The Engine Repair - November 2013

In early November I was able to corral my good friend Roger, (mechanic extraordinaire), to help me dismantle the boat engine and replace the camshaft that had broken in the summer.The engine is a Universal M35B, 35hp diesel built on a Kubota block.  You may be able to purchase Kubota parts at a much cheaper price than Universal parts if you can ascertain your block information - mine was a V1305D model.
I had been able to run the boat with a temporary work-around but it was now time to put it all back in order.

After removing the hoses, alternator, valve cover, and front gearcase cover we were able to begin the delicate operation of removing and installing the camshaft.   You can see the broken cam-shaft end in the upper right of the photo...

Normally when replacing the camshaft it is necessary to remove the top half of the engine, head and then you don't need to deal with the possibility of dropping any of the valve lifters into the oil sump - not a good thing!!

But, thanks to Ben Gartside of Gartside Marine - (highly recommended diesel mechanics, very competent and ethical!!!) Ben detailed how I could pull out the camshaft through the front of the engine, removing the front gearcase cover only, which would save a lot of work, time and expense of new head gaskets, with one caveat:  BE VERY CAREFUL! because, as stated earlier, if the cam followers drop into the engine it will have to be removed (the engine) to retrieve them!!!

Before pulling out the old camshaft we had to use these expandable rods (similar to an old car antenna) with magnets on the end and then drop these "magnets on strings" down the valve channels to hold up the cam followers so they would stay put once we slid out the shaft.  This was finicky, and once in place we SLOWLY and CAREFULLY pulled out the shaft and installed the new one...  whew!  it was done.  Then the engine was reassembled and valves adjusted.  Since I had the engine already apart in this area, I replaced the fresh and raw water pumps and all associated hoses, keeping the old pumps as spares.

If ordering the much cheaper Kubota water pump make sure that you measure the impeller width; as there were a couple different pumps available for the M35B block...

It sure was great having this job done!  Thanks much to my good buddy Roger Matthews for his invaluable help and friendship and to Ben Gartside for advice and providing parts at a fair price.