Universal Atomic 4511

[scurvydogtoo]

I recently purchased a 1979 Catalina 30 with an Universal Atomic, 2 cylinder, diesel, Model 5411. Does anyone have torque values for this engine? At least torque values for the head bolts?
Thanks in advance,
Chris

 

[Stu Jackson]

Chris, have you tried www.marinedieseldirect.com?

 

[scurvydogtoo]

Universal 5411

Thanks Stu,
I've tried to navigate the website for torque values but, no luck. They do have the maintain manual for sale but, for now all I need is the head bolt torque. Wrote them with the question. Will see.

Also noticed that I put 4511 rather than the actual model number of 5411. Oops.

 

[Jack - La Paz Mx]

http://www.westerbeke.com/onlinemanuals/200151_m15-m25-5411-5421_technical_man.pdf

 

[scurvydogtoo]

Jack in La Paz,
Got it. Everything I need to know. Very grateful.
Thanks much,
Chris

 

[jrowan]

I'm assuming you got the torque value: 43 - 46 foot pounds of torque to the head bolts.
I have the same 5411 engine if you have any questions. Although the manual is pretty helpful overall, & the English translation is a lot better in the Universal, then Yanmar's broken English.

 

[scurvydogtoo]

I'm assuming you got the torque value: 43 - 46 foot pounds of torque to the head bolts.
I have the same 5411 engine if you have any questions. Although the manual is pretty helpful overall, & the English translation is a lot better in the Universal, then Yanmar's broken English.

Actually, the info I got from the manual had the 5411 at 31-35 and the 25 at 43-46. This little engine has been pretty well abused. Thanks for the offer of answers. I have the feeling I have some questions. This little engine has been pretty well abused/neglected.

I spent every summer of my early life and many, many days afterward right down the road/river from you in Urbanna.

 

[jrowan]

Yeah, we used to keep our previous boat (another Catalina) down river from Urbanna in Deltaville. My Dad, RIP, kept his big O'Day at Regents Point on the Rappohannok River as well. This area is in my blood, as much as sail boats are. Cheers.

ps. The 5411 gets much maligned because its a bit underpowered for a 10 k weighted boat. But she's a very tough lil engine, & with some TLC that engine will run forever.
Make sure that your glowplugs are working right, or when cold that engine is hard to start.

Urbanna is a great lil town.

 

[scurvydogtoo]

Yeah, we used to keep our previous boat (another Catalina) down river from Urbanna in Deltaville. My Dad, RIP, kept his big O'Day at Regents Point on the Rappohannok River as well. This area is in my blood, as much as sail boats are. Cheers.

ps. The 5411 gets much maligned because its a bit underpowered for a 10 k weighted boat. But she's a very tough lil engine, & with some TLC that engine will run forever.
Make sure that your glowplugs are working right, or when cold that engine is hard to start.

Urbanna is a great lil town.

I had a cousin who used to live in Deltaville (Hardyville). Spent lots of time there and all over the area. It does truly get in your blood. Was a great place to grow up.

Hopefully this 5411 will come back to life. It had 3 broken valve springs and appeared to have very little maintanence for quite a while. I'll have to move the boat about 50 miles once it's running again. Will be quite a workout to see just how tough it is. Fingers crossed.

Chris

 

[jrowan]

Sorry to hear that your 5411 is not running. Must have had a lot of rust corrosion in it for the springs to all go bad like that. I was lucky that the P.O. a few owners back had performed a total rebuild on mine. Being raw water cooled, it gets a lot of corrosion in the cooling jackets, & the exhaust riser / mixing elbow will get so blocked up with corrosion that it wil almost block the exhaust flow. If yours won't start, then I would go ahead & replace the glow plugs. They're relatively cheap, & without them the engine will not start, period. Also check for bad diesel fuel. If it has water & sludge in the bottom of the tank like I've witnessed it will also clog her up. The two fuel injectors are also relatively affordable to buy & replace & will make a big difference on performance if they're not clogged. You may also be aware that you can close off the coolant water flow loop to the thermostat. This will force the raw water throught to the water muffler immediately, rather then waiting for the thermostat to warm up & open. I found that the lack of water exiting from the exhaust for the first 5 minutes plus, until the thermo. opens up is a lil' disconcerting. The thermostat is only there to warm up the engine faster by recirculating water through the block, during cold weather starts.
Lastly, if your 5411 requires a rebuild, its always worth it, as its anly a few grand in parts, & will probably last another 20 years. A new diesel for our C 30 will set you back 10 grand or more. Hope it doesn't come to that for you. Good luck.

 

[scurvydogtoo]

Well, I just wrote a long reply and it may have spun off into cyberspace. Don't know if it 'took' or not. I'll try again.
The engine ran. The glow plugs are good. The injectors are good. The fuel is about 80% fresh. The fuel pick up is now clear. Don't know if it was clogged before or not but, I 'removed' the screen or whatever was on the end of the pickup tube while trying to access it. The overboard discharge is really, really good. There is no thermostat installed. When it was running before I removed the head it 'hunted' with inconsistant RPM. It would not respond to increased fuel without either delay or wanting to shutdown. Minimal smoke was light gray. All seems like a fuel pickup problem to me but, once I saw the broken springs then the head had to come off. Now just waiting on some gaskets to put it back together. Fingers still crossed.

 

[Jack - La Paz Mx]

Chris...well worth the effort put into this engine. We have had our '86 Catalina 30 since 1995 and it has been all over the west coast of CA and we sailed/motored it down Baja in 1999. It has been all over the Sea of Cortez in all kinds of weather, badly smashed by a hurricane that destroyed the marina, and still keeps putting along. Being raw water cooled, I plumbed the sink into the engine cooling system and can shut off the sea intake and run a sink full of fresh water and flush the engine. The boat lives alone in the marina for 6 months and we flush the motor with anticorrosive before leaving her. She starts right up when we return. Have had to pump out diesel as it gets old and we replace with fresh fuel every several years as it just uses little diesel. Tough little motor, never really worried about being underpowered, just was prudent as to tides,waves, and winds. Sails do come in handy and are the engine of choice.

 

[scurvydogtoo]

Jack,
Plumbing the sink into the cooling system is a great idea! Thanks. Even with the 'iron spinnaker' issues at least the boat came with decent sails. Crispy main, working jib, about a 140 Genoa, and a Spinnaker. The "engines of choice".

 

[jrowan]

Mine is plumbed into the drain line via the sink as well. FYI: Just make sure that you don't have the seacock for the sink drain closed with the engine running or water can & will back up through the sink & flood over the sink from the engine discharge.
There is also a brass vented loop under the sink just above the sink level. It has a small rubber flap inside it that allows air to vent but not water. If it wears out it will allow water to siphon back up through the sink drain & will also overflow the galley sink. Found this out the hard way when I first got my C 30 & the sink backed up & overflowed. The check valve is really small & flimsy, but it is easy to replace via a small screw cap at the top of this U shaped vent loop. You will see it underneath & to the right of the galley sink, mounted on the side of the galley cabinet. Surprised to hear that an '86 model C 30 still has a 5411 engine installed. I thought that Catalina had switched to the M-18 by then, which is just the larger displacement 18 horse power version of the 2 cylinder 5411 11 horse engine. Cheers.

 

[scurvydogtoo]

Thanks for all the info on the vented loops. I recall seeing the one under the sink. Would certainly be a surprise to see your sink overflowing. That would be a new for me.
I wish this thing did have 18 horsepower and had a closed cooling system. My C30 is a 79.
Still waiting on parts to put it back together.

 

[Alan Gomes]

[QUOTE="jrowan;. I thought that Catalina had switched to the M-18 by then, which is just the larger displacement 18 horse power version of the 2 cylinder 5411 11 horse engine. Cheers.[/QUOTE]

The M18 is a fresh water cooled engine. I had one in my Newport 27. Great little engine.