Rear motor mount bolt missing

[texas_jarod]

I noticed my boat was sitting a little tilted in the water and saw that a motor mount bolt was missing from the right rear. This has caused about 3" of separation between the mount and the base of the boat. Will I have any trouble wrenching a new bolt in place? Do I need to close that gap with a jack or something?

Thanks for any help. This is what I'm referring to as the "motor mount".

 

[Maynard G. Krebs]

Are you sure you're only missing one bolt? The motor pod is held on by several bolts on each side.

If it indeed is just one, I'm thinking the missing bolt isn't long enough to span a 3" gap so you wouldn't be able to start the threads, and if it is, chances are the first couple of threads would strip before lifting any substantial weight. Jack it up.

 

[texas_jarod]

Yes, there are 3 bolts on each side, and it looks like it's been like this for a while for that gap to open up. I'm going to attempt to clamp it with a vice. I didn't feel any threading, so it may already be stripped.

 

[Maynard G. Krebs]

I just checked mine. It has four bolts on each side holding the pod in place, so a total of eight. Looking at one side, there are two side-by-side through the rear rub rail, facing up with locking nuts on top. The other two are spaced 18" and 24" ahead of the rear rail, facing down with the locking nuts exposed. Of course, yours will be slightly different, but it gives you an idea of what the factory did. Hopefully you don't have underskinning. It would need to be removed to access all the bolts, which should be checked on both sides of the pod.

 

[texas_jarod]

I just checked mine. It has four bolts on each side holding the pod in place, so a total of eight. Looking at one side, there are two side-by-side through the rear rub rail, facing up with locking nuts on top. The other two are spaced 18" and 24" ahead of the rear rail, facing down with the locking nuts exposed. Of course, yours will be slightly different, but it gives you an idea of what the factory did. Hopefully you don't have underskinning. It would need to be removed to access all the bolts, which should be checked on both sides of the pod.

you are correct, there are 4 on each side. I just got back from my boat slip. I managed to get a bolt in there without pulling the boat out of the water... which is awesome because there’s a huge line of “yahoos” at the ramp every Saturday.