Cover engine mounts?

[WeekendCruise]

Hello, I recently purchased a 1994 Caravelle CC with a 3.0 Mercuiser. Had a mechanic check it out and he said everything looked good except the engine mounts needed to be covered with epoxy so they don't rot... This might sound dumb but I see no bare wood exposed around the engine mounts or anywhere around the bilge for that matter. Never had an I/O before so am I missing something? Boat has 450 hours on and has been maintained by a marine mechanic..For 2600 i think i got a good deal.. will post some pics soon. It needed some intense cleaning but came out pretty good. Trial run tomorrow weather permitting. Thanks.

 

[WeekendCruise]

Re: Cover engine mounts?

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Cover engine mounts?

Welcome to iBoats!

Post up some pics of the area in question. That way we can see what you see and can give much better/proper guidance on what the best way to proceed would be. Lot's of experience here on the forum so you'll get great advice if they can see what you're dealing with

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[bigdirty]

Re: Cover engine mounts?

... he said everything looked good except the engine mounts needed to be covered with epoxy so they don't rot... This might sound dumb but I see no bare wood exposed around the engine mounts or anywhere around the bilge for that matter..

Pics would help for sure... but that sounds a little odd to me... if there is no bare wood (and there SHOULDN'T be as far as engine mounts anyway..) why does he say to cover them in epoxy to prevent rotting? Maybe he was aware they ARE rotting already? I'd drill some test holes/core samples in the existing engine mounts to see what you are dealing with first, and go from there.

 

[WeekendCruise]

Well.. had an interesting weekend. Tried out the boat.. it worked well for a minute or two... then i noticed the bilge pump kicked on. I opened the engine cover up to discover 4 inches of gas swishing around in the bilge.. not sure how long it was leaking for. The fuel like was cracked off where it attaches to the carb...Had to be towed in. Had the gas line replaced... it looked like an older metal one. Replaced with a new plastic gas hose that looks like a better setup. At WOT with two people i hit exactly 30 on the gps. Is this normal? Looks like the RPM was around 4200-4400. It's possible since the gas was leaking i didn't reach the full top end. I have a "fin" that bolts on to the lower unit.. it's not installed.. would this help with top end or just push me out of the water faster? As far as the engine mounts they look OK to me.. see pictures below. It's a little dirty down there.. but nothing seems rotted. Thanks.

 

[Woodonglass]

Your pics did not post. You are very fortunate that your boat did not catch fire!!! Your top end seems low to me with a 3.0 Merc. What have you done to ensure the motor mounts are sound? Have you checked the transom? Looked inside the ski locker? Checked every nook and cranny of the deck for soft spots?

 

[WeekendCruise]

Your pics did not post. You are very fortunate that your boat did not catch fire!!! Your top end seems low to me with a 3.0 Merc. What have you done to ensure the motor mounts are sound? Have you checked the transom? Looked inside the ski locker? Checked every nook and cranny of the deck for soft spots?

Any ideas on the pictures? I can see them above.. i uploaded them from my desktop. I had the entire carpeting up and there were no soft spots in the floor. Everything seems firm around where the engine is bolted down. The mechanic didn't say something was rotted.. he said to cover the mounts so they don't rot... but who knows. Besides drilling holes is there anything else to check? I was worried about fire myself...had a very queasy feeling when i saw the gas pooled below the engine. :facepalm:

 

[WeekendCruise]

Weird the pictures work when i'm logged in.. but not when i log out.

 

[Woodonglass]

I'd Highly recommend using Photobucket to load pics into the forum. After you have them in Photobucket copy and paste the IMG Code that you find into your iBoats post. Couldn't be more simple.:joyous: