When piloting a boat, the motor creates power that must be transferred to the vessel via engine mounts. Consequently, it makes engine mounts the hardest-working pieces of hardware in a boat engine room. Notably, engine mounts must be strong and soft at the same time to accommodate engine weight and minimise unwanted noise and vibrations, respectively. Therefore, best practices must apply when dealing with marine engine mounts. This article highlights a few standards.
Replace Engine Mounts Simultaneously — Regular inspection of engine mounts is essential for early identification of problems. However, it is common for boaters to replace faulty mounts only and leave the rest intact. Ideally, you can replace failed engine mounts one at a time, but it means you have to keep a close eye on the older ones. While replacing individual mounts keeps maintenance costs low, it leads to faster wear and tear of the new hardware. In addition, mixing old and new mounts causes uneven loading, leading to more vibrations and defeating the purpose of the new installation. Since the objective is to ensure that each mount carries its fair share of engine load, you should replace all pieces simultaneously. It enhances dynamic balancing and promotes the overall performance of a boat.
Use the Right Hardware — Marine engine mounts come in a kit that includes all the necessary fasteners you need for installation. However, it is pretty common for novice and even experienced boaters to use incompatible fasteners with engine mounts. Unfortunately, the combination usually leads to faster deterioration of mounts and sub-optimal engine performance. For instance, you should not use stainless steel bolts and thin fender washers with engine mounts. The reason is that stainless steel bolts lack tensile strength while thin fenders do not have the requisite rigidity for most mount installations. A suitable fastening bolt should be made of mild steel to accommodate engine loads, while fender washers must be thick and heavy-duty to resist deformations. Overall, the performance of marine engine mounts is only as good as the fasteners keeping them in place.
Install on Clean Surfaces — Painting helps keep the rust away from metal surfaces. Thus, it can be tempting to paint the mating surfaces of an engine mount system. However, you should never do it since a thin layer of paint is enough for the mount and fasteners to lose tension. In addition, the heavy compression and sudden movements do not make matters any better since the engine mounts will continue to slide against the fasteners. Therefore, always ensure that engine mounts, fasteners, and motors are squeaky-clean before installation.
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