• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • My Account
  • Cart

Sailing Britican

Helping you to become a sailing cruiser!

TwitterYoutubeFacebookLinkedinPinterestInstagram
  • Home
  • Shop
    • Checklists For Sailors Guide
    • Sailboat Buying Guide For Cruisers
    • VHF Radio Checklists & Templates
    • Week Long Sailing Experiences
    • Our Etsy T-shirt Store
  • Life Aboard
    • Life With COVID-19
    • Hurricane Season
    • Galley
      • Recipes
    • Getting Started
    • Making An Income
    • Kids On A Boat
    • Marina Life
    • Racing Your Home
    • The Boating Lifestyle
  • How To
    • Buying A Boat
    • CopperCoat
    • Electrical Systems
    • Kit
    • Maintenance
    • Major Upgrades
    • Organization & Cleaning
    • Passage Planning
    • Safety
    • Sailing, Maneuvering & Mooring
  • Destinations
    • Atlantic Crossing
    • Bahamas
    • Bermuda
    • Caribbean Sailing
    • Charleston
    • Florida
    • Mediterranean
  • Our Journey
  • Sailing Experience
  • More…
    • Our Story – From The Beginning
    • Freebies
    • The Crew
    • The Yacht
    • Best Sailing Quotes
    • Sailing Q & A
    • Disclaimer
    • Contacting Us

How To Make A Rubber Gasket For A Boat Engine

January 5, 2021 Leave a Comment

Share14
Tweet
Pin2
Buffer
Reddit
Share
Pocket
16 Shares

When a boat engine springs a leak it could be a failing gasket. Gaskets, or O-rings, are used to seal two engine parts together. Gaskets are found between the pieces and parts of an engine and are not difficult to fix.

As a sailing cruiser you’ll often be forced to try and fix issues out at anchor or on passage. Thankfully, making a gasket is one of those jobs that is actually easy (provided you can get the part off)!

A few weeks ago we discovered a leak between our thermostat housing and the main engine. Until the leak existed I didn’t even know what a thermostat housing was!

That’s how we often learn – something breaks, we ask someone what it is and then the learning process evolves.

In this particular case we had guests arriving in two days and needed to fix the issue within 48 hours. As usual the issue developed over a weekend and it was impossible to get a professional out to the boat. Fortunately for us, however, our friend Tim came to the boat and offered to teach us how to make a gasket.

So…there’s two main materials you can use for creating a new gasket seal. One is a paper or cardboard type material and the other is rubber.

On this occasion we chose to use rubber due to the nature of the part. The thermostat housing is plastic and a rubber seal seemed like it would be more efficient than the paper option.

The process of creating a gasket, however, is very similar whether you use rubber or paper.

How To Make A Rubber Gasket For A Boat Engine Checklist

  • Remove the part to examine the leak in better detail.
  • Confirm that the leak is due to a failing gasket.
  • Clean the surface of the part – remove any remnants of the o-ring or gasket.
  • Clean the engine where the part is normally attached – again, remove any remnants.
  • Trace the part on paper.
  • Cut the paper out and trace onto the rubber gasket material.
  • Line the rubber up to the part and keep cutting it down until it fits well – use a hole punch to create openings for the screws/bolts/fittings.
  • Put the part back on the engine and test to see if the leak has stopped.
  • Order the correct o-ring or gasket or the part so you have it on hand if your gasket fails in the future.

How To Make A Rubber Gasket For A Boat Engine Checklist Video

So that’s how to make a rubber gasket for a boat engine! Knowing what we now know we recommend that you store both the paper and rubber gasket material onboard if you’re going on passages to remote locations.

It would be unfortunate to be anchored off a beautiful white beach in The Bahamas needing a new gasket and not having the materials to make one. The materials cost pennies to store but trying to get them in remote locations could be quite expensive!

Here are some gasket material options:

Any Thoughts Or Questions?

Please leave them below in the comments section.

Making A Rubber Gasket Featured Image

Share14
Tweet
Pin2
Buffer
Reddit
Share
Pocket
16 Shares

Tags: Engine Fix, Engine Jobs, Rubber Gasket Categories: How To's, Videos

Reader Interactions

Leave a Comment Cancel

Recipe Rating




sidebar

Blog Sidebar

Watch This First

https://youtu.be/Cp2pbeNnJeY

Best Selling Ebooks

Checklists For Sailors

VHF Radio Checklists For Sailors

Sailboat Buying Guide For Cruisers

Britican Experience

Sailboat Buying Guide For Cruisers

Britican Experience Availability

Available
Booked
Changeover
MTWTFSS
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

Free Guides

10 Steps To Buying A Sailboat

10 Steps To Buying A Sailboat

Electrical System Audit

Boat Safety Checklist

Support Us On Patreon

Become a Patron!

Recent Comments

  • Ventura Boat Services on My top 15 sailing maintenance tips, tricks and little known secrets
  • Kim Brown on 13 reasons why living on a boat in a marina is better than living in a house on land
  • Matt Brenna on 13 reasons why living on a boat in a marina is better than living in a house on land
  • Simon Jones on Checklists for Sailors – Digital
  • Kim Brown on 10 Top Boat Life Tips

This Might Be Of Interest…

Recent Posts

  • The Best Life Jacket for Sailing Cruisers April 3, 2021
  • The Secret Benefits To Becoming A Liveaboard Sailing Cruiser March 30, 2021
  • Choosing The Right Boat Surveyor March 23, 2021
  • Sailboat Living Family March 16, 2021
  • How to Become an Ocean Sailing Cruiser March 7, 2021

Top Rated Products

  • Checklists For Sailors Checklists for Sailors - Digital
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $27.97
  • Sailboat Buying Guide For Cruisers - Digital
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $24.97
  • VHF Radio Checklists For Sailors VHF Radio Checklists For Sailors
    Rated 4.75 out of 5
    $19.97
  • I'd Rather Be Sailing women's short sleeve t-shirt $28.00 – $30.00
  • One-Off Coaching Call & Sailboat Buying Guide $522.00 $250.00

Have You Read My Book?

Changing Lifestyles Book Thumb "Changing Lifestyles - Trading in the Rat Race for a Sail Around The World" (Click the picture for more information)

Nautical Gift Store

Instagram

Follow on Instagram
This error message is only visible to WordPress admins
Error: No posts found.

Pinterest

Footer

Contact Us

We help people to take the exciting leap from living on land to becoming full time live-aboard sailors. If you would like to get in touch or having any questions, here are our details.
WhatsApp: +44 787 940 1425 Email: info@SailingBritican.com

Payment Information

We accept PayPal and all major credit cards including Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, JCB Diners Club, credit and debit cards. Transactions are performed via a SSL server to ensure your privacy.

Credit-Cards

Want to become an Affiliate?

If you would like to earn a commission on promoting our t-shirts, guides, club or experience, join our affiliate program.

To apply, you must be a registered user on this blog. If you have an existing account on this blog, please log in. If not, please register

Check Us Out On Social Media

TwitterYoutubeFacebookLinkedinPinterestInstagram

Site Developed by Gary Fox

Sailing Britican, All Rights Reserved