M-25 Alternator Mount Conversion Kit "B/M 256891"

M-25 Alternator Mount Conversion Kit "B/M 256891"

If for some reason you haven't changed to the new alternator bracket on your older (1986, early 1987) M25 21 hp Universal diesel engines, DO SO IMMEDIATELY. I learned the hard way yesterday. I'd bought the retrofit kit from Universal a year ago, and was going to do it "soon." I'd just motored over to a friend's dock for a visit, less than 5 minutes away from our slip. When my friend used the head, he came back and said, "Houston, we have a problem!" He'd noticed oil dripping from the underside of the alternator access door onto the head sole. When we took off the stairs to expose the engine, the old "over the top" alternator bracket had sheared, the alternator was lying back to port dangling from the old fan belt, and there was oil everywhere. As it disintegrated the bracket and alternator had clobbered the oil filter, which spouted oil onto the fan belt and blew it all over the engine compartment. It also nicked the fresh water cooling hose. The oil filter kept the alternator from slamming into the casing of the engine. I got out the new bracket kit, and with generous help from George and Don, I removed the old parts, and fitted in the new "underneath" bracket in about three hours. George went out to get cleanup pads, newspaper to cover everything with to keep the cabin clean, and a gallon of new oil. Don helped with assembling everything in order from the kit and the diagram. When George got back he was Mr. Toolman for me. Most of the time was spent adjusting the hose clamps on the new fresh water line which goes under the new bracket, since there is only a very small amount of clearance between it and the top of the oil filter. I also had to use a rubber bicycle tube with a hose clamp as a patch over the dinged fresh water hose, which, of course, was within a half inch of the end of the hose on the new copper elbow. Also, we had to drop the alternator again to move the alternator ground wire further back to one of the other studs since the wire was in the way when it was replaced on its old stud. Lessons Learned: 1. If you haven't, replace the older style bracket TODAY. It'll give NO NOTICE of failure: it will just GO! I was fortunate that I had all the spare parts including the bracket kit, spare oil filter, bicycle tire for water hose patch, extra hose clamps and all the tools. Also was very helpful to have assistance. Once you get your hands oily (with or without gloves) you need a lot of help getting things you need without trashing the cabin. 2. One of the tricky parts is installing the hose and its new clamp underneath to provide clearance for the alternator and making sure you position the hose clamp to permit access to the screw for future tightening and checking. 3. The existing studs on the fresh water reservoir were just fine. The retrofit kit comes with new studs, but I didn't have to replace them. 4. Put the new belt on before you pop the alternator into place with the new adjusting bracket. The kit comes with two new fan belts. They're shorter than the original ones. 5. It's a heck of a way to do an oil change AND replace the antifreeze! 6. The recent List contributions about plugging the hole between the bottom of the engine compartment and the bilge leave me inclined to recommend keeping the hole, rather than plugging it. While I've got a mess in the bilge to clean up, if the oil and antifreeze hadn't gone into the bilge, it would have filled up the engine pan and spilled over into the cabin, the head, and probably back into the area underneath the aft cabin - not as easy to clean as the contained mess in the bilge. Stu Jackson, Aquavite #224, San Francisco

Click on any picture to enlarge Altold-bracket.gif Old Bracket still in place Oil-bilge.gif Bracket "Broke" and Out Came the Oil! Altold-broken.gif Broken parts Altnew-kit small.gif M-25 Alternator Mount Conversion Kit Altnew-bracket2.gif Close-up of New Bracket Altnew-bracket.gif New bracket Installed Pictures by Stu Jackson, Aquavite