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Engine
Maintenance (21-6)
By Mark King
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 Regular
maintenance of your boat and its systems helps reduce
the probability of breakdowns while underway. Knowing
this simple fact should encourage everyone to take a
look around their boat at regular intervals during the
boating season. And yet, many boat owners treat their
vessels like their automobiles. They drive them until
they break.
The difference, of course, is when a car breaks down
you can move it to the side of the road and wait for
the tow truck to bring it to a garage. On the water,
you are faced with a different set of circumstances.
First of all, boats don’t always stop working
when the weather is pleasant. Bad weather and stormy
seas are often what finally knocks that loose wire off
the engine and makes it stop dead in the water or stirs
up the muck in your fuel tank to send one last particle
to clog your fuel filter. And you can’t just pull
off to the side of the road and wait for the tow truck.
You don't necessarily have to be a mechanically inclined
person to detect problems with your engine. Simply open
your engine hatch and have a look around. See if there
are any leaks that weren’t there before or wires
that seem to be out of place. Even loose connections
can often be spotted with a close visual inspection.
If you don’t care to do this much, it is a good
idea to have scheduled check-ups throughout the season.
A good inspection once a month will only take a few
minutes and could save you a lot of headaches (and cash)
later on in the summer.
But if you are comfortable in the engine room, take
this regular inspection one step further. Look for anything
that has changed since the last time you were in the
engine compartment. Is there a new odor, such as gasoline
or oil? If you smell gas when you are in the engine
room, it's best to clear the boat and locate the source
of the odor immediately. Are there any tell tale signs
of leaks? Oil, gasoline, transmission fluid, water or
coolant are all easily spotted on the sides of clean
engines or in clean bilges where they will run to the
centre of the boat. Any leaks should be dealt with immediately
as they could turn into large leaks and major problems
quickly.
As well, discharging oil, gas or transmission fluid
into the water is illegal so the very least you should
do is mop them up to prevent them from being sent overboard.
In addition to ensuring all fuel lines and connections
are secure, check oil and transmission fluid levels
as well as the coolant levels if the engine has a closed
cooling system.
The next items that should be inspected are electrical
connections and wires.
Corroded battery terminals must be cleaned and all wires
or connections should be properly connected. Fluid levels
should be up in the batteries or even test the condition
of each battery cell with a hydrometer. All wire connections
must be firm and wiring harnesses secure. Look for chafe
and broken wire ties.
Next on your list to inspect are the cooling and exhaust
system hoses and clamps. These items are continually
vibrating, heating and cooling, which can lead to hose
failure and loosening of clamps – especially if
they are removed for winter storage and not tightened
securely in the spring.
The condition of cooling water intakes and the associated
hoses, valves and clamps are critical. Spend a few minutes
checking these items. Belts on a marine engine drive
alternators and water pumps. They should not be shredding,
cracked or loose. Without water pumps, your engines
will last mere minutes and it's often impossible to
hear a belt shredding in a boat’s engine compartment.
Maintaining the mechanical systems on board your boat
is crucial to safe boating. Each boat owner should develop
a checklist of their own systems and conduct regular
maintenance checks. If you are not comfortable doing
this, or just don’t want to, make sure to have
a regular maintenance schedule with your local marina.
They can usually schedule a maintenance check at a time
that's convenient.
Different owners will be comfortable completing different
work. Whether you're completely hands off, or don’t
mind rebuilding your propulsion system right at the
dock, it's important to ensure that regular maintenance
is conducted on your boat. It'll lead to more confidence
on the water and will help ensure that you arrive back
at the dock if anything does happen.
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