starting procedure

[roypaul2]

Completely new to Catalina boats, please help. When starting engine, my panel does not have a glow plug button. Boat is a 2002 36' MK II. How do I engage the glow plugs, and do the glow plugs have to be warmed up before the starter will work. I took my starter off and had it tested, it works fine.
Please any help will be appreciated.

 

[duality]

my 2001 yanmar does not have glow plugs, i doubt yours does either. just turn the key, push the start button and start. mine has never not started in the first few seconds. on cold days i press in the trans release and give it more throttle.

there is a sticker cautioning against operating the starter for more than 30 seconds due to the water muffler issues (maybe forcing too much water) i am not the expert on this, possibly others with more knowledge will comment on this and inform us!

 

[Stu Jackson]

roy, that is extremely odd, IF you have a Universal engine. IIRC, some of our C34s, a VERY limited number, came with Yanmars (w/o glow plugs), while 99% of them had Universals (w/glow plugs). As I understand it, it was due to what the factory had on hand when they built the hulls. Could be the same for your boats.

Please tell us what engine you have first, before we go all over the place with ideas.

You should also, in addition to this wonderful forum, get to know the C36 skippers at www.c36ia.org and join their forum, too. Many of us "do" multiple forums and, therefore, learn more and more each day.

Congratulations on your new boat and welcome.

 

[Donnybrook]

Some Universal engine panels did not have the common glow plug button. Rather, you would turn the key to what we are used to as the start position to heat the plugs. Then push in on the starter button. Back in the late 70's, some Universals were wired where you had to hit the glow plug button and the start button at the same time. Most owners and finally the company decided that was ridiculous and changed the wiring around so that was no longer necessary.

 

[roypaul2]

Thanks everybody, I made a really stupid mistake, I even pulled my starter and had it tested. I was not using the key and start button correctly.

 

[Tom J]

Thanks everybody, I made a really stupid mistake, I even pulled my starter and had it tested. I was not using the key and start button correctly.

Not so stupid, really. I went two years before I learned how to use the glow plugs in my C310. My owner's manual was for a different panel and said to hold down the button for the glow plugs. My panel didn't have any button, so I assumed the glow plugs were automatically activated. Finally, someone on this forum described the proper start procedure, turning the key all the way. Who knew? And the engine definitely starts quicker using glow plugs. Fortunately, for those two years, I was living in Florida.