hand cranking m25xp for an emergency start

J

jameswelden

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May 20, 2013
6
Catalina 30 tall mast Bellingham
I have a 1988 Catalina 30 with m25xp diesel engine -- I would like to know if there is a way to hand crank the engine for an emergency start.

What parts are needed if this can be done and where would I purchase these parts?

Thanks and happy sailing,

Jim
 
Stu Jackson

Stu Jackson

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Feb 26, 2004
23,101
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
Jim, nope. Besides clearance issues on both your boat and mine at the front of the crankshaft, there's just the splined nut in the front, not much to hold onto.

We've has 26 years of C34 experience, the C30s have had much longer, and the C36s somewhere in between. Not heard of any successes in my 15 years.

The answer to a concern about not starting is to assure a solid electrical system and clean connections, including the engine ground.
 
Anonymous 121765

Anonymous 121765

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Jan 6, 2010
1,520
Jim,

I agree with Stu. The older model Universal engines had a de-compression lever for low battery emergency starting. I used mine a few times. Worked like a charm.

Unfortunately, the remodeled engines no longer have this feature. I re-powered with a newer model 3M20A assuming the lever would be there. However, this was not the case.

I feel Universal (Kaboda/Westerbeke whoever) succeeded in causing a lot of us problems in emergency starting. What I call, "Going backwards into the future."

CR
 
Maine Sail

Maine Sail

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Feb 6, 1998
11,721
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
Pretty hard to hand crank glow plugs....;););) A well designed two battery bank system is the best approach....
 
G

gregorybross

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Jan 31, 2012
56
Catalina 30 mkIII Santa Barbara
Never heard of hand cranking but I have sucessfully started with a 'power station' emergency start pack using the compression release to get it spinning.
Greg
 
S

sailorhokie

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Jul 28, 2012
35
Catalina 27 Annapolis
I have a 1985 Universal M-18 that has the decompression lever.

For those that have used it, what is the correct process?

If you have someone to drop the lever, it makes sense to release, crank to get spinning, and drop to get the power stroke.

How does this work if one is alone?

Josh
 
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