Tricks to engine access(MK1 Perkins)?

[janice142]

Daddy taught me to always do the jobs with my eyes closed. That training so so many decades ago has served me well. A lot of work can be done by feel -- presuming of course you know what you're doing.

Having an assistant is very helpful too. Not having to crawl out, climb over, etc. can be a real blessing. Just having someone who can bring you... well, here we are:

A couple weeks ago I had a CO alarm go off. One of my batts was off-gassing. When I removed the cap from one, the cover slid down in the only dang-near inaccessible spot in that bilge. Okay, I could have gotten to it however it would have been a Fiasco with a capital "F"

This is the cap that I needed:

An upcoming article will extol the benefits of having a spare cap or two on hand. You might keep that in mind for your boats. Having a neighbor with a battery farm meant with a phone call I could get a replacement cap. What a relief!

So yes to having help.

And if there is any way possible to cut a hole to make better access, do so. The designer of my boat was pretty sharp EXCEPT there was no way to access the fuel pick-up lines -- neither tank. Every designer should have to get into the bilge and figure out how an average size man can reach things. A boat should not have to be disassembled for routine maintenance.

You can bet your bottom dollar that if the job is not easy, or inexpensive to pay for, it has not been done as often as is recommended. In my opinion that is.

 

[Tiffany]

Can't get the woodruff key on the impeller to stay in place while I slide it in. Getting so frustrated i'm about to leave the impeller, close it up out and go electric on a switch for raw water.

I had the same problem until a mechanic showed me to use a sharp ended punch and hammer a 'punch set' divit into the center of the Woodruf key. If the key is not too worn in thickness, the raised edge of the punch mark creates a small ridge that when pressed into the key slot is enough to hold the key in place.


You may want to buy a new key as a worn one can simply have too much wear and now too narrow to be held by its thickness or the raised edge of the mark. The raised 'burr' is enough to hold the key in place when pressed into the slot.

 

[Brooksie]

Spent months in my bilge with my Perkins 2 winters ago. Checking bearings, replacing oil pumps and the like. I'm 74yo and it was Feb in New England and no one to hand me anything. I found that a sheet of heavy gauge polyethylene was my best friend sliding in and out. That and reusing my oil soaked sweatshirt day after day made it easy to slide in and out beside the engine.

 

[kapnd]

Wouldn’t it be ingenious for engine access to be a regular survey item?
I know many boaters who never gave engine access a second glance when shopping for a boat and regretted that omission for years.
Perkins motors seem difficult to wrench on , even when access is not so bad.
Hidden bolts and parts preventing access to other parts reflect poorly on the engineering team that put together the marinization package.