I have a 1987 Catalina 30 MK II with an Universal M-25XP engine. My starter button is intermittent. I've seen several posts about changing it, but, no information of where to find one to buy. Any help?
Catalina 30 Starter Button
- Thread starter FredB
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I picked up both the starter button and glow plug button from defender. They are made by Cole Hersee. If it hasn't been upgraded you will want to check the engine wiring harness. I thought the intermittent start issue was the button as well, but discovered the wiring harness was the original and it was failing. The harnesses were made by Seaward and they used two sets of trailer type plugs that eventually corrode and cause the symptoms I experienced. Check the archives there is a lot of info on this.
Sailboatowners.com has them and you help support this site buy buying from Phil & Bly......
I generally use the Cole Herse M-626..
The BP vs. BX just means blister pack/clam shell or box. The boxed version is cheaper than the clam shell...
Fred, you should be aware of these:
http://forums.catalina.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?p=865500&highlight=wiring harness
http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,5078.msg44056.html#msg44056
Many folks think it is the button, but a little tuner cleaner from Radio shack goes a long way.
It is usually the wiring harness connections, those horrible trailer connectors, that are the culprit.
Good luck.
http://forums.catalina.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?p=865500&highlight=wiring harness
http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,5078.msg44056.html#msg44056
Many folks think it is the button, but a little tuner cleaner from Radio shack goes a long way.
It is usually the wiring harness connections, those horrible trailer connectors, that are the culprit.
Good luck.
The same thing was happening to my C30 - intermittent starter. It was, as other have suggested, the wiring behind the engine panel. In my case it was the main ground wire. A few years ago I upgraded my wiring by replacing the harness plugs with Seaward's "stainless" wire strips, which promptly rusted out. This time I used heat-shrink butt connectors.
Starter Button NOT!
Thanks everybody for your reply. I had reworked the harness six months ago, so, I was fixated on the button. But, when I removed it, touching it's two wires caused nothing! Hmmmm. Turned out it was the fuse holder to the starter solenoid that, evidently, was barely making contact. When I checked the fuse, the wire from one end of the holder came loose. I changed the fuse holder using a "beefier" spade fuse model and all works great. I'm going to order a spare button anyway. Thanks again.
Thanks everybody for your reply. I had reworked the harness six months ago, so, I was fixated on the button. But, when I removed it, touching it's two wires caused nothing! Hmmmm. Turned out it was the fuse holder to the starter solenoid that, evidently, was barely making contact. When I checked the fuse, the wire from one end of the holder came loose. I changed the fuse holder using a "beefier" spade fuse model and all works great. I'm going to order a spare button anyway. Thanks again.
Fred, glad to hear that. You may have read the other posts in the Critical Upgrades topic I linked to earlier. One of them discusses that silly "hidden" fuse. I've moved mine out to beyond the alternator and is very easy to get to. We're all glad to have been able to help.
Also something to think about....add a relay and beef up the wire to the starter and glow......from the engine to the panel and back is a long way (and current loss) for the amount of solinoid current needed to kick it off. I added a sub panel to the area above my water pump and now both starter fr and glow have a run of less than 3ft @ 10ga to kick all else is 14ga.
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