What is this bolt that dropped from my 3.0?

[djmessing]

I have a new (12 hours) 3.0 Mercruiser and a 3" bolt dropped from the bottom of the engine into the bilge. Can you look at the photos and tell me what this bolt is for? It is inboard of the starter, but I don't think it is the inboard starter bolt. But right next to there. The photo shows it partially re-inserted. It seems to bottom out with about 1" protruding.

 

[Bt Doctur]

what is the actual length of the bolt. there should be 2 bolts in a staggered pattern for that starter. are there 2 bolts in the starter?

 

[Bt Doctur]

like these with a knurled area

 

[djmessing]

No Title

The bolt that dropped out is 3 inches -- I attached a picture of it in my hand. I believe both starter bolts are in place...in the photo of the underside of the engine you can see the inboard starter bolt next to the mystery bolt. Thanks for any info on what this mystery bolt is.

 

[Bt Doctur]

can you post a better pic of the starter and its bolts, cant tell if its straight across or staggered

 

[djmessing]

No Title

The starter bolts are staggered. In this photo you can see the hole for the mystery bolt next to the inboard bolt for the starter. The mystery bolt fits into the hole in that silver machined surface.

 

[Rick Stephens]

Looks like that is supposed to be an unused threaded hole in the block. No bolt should be in it at all in your application.

Rick

 

[Bt Doctur]

agreed,. the straight across hole that is not used, but the question remains where did it come from.

 

[Bondo]

agreed,. the straight across hole that is not used, but the question remains where did it come from.

Ayuh,..... 'n Why was it ever put there,..??..??

Especially considerin' it's an improper starter bolt,...

Makes me suspicious of the 2 holdin' the starter on,.....

 

[Rick Stephens]

That bolt has wear patterns as if it was in a rubber bushing somewhere.

 

[Grub54891]

That bolt has wear patterns as if it was in a rubber bushing somewhere.

I agree^^ check the rear mounts by the transom inside the boat. pretty hard for them to fall up and out,but it could happen.

 

[Watermann]

Rear mount bolts are pointed. Man that's a stumper...

 

[Grub54891]

Rear mount bolts are pointed. Man that's a stumper...

yeah they usually are. hhmmm..

 

[Grub54891]

could it be one of the bolts that bolt through the transom gimble housing?

 

[Fun Times]

could it be one of the bolts that bolt through the transom gimble housing?

That's a really good thought but I'm not seeing anything as a match and I'm pretty sure they're all studs back there. http://www.mercruiserparts.com/Show...66.png&inbr=2686&bnbr=80&bdesc=GIMBAL+HOUSING
http://www.mercruiserparts.com/selectDocs.asp?doc_nbr=809759+98

This one seems hard to figure out with not being there. Maybe a few close up/over all photos of all sides of the engine and transom area "might" help spot something out of the ordinary.:noidea:

 

[alldodge]

IMO, this is a bolt used to hold the engine on a fixture/stand during assembly. After the engine has flywheel housing installed the housing is used to support the rear of the engine. My guess is the engine was removed from the fixture and the person put the bolt back in either not thinking or don't know not to

 

[djmessing]

I am the original poster; thanks for all the responses. I was also thinking that maybe that bolt/hole is used to secure the raw engine block to a pallet for shipping to the engine assembly plant ("Hecho en Mexico"). If the deckboard on the pallet happened to crack/split in transit, the assembly plant wouldn't necessarily remember to remove the bolt since it wasn't necessary to remove it in order to put the engine block into the assembly line.

 

[Fun Times]

I have a new (12 hours) 3.0 Mercruiser and a 3" bolt dropped from the bottom of the engine into the bilge.

Is the 3.0 MPI or carbureted? Is the engine Catalytic or Non-Catalytic?

Do you have your engine serial number handy?

 

[Grub54891]

No Title

well mines an 19895,140. rebuilding it, but here is a pic of the inner transom mount. 2 bolts up top,2 bolts down low. maby the newer ones are different?
having a bit of a time getting a pic to load. I"ll try later

 

[Fun Times]

Yes the models before Gen 2 used mostly bolts like you're showing, http://www.mercruiserparts.com/Show...3&bnbr=20&bdesc=TRANSOM+PLATE+AND+SHIFT+CABLE