Rabbit hole

[BillyK]

And a patient wife!

You could try an alternative procedure for replacing the 4D's that worked well when my 4D's failed the first time at Cape May, NJ. The dockmaster at Utches Marina had a young fellow pick up a 4D and carry it up to the shop, and bring back a new one, then did the same with the other 4D, no charge. Great service!
The flex panels are a good option. I installed one on top of my RV and it works very well. I think you will want to keep them in place, though. The controller that you will install for solar power will be a smart device, and will charge the batts through all the proper stages of charging, and maintain a proper float charge. The old charger on the boat is a dumb charger and will not do a good job of charging and maintaining the batteries. I usually leave the boat charger off when I am on shore power, and let the solar controller do it's thing.

I'm replacing the original charger this winter.. i was reading the manual on the original unit and it would seem that they designed it to simply cook batteries for 14 hours at a high voltage.. not the best design. i had the same unit on my Catalina 30 and it cooked 2 sets of batts until i realized the issue. I like the idea of just allowing the solar to float the batts though... maybe next winter when i get the bimini redone i'll have them create a perm solution for the panels to stay full time..

 

[BillyK]

How is your rigging and your furler? Should be okay but they are 15 years old and in a saltwater environment right? Do you have a windlass that needs attention? Sounds like some fun cruises ahead!

i have to get a rigger to go up the mast to inspect the masthead, but i did put a drone up and inspected visually as best i could and nothing bad jumped out at me.. the rest of the rigging was inspected and looks ok. i also went over all the stays with the rag test and nothing grabbed.. i believe the boat spent its life in the Chesapeake so it's been a freshwater boat for most of it's life.. There is a windlass, it spins but i've not tested it beyond running it unloaded.. one of the trips down to the boat yard i'll pull it and bring it home to go over it and the insides... i'll add to that to the list..

 

[Tom J]

i have to get a rigger to go up the mast to inspect the masthead, but i did put a drone up and inspected visually as best i could and nothing bad jumped out at me.. the rest of the rigging was inspected and looks ok. i also went over all the stays with the rag test and nothing grabbed.. i believe the boat spent its life in the Chesapeake so it's been a freshwater boat for most of it's life.. There is a windlass, it spins but i've not tested it beyond running it unloaded.. one of the trips down to the boat yard i'll pull it and bring it home to go over it and the insides... i'll add to that to the list..

Using binoculars from the dock to inspect the upper fittings on the mast will give you a rough idea of their condition.

 

[BillyK]

Using binoculars from the dock to inspect the upper fittings on the mast will give you a rough idea of their condition.

Thanks, the drone give a pretty clear visual.. better than my eyes can see from the deck.. it's pretty impressive actually. I have to get a guy up there anyway, the PO had installed a tv antenna that seems to be corroded and the mount is starting to fail... so i want that off.. i also want the anchor light replaced with an LED also..

 

[paulj]

The was tv antenna was in poor condition and the mount started to fail , can not find the picture, so I removed all the componenents and left the cable in mast in.

When in Canada, I used a new a antenna for the new TV technolgy and attached it to a halyard and raised the antenna up about 10 feet above the deck so we could watch the weather channel.....in French.


paulj

 

[SawyerCurt]

The cover that came with my boat (#48) is a mast-down cover. So every year I take my mast down so I can put the cover on. My club organizes 2-3 of these "mast parties" each season where we take 7-15 masts down in a single day. Splitting the cost across all the participants costs about $150 per person for the crane, and everyone helps take everyone's masts down so the labor is "free".

 

[Tom J]

Thanks, the drone give a pretty clear visual.. better than my eyes can see from the deck.. it's pretty impressive actually. I have to get a guy up there anyway, the PO had installed a tv antenna that seems to be corroded and the mount is starting to fail... so i want that off.. i also want the anchor light replaced with an LED also..

I have a new LED anchor light sitting in the saloon, waiting for me to go up the mast and replace the old anchor light. I'm sure the old SS screws are frozen in the mast truck, and I don't look forward to getting them out. For the time being, I use a battery powered LED light hanging from my boom, and the steaming light when I am at anchor. I am at the age where I need a real incentive to make the trip up the mast.

 

[Witzend]

Hi All,

pulled the trans while doing the mounts and discovered the splines on the damper plate have about 10% of their teeth left.. so new damper plate on order

Here is the rub on the damper plate. First I'm betting it was an R&D damper with a polly ribbon instead of springs. These dampers are too stiff for the torque rating for the MX25. They end up cracking. You probably have the input spline shaft of the tranny worn like mine was as well. The problem is if you just replace the damper it will eat it up again if it is not spot on. Don't be fooled here as it may feel ok, but just the top corners of the splines of the damper will be in contact not the full surface. You either have to replace the input shaft or mount the damper on a custom ring that will push the contact point further into the shaft where there is no wear. I cut my ring out of AL and used a Sacs Damper plate #1866--50-002 that was rated for the proper torque. I have now almost 10 years (800 hours) on this novel repair and no apparent problems. I need to change my Cutlass bearing (mine is epoxied in, that is another story) so I will pull the engine up and remove the tranny (easier than taking the rudder off) and see how it looks and let you know.
Check out this tread for more info:

Damper Plate Rattle

This is also posted on the C310 Fourm. Well folks, I pulled the engine and split the bell housing to find out why I was getting so much rattle from 1000-1500RPM. What a job! I was literarily revolutions away from completely striping out the spline collar on the damper plate due to the P.O...

forums.sailboatowners.com

Good luck with your project boat.

Also concerning you buzzer problem. When the key is first turned on the buzer should sound. If it does not, make sure the connection to the fuel pump is good (usually a corroded shovel connector at the pump). This is because there is no power to the fuel pump yet as the oil pressure switch is not made (engine not running), so the positive terminal is acting as a ground for the buzzer. The buzzer gets it's ground through the low impedance of the windings to groundthrough the fuel pump. The fuel will gravity feed down to ~5/8 of a tank without the pump working. Another test to see if the fuel pump is working is to turn the key and hold it in the spring loaded position and have someone listen for a clicking sound coming from the fuel pump. If that is happening that you do have a buzzer problem.

Lift Pump Malfunction

All, Last evening on the way out of the harbor the motor died after about 5 minutes of running. Quickly got the genoa unfurled and sailed back to one of the T-heads on the end of one of the marinas piers. During the initial investigation the motor would run for about 10-15 seconds then die...

forums.sailboatowners.com

Lift Pump Malfunction

All, Last evening on the way out of the harbor the motor died after about 5 minutes of running. Quickly got the genoa unfurled and sailed back to one of the T-heads on the end of one of the marinas piers. During the initial investigation the motor would run for about 10-15 seconds then die...

forums.sailboatowners.com

Sorry for being so long winded, but understanding how this work will make boat chores/projects easier.
Witz

 

[BillyK]

Here is the rub on the damper plate. First I'm betting it was an R&D damper with a polly ribbon instead of springs. These dampers are too stiff for the torque rating for the MX25. They end up cracking. You probably have the input spline shaft of the tranny worn like mine was as well. The problem is if you just replace the damper it will eat it up again if it is not spot on. Don't be fooled here as it may feel ok, but just the top corners of the splines of the damper will be in contact not the full surface. You either have to replace the input shaft or mount the damper on a custom ring that will push the contact point further into the shaft where there is no wear.

Thanks Witz... i reached out to my transmission guy and send him some photos of the splines.. i'll send him the trans if it needs a new input shaft. and Thanks for the info on the buzzer.. I have to replace that european connecting strip in the engine pod since it does show corrosion and it sounds like a lot of others have had issues with that connector overall.. maybe that will resolve the buzzer issue.

 

[BillyK]

Oh yes.... the rabbit hole deepens!

slow oil leak which the surveyor suspected oil spillage from an oil change.. turns out not. i dropped the oil pan today and discovered this beauty..

brought the pan home... started cleaning and getting the rust off and waalaaah..

Now the question is... repair or replace?? this is the sort of thing that jbweld could take care of... the metal is so thin i wouldn't try welding..

new part is $400.. jbweld is $7.. blown engine due to total loss of oil from jbweld failure.. $15,000..

gotta love these decisions..

here's the overall condition of the pan for reference.

 

[BillyK]

found one new one online for $250.. decision made.. new oil pan ordered..

 

[BillyK]

Here's my damper plate and trans input shaft..

Ordering a new damper and sending out the trans to have the input shaft replaced.

I guess the silver lining in all of this is that the engine should sound totally different..

Look at the play between the plate and the shaft my god!

 

[marchem]

found one new one online for $250.. decision made.. new oil pan ordered..

I can't remember, did you pull the engine, or were you able to remove the pan with the engine in place?

 

[BillyK]

I can't remember, did you pull the engine, or were you able to remove the pan with the engine in place?

i had the engine lifted about 10 inches... but it looks like you could almost do it in place.

 

[Witzend]

Here's my damper plate and trans input shaft..

View attachment 172820

View attachment 172821

Ordering a new damper and sending out the trans to have the input shaft replaced.

I guess the silver lining in all of this is that the engine should sound totally different..

Look at the play between the plate and the shaft my god!

View attachment 172822

Yep R&D damper... Piece of junk. What Damper did you order? With these light flywheel weight odd cylinder count diesel engines, don't idel them for long periods of time...i.e. to charge your battery bank. This creates the maximum torsional vibration and works the damper plate.

 

[BillyK]

Yep R&D damper... Piece of junk. What Damper did you order? With these light flywheel weight odd cylinder count diesel engines, don't idel them for long periods of time...i.e. to charge your battery bank. This creates the maximum torsional vibration and works the damper plate.

i've not ordered a replacement yet.. but i believe it will be the Sachs 10-1866-061-001 when i do. according to the specs everything lines up on that model number..

 

[Witzend]

I believe RP used that one. Might want to ask him how it worked out. I used a softer one but had to make an adapter ring.

 

[BillyK]

Anyone else's strut alignment look like this? it doesn't appear to be damaged and my alignment was perfect. Did Catalina design them like this to reduce prop walk or allow for the shaft to be removed?

 

[Witzend]

No, Looks bent to me, but pictures can be deceiving.
However... mine was so far out (cocked froward end up in the direction of the shaft) that when I replaced my cutlass I could not get the shaft back in. For mine, it appeared to be poor manufacturing, they must have just jammed the shaft in and it finally wore out the cutlass into alignment. So it just may be poor manufacturing in your case as well.

I ended up drilling out the strut and floated the new cutlass bearing in place with epoxy for perfect alignment. My alignment with the keel has always been pretty good.
Does she pull hard to one side under power if you let the wheel go?

The left picture was after new bearing was installed.
The middle picture is showing the strut drilled out but cutlass not epoxied in yet. Notice the gap at the bottom.
The right picture the 1.25" drill process.

 

[Tom J]

Anyone else's strut alignment look like this? it doesn't appear to be damaged and my alignment was perfect. Did Catalina design them like this to reduce prop walk or allow for the shaft to be removed?

Yours looks to be bent to starboard a bit. Mine is centered. Yours should be okay since the alignment is good. Shortly after I purchased my boat, I noticed that the skeg was loose, and I had to tighten the mount bolts. The boat only had 19 hours on it, but had been in the water for two years.