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Hello,

A year ago, the oil pressure light and buzzer were not working. We called a mechanic and this is what he did: pulled engine control panel; traced wiring and inspected connections; tested oil pressure buzzer by grounding at panel – OK; rung wiring harness to be sure of continuity; grounded wire at oil pressure sender and tested -buzzer sounds. He determined that the oil pressure sender was bad and needed a replacement. Eventually he replaced it.

The problem is this: for the first 30 minutes after turning the engine on everything in fine. After 30 minutes (when the engine is already warm) the buzzer sounds if the revolutions are low (say 1500 rpm). If you open the throttle and increase the revolutions a bit (say to 1800 rpm) the buzzer stops.

Any idea why this is happening? Maybe the oil pressure sender needs to be tighten more? Or we need to increase the minimum revolutions?

Thanks for the help,

Juan

Hi guys,

I wonder if you can help me with this one: I went to sleep on the boat on Friday night. Everything was fine. On Saturday evening I filling up the tank and after a couple of hours we went to sleep I smelt diesel, so I check the fuel tank I found that a small trace of diesel was running from the fuel tank down below the head sink to the bilge. So I took out the panel that covers the fuel tank (on the port side) and I found this at the bottom of the tank...(see picture). It was like touching grease but it smelled like diesel. Here is another picture (second picture).  It is obviously something that has been building up there. So my immediate reaction was, maybe I have a very tiny whole at the bottom of the fuel tank. But then, I realize that I didn't smell diesel on the night before. It was only after we fill up the tank to the top. So then I touched the fuel sending unit and it has diesel around (see picture). So my second theory is that this unit has been loose and so when I filled the tank to the top, diesel has been spilling from them and gravity sends the diesel to the corner of the tank where you see the build up (first picture).

Obviously I cleaned everything, I tighten the screw at the top of the fuel sending unit (it was indeed loose), I ran the engine for a couple of hours to lower the fuel level and now I will wait until tomorrow to see if the diesel trace will reappear or not. In the meanwhile, I wanted to check if anybody has gone through a similar experience.

Thanks,

Juan 

Hi everyone:

Last year I noticed that the water heater was leaking. As soon as I filled the water tanks with fresh water, the fresh water leaked through the bottom of the water heater. I supposed this was because the water heater got rusty at the bottom. Since I never use hot water and to avoid this leaking of fresh water I put a shut off valve on the incoming hose. There is no more leaking of fresh water. Recently I noticed, however, that the relief valve is warm (not necessarily hot but pretty much warm). Frankly, since a year ago, I never check this valve so I don't know if it has been warm all this time. The question is, is this normal? Is there any way to shut off the electricity to the water heater...I don't see an obvious on-off switch for this..

Thanks

Juan

Hi everyone:

my bilge pump is not working. It gets electricity...I can hear the buzz when I turn it on, but it is not taking any water out of the bilge. Any suggestions on how to start tackling this issue? Could it be the hose that is clogged? or the pump itself? any way to differentiate between the two?

Thanks

Juan

Hi everyone:

I am in the process of changing the hose that goes from the water intake to the water pump (nothing wrong yet, but it looks very old to me). The hose has this mark "Shiledsflex 100-0580". So I figured that this is a hose with a 5/8" in diameter.

The question is whether I need more information. For example, in some websites there are water & exhaust hoses with the same diameter but with different psi: 725psi, 320psi, etc.

Do I need to worry about the psi as well? If so, which one?

Thanks

Juan

Hi everyone:

My oil pressure alarm stopped working. Before, you could hear the alarm when the key was in the ignition position and also in the glow-position (in that case, the alarm had a lower pitch sound), and would stop once the engine starts. Now, the alarm is always gone.

I thought the buzzers were too old. I changed them with new 12v buzzers from Radio Shack but still nothing...I checked the wires behind the panel, they were all fine...The motor seems to be running fine...Oil level is fine...

Any ideas on what to do (or check?)

Thanks,

Juan

A quick question:

my voltmeter (at the cockpit panel) reads 12.5 when I turn the key to the ignition position. Once the motor starts, however, it goes to 15. Is this a normal read? I never paid attention to this before.

thanks,

Juan

Quick question:

what should be size of the wire connecting the alternator and the starter solenoid. Mine is #14. Shouldn't be #10? Should I change it? Does it matter?

Thanks,

Juan

Stu:

sometime ago you posted a picture of a nice starter solenoid fuse holder. I would like to change mine to something more durable, probably like yours. Is that a fuse holder you can find anywhere, or it is something special that you had to ordered?

Thanks.

Juan

Hi, I need some advice on this.

Last weekend I was motoring when the revolutions slowly decreased and finally the engine stopped. I have discovered a small crack on one of the fuel lines right where it is attached to the fuel pump. I was planning to simply cut the line below the crack and attach it again, but I don't know if I have to do something else. For example, is there a risk that air gets into the system? Is this then a job for a professional mechanic?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Juan

Hi everyone:

could somebody recommend a good set of tools to work on the stuffing box' packing and lock nuts? I always strugle using my regular pipe wrenches...

Thanks,

Juan

Hi everybody:

I noticed that rain water is coming inside the boat through the mast. I can see the water marks along the mast when I stand inside the boat. Somebody told me something about the mast boot? do I have to replace this thing? or can I just fix it with something? How do I decide what is the appropriate thing to do?

Thanks for the advice.

Best,

Juan

Guys,

the bridge at Choptank River in Maryland limits traffic to 50 feet vertical clearance. The head of the mast of the Catalina 34 (standard rigging) has a distance from the W/L of 49.7 feet. Has anybody gone below this bridge? or any bridge with a limit of 50 feet? Is it safe? too risky?

Thanks for your inputs

Juan

Hi guys,

my ice box stopped working last weekend. I have no idea if the problem is the thermostat, the compressor, or what. I don't even know where the compressor is located...(not easy to find). Any guidance on how to address this issue before having to call a technician would be greatly appreciated.

Best,

Juan

Hi guys,

my boat has some yellow stains across various sections of the hull. Do you have any suggestions of a product to remove these stains?

I would like to polish and wax the hull, but it seems that I need something different first to remove these stains. Also what kind of polish and wax do you normally use?

Thanks,

Juan

Hi guys:

the screws in my engine panel (at the cockpit) do not keep the panel tight anymore. I cannot use larger (thicker) screws because they will not fit through the wholes of the metal panel. Any good ideas on how to fix this issue?

Thanks,

Juan

Hi guys:

anybody with the "Catalina Smile" problem?, what appeared to be a crack in the leading edge of the keel about 8-10 inches below the hull.
When I bought the boat (5 years ago) it already had it. Never did anything about it, and still it looks the same, but I wonder if I should anything. In addition, the port side of the keel seems to have a crack too. The boat is on the hard and I can see that there is a small trace of water coming out right from the middle of the keel (not from the hull). Odd, normal?

Somebody told me to check the keel bolts and replace them if necessary...what?, are you serious?, I said..

Thanks for the insights.

Juan

Last winter (like any winter in the past 5 years) I winterized my boat. For the engine this means getting rid of the water inside the engine and putting anti-freeze instead. Yesterday, I forgot to open the valve that let water come into the engine, and so I turned the engine on. The engine started without problem. It was working for about 20 minutes before I noticed white smoke coming out of the exhaust. Of course no water was coming out. At that moment I opened the valve and 1 minute later, the smoke was gone and water started to come out of the exhaust as normal.

I ran the engine for one additional hour and move the boat from place to place, and everything seems to be fine. No problem with the engine, good acceleration, etc. I wonder, however, if the fact that the engine was working for about  20 minutes without water may have done something to it that I might see more in the long run. Should I be concern or these engines are so tough that they can handle this kind of stress..

Hi Guys,

Last spring I got an estimate for blister repairs in my boat in the order of 10-12K. Of course these are professional services. They said the boat has many blisters. The various readings are below.
I am trying to avoid spending that much money on the blisters. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to do the job myself. So I was wondering if any of you knows somebody around the Chesapeake Bay area that might be interested in the job without asking for so much money?

Thanks,

Juan

Readings:

Moisture: 30 (Gelcote), 30 (Mat)
Barcol: 15 (Gelcote), 25 (Mat)
Thickness: 31 (Gelcote), 89 (Mat)

Hi there:

the drain in my galley's sink is clogged, I think. When I was dishes, the water stays in the sink and only goes away very slowly (eventually all the water is gone). It has been getting worse during the last 4 months.

I guess something is clogged. The question is how do I go about it? Do I pour a product through the drain? Could it be that something is wrong with the seacock? (I check, it is open, so that is not the problem)

Thanks for the advice.

Juan

Hi:


I recently changed the ignition key switch (the old one stopped working) and it has been working fine for about 2 months. Yesterday, however, I tried to start the engine and it did not start. Let me explain the standard procedure that I use and then what happened:

Ï put the key on. Hold key clockwise against the spring to power the glow plugs. Hold key for 20 seconds while buzzer sounding. Release spring pressure, push the start button, and the engine starts. Yesterday, however, I followed the same procedure but when I released the spring pressure and pushed the start button, the engine did not start and the buzzer kept sounding (although in a somewhat lower tone).

I let it rest for 10 minutes thinking that I may have cranked for too long, but the same thing happened. I didn't try letting it rest for longer since I had to leave the boat. I am sure this will be one of the recommendations, and I will try again when I am back in the boat.

But any ideas of whether this could be a bigger problem? Could it be the new ignition key switch (the old one didn't died that way)?  something wrong with the engine? Anything else?

Thanks for your thoughts

Juan

Hi:

I have never used raw water to clean dishes in the galley in my 1989 Catalina because the sea water foot pump at the galley has been broken since I got the boat 5 years ago. So I have always kept the valve for this seacock closed.

We opened this valve recently and discovered that water goes straight to the bilge. It is not a big flow but it is more than a trickle. As far as I know, opening this valve does not suppose to bring water unless you use the foot pump, right? And why is water going to the bilge, anyway? I guess I have a seacock problem?

Thanks,

Juan

Hi guys:

I was wondering if someone has had a similar experience: after motoring for 2-2.5 hours, the wind finally picked up. We turn the engine off and started sailing. Then we started hearing a tac, tac, tac noise below the cockpit. Not sure if it was outside the hull or within the engine compartment. After 10 minutes the sound was gone. The next day, the same thing. We lifted the boat and nothing was there. This seems to happen only while sailing and also only after motoring for quite some time.

Any ideas? Somebody has suggested a problem with the transmission. By the way, should the shift level be in FORWARD, NEUTRAL or REVERSE while sailing?

Thanks,

Juan

When I bought my boat two years ago I noticed -while on the hard- that the cutless bearing was slightly loose. However, once in the water I could not sense any vibration or any sound from the cockpit. Two seasons went completely fine. A month ago we decided to take the boat out of the water to paint the bottom. We took advantage of the situation and ordered a cutless bearing replacement. According to the yard, they replaced it without pulling the shaft but using a hydraulic press. According to them, everything went well. I didn't see the cutless bearing on the hard this time. The boat went back to the water this weekend. I motored for 1 hour. Once again, I could not sense any vibration; however, a subtle (metal?) sound could be heard at around 1300-1500 rpm. The sound disappears above 1500 rpm.

I wonder if this could be the new cutless bearing temporarily adjusting to the shaft? Has anyone had a similar experience with new cutless bearings? Did the sound go away eventually? Or should I worry about something else?

Thanks,

Juan