Problems with early 310s

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paulducham

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Apr 17, 2021
7
Catalina 310 Chicago
I thought I remembered reading here that there were some design flaws in the first couple of years of the 310 that got ironed out in later hulls. But I've searched the forum and can't find the thread.

Can anyone remind me what the issues were and in what year they were corrected?

Thanks!
 
rpwillia

rpwillia

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Sep 29, 2008
1,936
Catalina 310 #185 Quantico
The things I can remember is they used
1. Crappy plastic damping plate
2. Crappy transmission
3. Heat exchanger with brazed on tabs to go onto the back of the engine

All of these were fairly easily repaired replaced. I am sure there are others, and these issues were not necessarily isolated to the 310's or Catalina.
 
Ralph Johnstone

Ralph Johnstone

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Jan 4, 2006
7,150
Hunter 310 West Vancouver, B.C.
rpwillia said:
The things I can remember is they used
1. Crappy plastic damping plate
2. Crappy transmission
3. Heat exchanger with brazed on tabs to go onto the back of the engine
Click to expand
Those qualities refer to the engine. Do you remember what the engine make was and the year ?
 
rpwillia

rpwillia

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Sep 29, 2008
1,936
Catalina 310 #185 Quantico
This is for the Universal (Kubota engine). I understand later models have Yanmars. The way I understand it works, is the sailboat builder will put out a quote for engines and buy 500 or some number at one time and use them until they need more and put out a bid for more. For 2002 to at least 2002 I understand Universal was the path with Hurth transmissions.

Ralph Johnstone said:
Those qualities refer to the engine. Do you remember what the engine make was and the year ?
Click to expand
 
JRT

JRT

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Feb 14, 2017
2,054
Catalina 310 211 Lake Guntersville, AL
The standard engine is Universal for the 310, very few, hull #1, had a yanmar. We have 3 310s and a 320 in our Marina with so far no transmission issues.

One thing I read early on was there was a lot of rapid transmission changes from fwd to rev. It could have been driven by challenging slip negotiations, for me I always pause at neutral then change when I need to hit reverse to stop forward movement. Takes a bit of pre-planning but it is habit now.

At this point and age of these boats, it comes down to maintenance and care give to 310. For example have the coolant hoses been replaced or are they still painted silver from manufacturer?

Overall I think the 310 is in a nice sweet spot, not too old to have poor build quality, new enough to have most standards followed in there construction.
 
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paulducham

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Apr 17, 2021
7
Catalina 310 Chicago
Was there also an issue with the compression post being too short in the first year or two of production? And I thought I read someplace that the early boats didn't have an exhaust elbow heat sheild that was later determined to be necessary.
 
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BC Bernie

BC Bernie

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Aug 29, 2016
135
Catalina 2004 310 (Hull #250) BC

Exhaust elbow room and cabinetry alterations

Hi all - just wondering what other 310 owners have done to address the issue of the exhaust riser burning through the rear bulkhead? Re: design defect had the exhaust elbow hard up against the bulkhead and has been known to cause fires - a clear space around the elbow is the solution. How much...
forums.sailboatowners.com
 
Ralph Johnstone

Ralph Johnstone

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Jan 4, 2006
7,150
Hunter 310 West Vancouver, B.C.
JRT said:
For example have the coolant hoses been replaced or are they still painted silver from manufacturer?
Click to expand
Just did the same thing this winter on a 1998 Yanmar. The new AF hoses were all factory formed and worth a fortune.

1682350388890.png
 
pk104

pk104

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Jun 30, 2009
208
Catalina 310 Atwood Lake
My 2001 had burn marks on the bulkhead and rear cushion when we bought in 2007 from the exhaust elbow. It is a Universal diesel. Catalina sent me a heat shield to install that required cutting a hole in the bulkhead and screwing the shield on the backside of bulkhead. It worked.

Previous owner had motored a lot on the east coast. Don't know why he didn’t have serious fire. Sorry I don’t have a picture handy.
 
C

Clydo

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May 28, 2013
362
Catalina C310 SF Bay/Delta
pk104 said:
My 2001 had burn marks on the bulkhead and rear cushion when we bought in 2007 from the exhaust elbow. It is a Universal diesel. Catalina sent me a heat shield to install that required cutting a hole in the bulkhead and screwing the shield on the backside of bulkhead. It worked.

Previous owner had motored a lot on the east coast. Don't know why he didn’t have serious fire. Sorry I don’t have a picture handy.
Click to expand
My 2003 had same thing and same result from Catalina. Easy install on shield.


Clyde Thorington
C310 # 245
I LEAN TOO
San Jose, CA
 
C

Clydo

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May 28, 2013
362
Catalina C310 SF Bay/Delta
2 OLD PIRATES said:
Clyde ...... I have a 310 2003 also. The pad your using, what is it made of.
Click to expand
Like top of shoe box lid lined with foil made out of wood. Call Catalina factory
and ask for Warren in customer relations. He is very helpful.

Clyde Thorington
C310 # 245
I LEAN TOO
San Jose, CA
 
john2

john2

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Nov 26, 2022
71
Catalina 310 58 Leimuiden
Does anyone has photo's of the modification / heat shield?
Thanks , john
 
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