lets hope not.

[sjs]

Gentlemen, I thank you.

I will obtain the old mounts and ask the yard for their opinion but I suspect these replies have given me the answer.

Last November when winterizing the boat I changed the oil and the pump I was using to extract the old oil virtually exploded, for reasons unknown, with pump parts and oil spread everywhere, especially on the engine and engine bed. Though I wiped it all up, I did not use any kind of cleaning agent to clean, being, as I have revealed in this post, rather astoundingly ignorant. I suspect that oil covered the mounts and did their evil work throughout the winter months.

I will not know for sure until I get the old mounts to inspect but I suspect the culprit is me.

I am astonished at the wealth of information that one can obtain from this internet. Unfortunately I seem on occasion to obtain it a bit late. Thank you again.

[Alan Wheeler]

Well, you could say, you are now that little bit wiser for it. Remember, people become experts because they have learn't in someway. It's not alway's from reading a book

[sjs]

Thank you Allen. You are very kind.

[Rick]

My previous boat had a Yanmar 3QM30 and after going up the west coast, back down, through the canal, and up to Fla we got into horrendous seas....so bad that I couldn't look at them...just did what had to be done.

Made landfall in Marathon and discovered that three of the mounts had SHEARED clean through the metal stud...NOT the rubber. The studs had crowned over so that, when the enging was sitting over them statically you could not tell that they were broken but when the engine was running it was all over the place and I shut it down unless the boat was running in flat water. The replacement mounts were different and are still in operation about 20,000 ocean miles later.

Yes, you might have incorectly specified mounts for that engine, even tho they might be Yanmar mounts. In addition, I believe that the mount and engine alignment contributed to the degradation.

Rick

[Jentine]

It may be that the best Catalina has going for it is its aftermarket owners network. You should join and keep in touch with the Catalina 270 owners group. They can be found at http://www.catalina27.org/ . I am sure other members have had the same difficulty as you in the past and would have saved you some money and heart break.