I actually have a couple of quetions. First, how long should the engine mounts last for the 13.5 hp engine? Second, When replacing an A4, is it typical that the engine bed needs to be reenforced? We replaced our A4 with a 13.5 beta and I think the beds are not strong enough for the engine. I believe it's torquing itself out of specks.
Hello Dave, The flexible mounts should last for many thousands of hours of service. The main causes of mount failure is poor engine alignment and fluid (oil or fuel) leaks over them.
It is very difficult to comment on your particular engine beds as you dont say what kind of movement you have. In a nutshell, you should not have any movement in your engine beds. Many of the older boats have some issues with the beds and it it wise to install a support web to the side of the bearers to spread the load across to the hull. This should stop any sideways flexing. This is a problem that I had on two old Pearson boats that I repowered years ago and the gusset that I installed fixed the problem nicely. This was not a common problem with these boats as I have repowered about 9 or 10 and only 2 needed this fix.I hope that I have helped.
