CD31 acceptable amount of engine vibration

[Russell Johnson]

I have a CD31 1985 that has had very little use since she was purchased new in 1985. I have sailed her for three years and was wondering if there is any way to determine the acceptable amount of vibration the engine should produce, both while in idle and while in gear - is there a regular time period for changing out engine mounts? They appear fine, but I would hate to be damaging the transmission or stuffing box, shaft etc and not knowing it.

Thanks



rajarch@bellsouth.net

[Tom]

What is acceptable and normal would be hard to describe in words. When an engine is put in gear and sped up it normally torques over a little bit when the torque is applied. One thing you could do would be to watch a new installation where you know the motor mounts are good and see what "normal" is. The Universal engines are very smooth and don't vibrate much if that's what you've got. A Yanmar, for example, vibrates more. Your local mechanic can probably look at it and tell if what you've got is normal. If your engine has had little use the chances are your mounts are OK. It takes quite a bit of running to wear them out. How often do you change the motor mounts on your automobile, for example? They don't go bad just sitting there. Typically the engine needs overhauling before the motor mounts need replacing so when you rebuild the engine you replace the motor mounts because it's easy to do at that time. Hope this helps. JMHO

I have a CD31 1985 that has had very little use since she was purchased new in 1985. I have sailed her for three years and was wondering if there is any way to determine the acceptable amount of vibration the engine should produce, both while in idle and while in gear - is there a regular time period for changing out engine mounts? They appear fine, but I would hate to be damaging the transmission or stuffing box, shaft etc and not knowing it.

Thanks

TomCambria@mindspring.com