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Removing Engine / Pulling Engine Ski Nautique
Hi,
I recently needed to remove the engine from my 1999 Ski Nautique (direct drive). Why? 3500 hours, time for a rebuild.
I had trouble finding "how-to information on the forum."
To help others who may need to pull their engines, I wanted to write up what we did, in case it is useful.
I have the 5.8 L Pro Boss engine with fuel injection.
1. You need to decide whether or not you want to remove the transmission with the engine, Removing the transmission requires a more complicated realignment of the drive shaft and drive shaft coupling on the transmission. For this reason, we decided to leave the transmission in, and separate it from the engine, removing only the engine.
1b. You need to figure out with what you will lift it. Most engine shops have a "cherry picker" which is a small engine hoist that cannot reach over far enough (or high enough) to reach a mid-engine set-up. Some suggested a forklift. I don't have one, and to rent one I was quoted $400. I don't have any big beams or trusses in my garage. I was able to find a large, tall, sturdy tree to use. The boat engine could be centered below the tree limb by maneuvering the boat and trailer. We have a 3 ton chain block, and would attach it to the tree using some pieces of webbing and static rope with more than adequate breaking strengths.
2. Prep work begins: I drained the oil from the engine and the water from the engine block. I have a hose fitting on the bottom of my oil pan, so draining the oil is easy. It involves poking a hose down through the hull drain hole.
3. I removed many parts from the engine. The machine shop who is rebuilding the engine does not want or need these. Examples of what I removed: Fuel Filter, fuel pump, ignition system, spark plugs, spark plug wires, distributor, fuel rails, fuel injectors, water impeller housing, throttle cable, transmission shift cable, perfect pass, oil /transmission fluid cooler, etc. This included disconnecting the battery cable ground wires that go to the engine block. I labeled all the wires (for everything) thoroughly and took several pictures of what it looked like before I disassembled it.
4. There are 4 bolts that connect the engine to the transmission on my boat. 2 on top and 2 on the bottom. I disconnected these.
5. There are 2 large engine mounts with big washers. Remove these.
6. I removed the intake manifold because the guys at the machine shop wanted me to.
7. A friend has a 4 chain equalizing connector thing for lifting engines. Each of the 4 chains was connected to a bolt 2" long threaded into a hole where the intake manifold bolts normally live.
On my old boat (Chevy 350) We threaded bolts into the bow and aft sides of the heads. There are often bolt holes in them to which fuel pumps or other engine parts get bolted.
8. Using a 3 ton chain block connected to a beefy tree limb, we lifted the engine slowly. There were 4 of us. 1 person operated the chain block, 1 person monitored the tree and our rigging to make sure it was ok. The remaining 2 people watched the engine from both sides to monitor progress, look for problems / noises, etc. The engine seemed reluctant to separate from the transmission. The problem we felt was that the front engine mount bolts were pretty tall. To solve this, with the engine lifted slightly we un bolted the engine mounts from the steel frame to which they connect. This allowed us to slide the engine forward with it raised only slightly. The first successful forward engine movement was generated by a person sitting with his back on the back seat backrest, pushing his feet gently on the engine, pushing it away from the transmission. This separated it easily. It also finally gave us a chance to see what the engine to transmission looks like.
On the engine side, there is a splined receptacle. On the transmission side, there is a 1.5" splined shaft. According to the oily mark on it, 1" of it was inside the engine.
9. After the engine separated, we lifted the engine high enough that we could pull the boat on the trailer out from under it.
10. We lowered the engine onto a furniture moving cart w/ 4 casters I bought at Home Depot for $25. It is flat, approximately 3' x 2' and I reinforced the surface with a piece of 3/4" plywood. I held this engine (and also the Chevy 350 in the past) with no problem. We then strapped the engine down to the cart with 2 cam straps, in different directions (imagine a Christmas Present wrap ribbon).
11. With the engine strapped to the cart, we lifted it again from the chain block and loaded it into the truck that would take it to the machine shop. We secured it in the vehicle with 2 cam straps.
I don't maintain that any of this is the absolute best way, or the only way. It is just what we carefully and thoughtfully figured out when we were unable to find an account of someone else's success story.
Dave
I recently needed to remove the engine from my 1999 Ski Nautique (direct drive). Why? 3500 hours, time for a rebuild.
I had trouble finding "how-to information on the forum."
To help others who may need to pull their engines, I wanted to write up what we did, in case it is useful.
I have the 5.8 L Pro Boss engine with fuel injection.
1. You need to decide whether or not you want to remove the transmission with the engine, Removing the transmission requires a more complicated realignment of the drive shaft and drive shaft coupling on the transmission. For this reason, we decided to leave the transmission in, and separate it from the engine, removing only the engine.
1b. You need to figure out with what you will lift it. Most engine shops have a "cherry picker" which is a small engine hoist that cannot reach over far enough (or high enough) to reach a mid-engine set-up. Some suggested a forklift. I don't have one, and to rent one I was quoted $400. I don't have any big beams or trusses in my garage. I was able to find a large, tall, sturdy tree to use. The boat engine could be centered below the tree limb by maneuvering the boat and trailer. We have a 3 ton chain block, and would attach it to the tree using some pieces of webbing and static rope with more than adequate breaking strengths.
2. Prep work begins: I drained the oil from the engine and the water from the engine block. I have a hose fitting on the bottom of my oil pan, so draining the oil is easy. It involves poking a hose down through the hull drain hole.
3. I removed many parts from the engine. The machine shop who is rebuilding the engine does not want or need these. Examples of what I removed: Fuel Filter, fuel pump, ignition system, spark plugs, spark plug wires, distributor, fuel rails, fuel injectors, water impeller housing, throttle cable, transmission shift cable, perfect pass, oil /transmission fluid cooler, etc. This included disconnecting the battery cable ground wires that go to the engine block. I labeled all the wires (for everything) thoroughly and took several pictures of what it looked like before I disassembled it.
4. There are 4 bolts that connect the engine to the transmission on my boat. 2 on top and 2 on the bottom. I disconnected these.
5. There are 2 large engine mounts with big washers. Remove these.
6. I removed the intake manifold because the guys at the machine shop wanted me to.
7. A friend has a 4 chain equalizing connector thing for lifting engines. Each of the 4 chains was connected to a bolt 2" long threaded into a hole where the intake manifold bolts normally live.
On my old boat (Chevy 350) We threaded bolts into the bow and aft sides of the heads. There are often bolt holes in them to which fuel pumps or other engine parts get bolted.
8. Using a 3 ton chain block connected to a beefy tree limb, we lifted the engine slowly. There were 4 of us. 1 person operated the chain block, 1 person monitored the tree and our rigging to make sure it was ok. The remaining 2 people watched the engine from both sides to monitor progress, look for problems / noises, etc. The engine seemed reluctant to separate from the transmission. The problem we felt was that the front engine mount bolts were pretty tall. To solve this, with the engine lifted slightly we un bolted the engine mounts from the steel frame to which they connect. This allowed us to slide the engine forward with it raised only slightly. The first successful forward engine movement was generated by a person sitting with his back on the back seat backrest, pushing his feet gently on the engine, pushing it away from the transmission. This separated it easily. It also finally gave us a chance to see what the engine to transmission looks like.
On the engine side, there is a splined receptacle. On the transmission side, there is a 1.5" splined shaft. According to the oily mark on it, 1" of it was inside the engine.
9. After the engine separated, we lifted the engine high enough that we could pull the boat on the trailer out from under it.
10. We lowered the engine onto a furniture moving cart w/ 4 casters I bought at Home Depot for $25. It is flat, approximately 3' x 2' and I reinforced the surface with a piece of 3/4" plywood. I held this engine (and also the Chevy 350 in the past) with no problem. We then strapped the engine down to the cart with 2 cam straps, in different directions (imagine a Christmas Present wrap ribbon).
11. With the engine strapped to the cart, we lifted it again from the chain block and loaded it into the truck that would take it to the machine shop. We secured it in the vehicle with 2 cam straps.
I don't maintain that any of this is the absolute best way, or the only way. It is just what we carefully and thoughtfully figured out when we were unable to find an account of someone else's success story.
Dave
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