Access to Engine Compartment

This was another long overdue task. Access to the Yanmar on Dragon II is not great. Lifting the steps gives access to the front of the engine, where oil and coolant checks are easily carried out. The primary fuel filter is also serviced from here. However the installation of the engine driven bilge pump makes it difficult to access the secondary fuel filter and the lift pump. The oil filter which is on starboard side can also be reached albeit rather awkwardly. A small panel removes in the aft berth to access the raw water impeller.  And so the lack of access to the starboard side of the engine seemed odd as this could easily fixed by accessing from the heads.

I drilled a small pilot hole from the engine compartment to the heads as a reference point and from this point critically measured a rectangular access panel, as large as practical. A number of hoses and electrical conduit ran down the interior of the panel and so these needed to be factored in. The engine compartment is lined with metallized sound insulation that additionally complicated matters. I used masking tape both to clearly mark the panel and also provide an easier surface to cut preventing the saw skidding off. I dug deep for some residual geometry knowledge to ensure I did in fact have a rectangular panel marked out.

A Bosch cordless multi-cutter was used to cut the panel. This is a very versatile tool and I had previously used it when routing the bilge pump hose. It requires a firm grip to maintain control, otherwise one simply needs to make a number of plunge cuts. I felt more confident making plug cuts than using the continuous cutting tool. Cutting through the insulation was a little more difficult especially as I needed to keep checking no hoses or wires were in the path of the flat saw I used. Even then I did manage to severely nick a hose running to the calorifier….another job!

I planned to “frame” the cutout with a narrow hardwood profile to match the colour of other wood, however I realised I had severely underestimated the width required and something more like 4 cm width would be more appropriate.

( to be continued and pictures added)