CD27 YSM8 Engine Mounts and Cutlass Bearing

[Atcowboy]

Hello!

I've managed to push my little cape dory from Dutch Harbor, RI down to No Name Harbor off Key Biscayne, FL. It has been quite an adventure.

I find myself in need of new engine mounts. I am here looking for brand recommendations. Since it looks like it will be $200+ I don't want 6 month mounts! I would like to put my money towards quality mounts.

Cleaning the bottom and checking the shaft zinc, it appears that my cutlass bearing has been kind enough to eject itself from the keel. I think I have found this very early on, as the radial play in the shaft even with the bearing hanging out is still very small. Looking for a cause, my engine appears to be resting on 3 of 4 mounts. I think the mounts themselves are on their last legs. I'm guessing misalignment has help corkscrew the cutlass bearing out of the keel.

I'm hoping that I can score the outside of the cutlass bearing with say a file or a hack saw. Cover the outside of the bearing with underwater epoxy and push it back into the keel. Hopefully this fix is enough to get back home, or at least Jacksonville. People are waiting a month for haul outs in this area.

- AT

[Compass790]

I dont have any experience with them but people on the Yanmar fbook group seem to like ellebogen mounts. Not sure if they make them for ysm8 but if 2gm20 ( they have them) is not much different in weight they might work. Ask Ellebogen would be best. If you want to beef up mounts temporarily you can get polyurethane adhesive sealant at about shore40 hardness which is not too different from Yanmar mounts at a guess. Forgot the brand name sorry
I would give that idea of pushing cutless back in & epoxying a try if you want to move but never tried it either. Whats the tide range there? any place you can tie up & wait for tide to drop & then do the repair.

[tkeithlu]

Installing stainless steel or bronze set screws is an alternative for holding the Cutless bearing in place.

[Atcowboy]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I believe that (*knocks on wood*) the cutlass bearing is fixed.

Much like the fairing compound used around the original transducer, the application of some blunt force removed the fairing compound essentially intact making it easy to collect. This exposed about 3/4" of the stern tube that was devoid of any set screws. The very end of the tube did have 4 half moon shapes as though at one time it did have set screws. The stern tube was very firmly set in place, so I don't think it could have worn on the zinc or vice versa. The fairing also showed no sign of this. This is probably some kind of old fix finkery. I suspect the time was shortened to add a zinc, as the cape dory manual does not show one. With the stern tube exposed, I used a drill bit set in a piece of broom handle to drill a hole in the port and starboard sides of the tube. I then drove two M4x10 BHCS into the tube to firmly contact the bearing. I used underwater epoxy putty to fair around the screws to help support them since they were sticking out quite a bit.

My new zincs should be here tomorrow, and the repair will be complete.

Compass - I wish there was a decent tide around here I would have loved to have dried out for this one. Even 3 feet would have been enough. Iirc cape fear way up north had about 9' of tide. I could have taken a nap and done it on union time 😴.

- AT

[Compass790]

Glad to hear you got a fix anyway.
Must have been a bit of a mission doing that underwater but good trick with the broomhandle drill. May your ysm8 continue to bang away untroubled by gremlins
happy voyaging to you

[Atcowboy]

Originally Posted by Compass790

Glad to hear you got a fix anyway.
Must have been a bit of a mission doing that underwater but good trick with the broomhandle drill. May your ysm8 continue to bang away untroubled by gremlins
happy voyaging to you

So I'm going to leave the mounts in place. They aren't shot. But what was definitely causing the engine to rest strange was that the foreaft slot of one of the tabs on the engine had worn the nut down so that it fit inside of the slot. I made a C washer and put it in place, calling that good for now.

You can probably see the worn flat on the top of the nut. I couldn't figure out why the nut wouldn't turn and used a pry bar to lift the engine on a hunch and there it was! New wrench flats lol.

- AT

[Compass790]

I'd guess it may have been loose to wear like that & strange it didnt have a washer. Well done figuring out the problem. Heavy vibration can do surprising things, having a single cylinder makes you appreciate threadlocker if they dont have a huge flywheel & a counter balancing system