Rebuild step 1

[P30inbuffalo]

Well, my partners and I have decided to bite the bullet and pull and rebuild the engine on our Pearson 30 which we bought this spring. After a season of several carb rebuilds, sailing into the slip with a dead engine, and wondering if the engine would be working or not that day, we just pulled the engine this weekend. We read a lot of threads on rebuilding and have Don's manual and some shop space. We are relative beginners at engine rebuilding but hopefully with the help and advice of the forum members we can make it successfully through the process. And it looks like fun.

We read many ideas for how to get the engine out and we went loaded for bear with a levering bar, comealong and other misc gear and we were more than a little nervous. We had a great plan in mind and we immediately threw it out the window after we started. We stumbled on what we think was a novel solution attaching a come-along to the main halyard, and using the main sheet at the end of the boom which gave us front and back positioning ability- I drew a diagram attached showing our scheme.

Probably someone has already done this but we were proud of our efforts because it was so much easier and controlled than we thought it would be.

Anyway, y'all will be hearing back from me when we reach our first roadblock.

Cheers


Jim Lyon

[thatch]

Jim,
Normally the main halyard is used to "stiffen" up the boom while pulling the engine but in your case and I suspect many others this rig would make things much easier.
The most difficult part of rebuilding an A4 is usually in the disassembly, so take your time, soak the bolts with a good penetrant don't be surprised when studs or bolts snap off.
Tom

[P30inbuffalo]

Thanks Tom, I have the head off now, 3 bolts came out with the nuts and the rest wont budge yet. Dont want to learn how to deal with a snapped off bolt.

Jim

[P30inbuffalo]

Here's a picture of the engine being pulled. Note the mainsheet in the back which made it easy to move the engine around. We saw the lack of any attachment to the middle of the boom as a plus. The boom swings with the whole arrangement because of the mainsheet.

[Laker]

I love the photo. Ah , the joys of yachting!

Laker

[sastanley]

Jim, welcome to the forum...very innovative.

We have another relatively new user that is contemplating removing his engine and was stuck on how to get it out from under the steps..I have pointed him to your thread.

[P30inbuffalo]

Happy to help him, we have a bunch more pictures if it will help, or email me at jimlyon100 at gmail dot com

Here's a link to more pictures:
https://picasaweb.google.com/hamburg...eat=directlink

[P30inbuffalo]

I was reading a post in another thread titled hoisting the engine and Laker had a very prudent idea- rig a second safety line to the engine, maybe the spinnaker halyard. Worth the small effort it would take. Good call Laker.

Jim

Originally Posted by Laker

Just think of the load that your rig experinces when you are reaching in 20 kts , a wave gets under the stern , you round up - at which time the apparent wind suddenly increases by at least 50% and - BAM - you get knocked down , then the righting moment lifts the mast from near horizontal. I think that a well planned , relatively static load of 350# should be easy on the rig by comparison. It probably would not be a bad idea to rig a back up , or preventor , to the main halyard just for peace of mind. Spin halyard ,maybe?

Also , you could take off some heavy components first , like the alternator and starter.
Your call , Laker.

[ArtJ]

The second line, placed mid boom, is essential if using the boom as a primary engine lift as suggested in Laker's post.

[P30inbuffalo]

You are absolutely correct ArtJ, the line to the middle of the boom is essential if using the boom for support while hoisting the engine. The beauty of this method is the boom is only used to move the engine forward and back and side to side, the boom's strength isn't needed except in compression from the main sheet.
Safety being way more important than anything else, I realize we got caught up in the excitement of hoisting the engine and we really should have had a second halyard on the engine as a safety line.

Jim

[BryanLee]

Thanks for the tips! I will be pulling my engine this spring, so I have been pondering the process. I have seen several ideas and setups, but this one was a bit unique to the others I have seen. Not sure exactly what I will do ye, but this is helpful.

Thanks,
Bryan

[P30inbuffalo]

Soaked the head bolts in PB blaster for a couple weeks and they popped out without breaking with the aid of a 3/8 bolt extractor. Broke off half the bolts on the valve cover plate. Maybe Ill have the machine shop redo them when they check the head.

[ButchPetty]

Originally Posted by P30inbuffalo

Here's a picture of the engine being pulled. Note the mainsheet in the back which made it easy to move the engine around. We saw the lack of any attachment to the middle of the boom as a plus. The boom swings with the whole arrangement because of the mainsheet.

That is indeed a classic photo.

[nickmerc]

Jim,

I have a P30 as well and plan to rebuild my engine next winter (I finally have a place to do it). I am dreading pulling the engine since there is so little room to access it. Did you have to remove the companionway steps to get the engine out? Any advice you have will be greatly appreciated. Please feel free to contact me directly at nick underscore mercurio at hotmail dot come.

Nick

[P30inbuffalo]

Hi Nick, sorry for the delay responding to you. Yes the steps had to come out but this was fairly easy, we removed a side panel on the port side also. On our P30 the sink is set in a countertop that is kind of in the way too, the top isnt removable but we could work around it and left it in place.

Right now I just finished getting the engine completely apart and I am looking for a machine shop to measure the parts and magnaflux the castings.
I did notice some weird wear on the crankshaft sleeves/bushings, it almost looks like a worm was chewing along inside there- there are little channels and tunnels and some metal flakes. It is on both the journal and cap wear surfaces. The crankshaft is smooth. Anyone have ideas what this is and should I replace the parts?

Thanks

[P30inbuffalo]

Here's a picture of the corrosion, sorry cant figure out how to resize this. Hitting "control-minus" will shrink your screen view.

[lat 64]

I think that comes from lots of low-speed running.
There was some discussion about it somewhere on the forum.
I'll dig around.

you have a pronounced case for sure.

[lat 64]

First Google hit was a winner:

http://www.substech.com/dokuwiki/dok...earing_failure

Some great pics here. Now I just have to read it

russ

[hanleyclifford]

Russ - Good research. Under the classification "bent connecting rod" which shows wear at the edges of the shells, question - could this phenomenon also be caused by excessive crankshaft end play? Hanley

[P30inbuffalo]

I'm still getting my terminology right so please bear with me. The crankshaft main journals are smooth. The main bearings are what's pitted.
On the flywheel end, the outside area only of the lower bearing and the inside area only of the upper cap bearing are pitted. On the transmission end, the block main bearing is fine, and the main cap bearing is pitted on the inside only. As if there were unusual up pressure on the flywheel end of the crankshaft or down pressure on the other end-?

This engine would not go to high rpms in forward, regardless of the throttle setting.

On another issue, would it be wise to replace the rod journal bearings regardless of how they measure, to err on the side of caution, or is this a waste of money?

[P30inbuffalo]

Several people have asked for more pictures from hoisting the engine, here's a link:

https://picasaweb.google.com/hamburg...eat=directlink

[thatch]

Jim,
The pitted bearing shells appear to be a classic case of acid erosion. Acid forms in the oil over time with the presence of water. Although there are acid inhibitors in the oils we use, they deteriorate over time, particularly in the pressence of excessive moisture. One of the main reasons for this, in auxialiary sailboat engines is that they (in many cases) tend just to be used to get us in and out of our slips and are never thoroughly warmed up, creating condensation. The solutions to this problem are generally considered to be, more thorough engine warmups and, at least, yearly oil changes done before the winter layup. The wear pattern on the bearing pictured looks very normal, except for the erroded areas, but should certainly be replaced.
Tom

[lat 64]

Originally Posted by hanleyclifford

Russ - Good research. Under the classification "bent connecting rod" which shows wear at the edges of the shells, question - could this phenomenon also be caused by excessive crankshaft end play? Hanley

My first thought is no. There is enough "float" on the wrist pins to allow for a worn thrust bearing. The rods would just move a little for'd or back. I think if you had enough endplay(worn thrust) to make the the rods interfere with things, you'd have some very big chunks of glitter in your oil.

Bent rods are common. Reconditioning rods is a typical machine shop job. I have only done it a few times under the watchful eyes of a pro.
There is a jig that you put the rod in and then measure it's bentness. Then you twist it with a big bar to make it right again. This is followed by resizing the big end and honing the both ends to make it spec again. New bushings for the small end may be necessary. Don't do this at home kids, just something more to consider.

I digress again,
Russ

[67c&ccorv]

Originally Posted by P30inbuffalo

I'm still getting my terminology right so please bear with me. The crankshaft main journals are smooth. The main bearings are what's pitted.
On the flywheel end, the outside area only of the lower bearing and the inside area only of the upper cap bearing are pitted. On the transmission end, the block main bearing is fine, and the main cap bearing is pitted on the inside only. As if there were unusual up pressure on the flywheel end of the crankshaft or down pressure on the other end-?

This engine would not go to high rpms in forward, regardless of the throttle setting.

On another issue, would it be wise to replace the rod journal bearings regardless of how they measure, to err on the side of caution, or is this a waste of money?

Well, the good news is the wear occurred on the easily replacable main bearings and not on the crankshaft main bearing journals (you hope?).

You will have to mike the crankshaft main bearing journals to determine whether they are worn and/or ovalled...

...your Mk I eyeball will not be able to discern this.

Once that is determined at the minimum if it is just a main bearing replacement issue the crank journals will have to be conditioned before the whole thing goes back together.

BTW...everyone knows it is a no-no to touch a new main bearing with your bare hands, right? Maybe that is how that acid etching started in the first place???

[hanleyclifford]

Go back to post #18 of this thread and study the link. You will see the very picture of what happened to your bearings and the reasons for it. I think a new or reworked prop is in your future. And yes, by all means replace the rod bearings along with the mains. Make sure you don't have undersized - should be stamped on the back of the shells.