The Repower Process
Step # 1 - Getting the Old Engine Out Go here to see step # 2 Preparation
It was a little tough to pull apart our old friend. Looked good, but something inside had failed. I learned more about this engine pulling it apart than from working on it all the previous years.
I stripped off as much as possible, mostly to reduce the size and also to sell some parts.
As I kept going I began to think maybe I could just disassemble the whole thing and get it out that way. But, I guess your still left with the block, I wonder what just that weighs?
Removing the door was a bit of an adventure. Took me quite a while to figure out how to remove the doors. There is a plastic strip at the top, in the groove, that you need to remove.
As I explain a bit more down below, the engine was actually lifted up by that small, orange come-a-long at the top of the boom. We used that because we needed to get as high as possible. We were able to avoid having to set the engine down in the cockpit, and lift it right out.
All in all it came out very easy. Stripping as much off as you can seemed to help; get small!
The interesting thing was that the crane did not really do any actual lifting. You can see a small organge come-a-long hanging from the end of the boom. The engine was lifted up with that. I was amazed that small device, operated by pulling a chain through it, lifted the engine up no problem.
I made a vow to fess up to all the mistakes I'm going to make in this process so others might avoid them. Heres the first tip for anyone who may go through this in the future. The fellow with the crane, who did a great job by the way, offered to haul away the remains of the engine. However, part of that deal was I had to get all the oil out. No problem I figured, when the engine is out and hanging from the crane I will pull the drain plug and let it pour out. Having changed the oil many times using a small electric pump I figured this would be real easy.
Well, with the day light fading and the crane operator itching to get going, I look for the drain plug and what I did find was a strange looking allen type bolt set right into the oil pan. I had every socket known to man, but no allen wrench that big or shaped that way. So, you guessed it, the operator set the engine down on a pallet next to the boat, and back I came over the weekend with my trusty electric pump and had to pump it out in 45 degree temperature; not ideal but I did get it all out.
So the lesson learned was don't expect a standard drain plug like you see on a car for the engine. The tranmission, velvet drive, did have a nice drain plug and that oil came out no problem but I was left to pump the oil out of the blue monster one last time.
Well its out and that feels like a big step!
Next up we start the Preparations