If your engine mounts are more than five to seven years old, or have been contaminated by seawater, engine oil or engine coolant, it's time to change them. Even if the mounts look perfect, the tough elastomer (rubber-like) material in the engine mount hardens over time and ceases to isolate the boat from the engine’s vibrations. Seawater rusts the metal parts of the mount and can cause delamination of the elastomer and metal parts. Rust also weakens the mounting bolts and in extreme cases can cause bolt failure. Engine oil and coolant deteriorates the elastomer and also hastens delamination.
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Know your Boat, Feel your boat, Listen to your boat, she talks to you.
Being aware of these different signs of a worn engine mount will help you to identify when they need replacing:
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1. Increased Vibrations after starting the engine
2. An excessive lurch that does not feel or sound right when starting the engine
3. A jolt when changing gears
4. Impact Noises, clunks and bangs from the engine bay.
5. Visual Wear
6. Age, all Engine Mount manufactures pretty well agree with the five to seven year age limit.
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The poorly aligned engine can also cause bolt failure. And, if you have noticed screws backing out on your boat, or if your oil pressure sensor has failed recently, then the root cause may be increased vibration due to bad engine mounts or a misaligned shaft.
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Your engine mounts may be the last thing you probably look at. Until they snap a mounting bolt or stud and you start noticing more vibration. Old engine mounts have a high risk of failing and can potentially create a domino effect on other parts of your drivetrain. Make sure that your motor mounts are in good working condition now, before the the boat goes into the water, to prevent any unnecessary and unanticipated damage down the road.
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At CLR Marine, we offer engine mounts for a variety of engines. These mounts are shear-loaded to control thrust in almost all directions while isolating engine vibrations from their mounting surface.
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Did you know that Yanmar mounts are manufactured specifically for each side of the engine. That is, either the starter side or the oil filter side, as engine torque will change the effective loading on either side of the engine. Make sure that you get the mounts positioned on the correct side of the engine.
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CLR Marine has Engine Mounts available for brands such as Yanmar, Perkins, Universal, Westerbeke, and many more.
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There are a lot of Videos on YouTube about changing Motor Mounts, check them out before starting your project.
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Remember after replacing the motor mounts you will want to make sure the alignment with the prop shaft is correct.