A little background, my wife and I bought a Catalina 310 in December moving up from a C&C 24. We had an outboard on the C&C and I came to know that engine well. Did all my own maintenance and feel this is important on any boat because if something goes wrong when you are out there you are on your own.
So now I have my first diesel engine and I am starting to get to know this engine. I am a real rookie at this so I am sure some of my questions will make you roll your eyes at how stupid they are.
Thank you for all of the content you have put up on your website and the forums. Without that I would not have had the confidence to start on any of the engine work. When you write your book, I will be in line to buy one of the first copies.
So to my endless list of questions. I went to the boat yesterday and spent some quality time with the engine. Some of my questions will be in the realm of "can this wait until next year?" We bought the boat on the hard about an hour and a half from our house. Our home marina is only about 15 minutes from the house. So I intended to put off things as much as possible for this year and do them next year. It is not laziness, just logistics.
General Engine
The first photo is the general condition of the engine. With the exception of the hose from the rw pump to the heat exchanger, the condition seems pretty good. There are a lot of little rust spots that I intend to sand and paint to match the rest of the engine.
1) What should I use to clean the engine? I was thinking a mild degreaser like diluted simple green.
2) Is there anything else you noticed from the photo that needs to be addressed?
Heat Exchanger
The first thing I did was remove the heat exchanger end cap and zinc to inspect the heat exchanger. When I asked the PO if he has ever cleaned the exchanger, he looked at me like I was speaking Greek. But he proudly pronounced that he changed the zinc every year. Thanks to your website I wasn't surprised at what I found when I removed the end cap (see next photo). I cleaned all of the remnants out and cleaned and returned the cap. The non-zinc side looked fine but I forgot to take a photo.
3) I think I need to remove the heat exchanger and do a complete cleaning. But do you think that could wait until next year?
4) When I remove the zinc, it was coating with a tan, sand-like material (see photo), what is this?
Raw Water Pump
This was another item that gave me a little concern during the survey. When I asked the PO when was the last time he changed the impeller, he couldn't remember ever changing it after the break in service. The engine had under 500 hours on it and the surveyor didn't think it was a big deal but that I should do it before the boat went in the water. I also talked to the yard manager, who had change the engine coolant that spring, and he said the engine ran great when they did that work. So I removed the front of the pump, disconnected the hose to the heat exchanger for replacement and remove the old impeller. The impeller was misshaped when I removed it (see photo).
5) Is this misshaping normal or does this mean there is something else wrong that I should look at?
6) Should I use an OEM impeller to replace it?
7) Is there more I should be doing to the RW pump? If so, can it wait until next year?
8) What hose material do you recommend for going from the pump to the heat exchanger?
Stuffing Box
One of the items that had to be done from the survey was to replace the hose clamps on the stuffing box. One of the 4 literally disintegrated in the surveyor's hand. So I replaced all four yesterday. I used stainless steal hose clamps that are the type that are not perforated for the worm drive (they are move like indents).
9) Should I have used a t-bolt or something else?
Also, there is a lot of patina on the stuffing box, shaft and the bilge (see photo). I also think the stuffing box needs to be repacked.
10) How can I tell if the stuffing box needs to be repacked? (I want to wait until next year if possible)
11) What should I use to clean the patina?
You can also see in that photo that the connection between the shaft and transmission (I don't know what that is called, but I know to have it lap fitted) is really rusted. My thought was to sand and paint this as well.
12) Is that a good idea?
As far as the stuffing box and shaft, my eventual plan is to remove the shaft and put on a PSS similar to what you did on your C310. However, I would like that to be two or three years out due to some other big expenditures I have coming up in the future (completely stripping the bottom, outfitting the boat with proper safety gear, new running rigging, etc.).
Other things I intend to do this year before launch:
We also did have some fun yesterday. We did the de-naming ceremony and had the new graphics put on. Overall, I still think I got a good deal but the PO was definitely better at polishing and things like that than engine work.
Thanks in advance for any help you can give.
JK
So now I have my first diesel engine and I am starting to get to know this engine. I am a real rookie at this so I am sure some of my questions will make you roll your eyes at how stupid they are.
Thank you for all of the content you have put up on your website and the forums. Without that I would not have had the confidence to start on any of the engine work. When you write your book, I will be in line to buy one of the first copies.
So to my endless list of questions. I went to the boat yesterday and spent some quality time with the engine. Some of my questions will be in the realm of "can this wait until next year?" We bought the boat on the hard about an hour and a half from our house. Our home marina is only about 15 minutes from the house. So I intended to put off things as much as possible for this year and do them next year. It is not laziness, just logistics.
General Engine
The first photo is the general condition of the engine. With the exception of the hose from the rw pump to the heat exchanger, the condition seems pretty good. There are a lot of little rust spots that I intend to sand and paint to match the rest of the engine.
1) What should I use to clean the engine? I was thinking a mild degreaser like diluted simple green.
2) Is there anything else you noticed from the photo that needs to be addressed?
Heat Exchanger
The first thing I did was remove the heat exchanger end cap and zinc to inspect the heat exchanger. When I asked the PO if he has ever cleaned the exchanger, he looked at me like I was speaking Greek. But he proudly pronounced that he changed the zinc every year. Thanks to your website I wasn't surprised at what I found when I removed the end cap (see next photo). I cleaned all of the remnants out and cleaned and returned the cap. The non-zinc side looked fine but I forgot to take a photo.
3) I think I need to remove the heat exchanger and do a complete cleaning. But do you think that could wait until next year?
4) When I remove the zinc, it was coating with a tan, sand-like material (see photo), what is this?
Raw Water Pump
This was another item that gave me a little concern during the survey. When I asked the PO when was the last time he changed the impeller, he couldn't remember ever changing it after the break in service. The engine had under 500 hours on it and the surveyor didn't think it was a big deal but that I should do it before the boat went in the water. I also talked to the yard manager, who had change the engine coolant that spring, and he said the engine ran great when they did that work. So I removed the front of the pump, disconnected the hose to the heat exchanger for replacement and remove the old impeller. The impeller was misshaped when I removed it (see photo).
5) Is this misshaping normal or does this mean there is something else wrong that I should look at?
6) Should I use an OEM impeller to replace it?
7) Is there more I should be doing to the RW pump? If so, can it wait until next year?
8) What hose material do you recommend for going from the pump to the heat exchanger?
Stuffing Box
One of the items that had to be done from the survey was to replace the hose clamps on the stuffing box. One of the 4 literally disintegrated in the surveyor's hand. So I replaced all four yesterday. I used stainless steal hose clamps that are the type that are not perforated for the worm drive (they are move like indents).
9) Should I have used a t-bolt or something else?
Also, there is a lot of patina on the stuffing box, shaft and the bilge (see photo). I also think the stuffing box needs to be repacked.
10) How can I tell if the stuffing box needs to be repacked? (I want to wait until next year if possible)
11) What should I use to clean the patina?
You can also see in that photo that the connection between the shaft and transmission (I don't know what that is called, but I know to have it lap fitted) is really rusted. My thought was to sand and paint this as well.
12) Is that a good idea?
As far as the stuffing box and shaft, my eventual plan is to remove the shaft and put on a PSS similar to what you did on your C310. However, I would like that to be two or three years out due to some other big expenditures I have coming up in the future (completely stripping the bottom, outfitting the boat with proper safety gear, new running rigging, etc.).
Other things I intend to do this year before launch:
- Check the engine oil (the PO changed during winterization)
- Change the primary fuel filter
- Change the secondary fuel filter
- Change the transmission fluid (I think this has never been done)
We also did have some fun yesterday. We did the de-naming ceremony and had the new graphics put on. Overall, I still think I got a good deal but the PO was definitely better at polishing and things like that than engine work.
Thanks in advance for any help you can give.
JK
