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Hull#568
I have a Racor R24P water separator which is probably original on my 88 C34. I have never completely understood this mysterious thing. It never has water in the bowl tho I have water and the resulting black snot that results which I am always fighting with biobor biocide treatment bc we don't run the M25XP enough. It has a plastic turnscrew on top which when unscrewed converts to some sort of pump which I don't understand. Today when the engine seemed to be starving for fuel and died, I shined a flashlight in the bowl and noticed tiny bubbles coming from the upper end of the bowl. I found that the engine runs better when I open the bleed screw  on the engine. Does this make sense? Guess the bleed screw is venting the small amount of air in the system? I think it might be time to replace this possibly 34 yo racor but if so, will any water separator be OK or is this one specific to this type engine? Any advice appreciated!

Just placed an order for numerous items for my 88' C34 to repair from hurricane Sally. Just realized that I failed to order the rub rail insert but looking on their site it is not listed? However if they do have it I'll probably have to order waaaaay more than I need, as what they show is well over$200. I only need about 10 feet. If anyone has some in their scrap pile they would sell me or know where I can get a short length I would so appreciate. Thanks much!

In my original wiring there isn't a smaller (maybe#10) wire ran from the distributor to the battery for charging? How does the engine charge batteries without a dedicated wire? Does it somehow charge they the big primary starting cable? Any help appreciated

1988 C34 #568
My (probably original) potable water pump runs constantly when switched on at the electrical panel. The forward tank is full and the aft tank is closed off. What is throwing me is that there is no air coming from faucet when running indicating it isn't drawing air in the lines, and.....I'm pretty confident there aren't any leaks anywhere. I suspect the pressure switch isn't working? In an effort to check it, I clamped down on the discharge hose at the pump and the pump still runs constantly. Questions.....Do you agree on pressure switch malfunction? Can the switch be replace on a properly working pump or.....assuming the switch is bad......must I replace the whole pump/switch assembly? Thanks much for your help!

1988 tall rig / hull#568
My traveler is shot. It is serviceable but the car is "sticking" while under a load. I can pull traveler line and move it but it hangs up and not smooth as it should be i assume indicating the rollers are worn. I have checked Catalina Direct and they only seem to have the tricked out 5:1 purchase upgrade but all I want is is the replacement of existing system. Thinking about garhauer marine. Anyone having ideas appreciated. Thanks

Wasn't thinking and after changing racor filter I failed to fill with fuel before starting and got air in fuel system. I opened bleed thumb screw and got engine running but it begins to stall every time I close it. I have run it for a good bit of time but it is still doing this. Also.....I've noticed that the racor clear bowl is bubbling (drawing in air apparently) when I open water release valve on bottom. I have never seen this happen before? Any help appreciated.

Need to replace the metal mesh filler in my breather and wondered what's wrong with using some ordinary fiberglass window screen. Just wad up a hand full and stuff in there? I have made a slip over foam outside filter.

Sorry to wear you guys out but Lightning strike caused an open ground for cabin lights. The only lights working are head and nav station. I have checked all ground terminals and they are all grounded but no ground at lights. Anyone who is capable of reading schematic? It shows a mast ground but I can't locate it. Thanks!

Anyone who's replaced there's with the new style and will consider selling the old one let me know. Thank you

Heard the snap from inside the house this afternoon and got a sick feeling that it struck my mast. When the worst weather passed I went to check and upon removing the hatch boards was met with smoke throughout the cabin. The bilge pump was blown apart and there is a hole in the electrical panel where the bilge switch used to be. Several other problems but mainly concerned about my keel. The bolts and all else look ok in the bilge and not taking on water. Assuming Catalina runs a ground wire from mast to keel bolts to direct energy to ground but fear that it could have blown off a piece of the keel..... Guess I'll take a dive under tomorrow.  Any ideas of other things to look for appreciated. Stu... Thanks for the crutchfield link as I finished installing new kenwood stereo two days ago and it's fried.

Just noticed motor mount nuts are backed off. This shouldn't be.... Right? I would think the rubber shock pads should give the engine enough wiggle room??? Advice appreciated. Hope pic posts ok

Just finished my new dodger and clutches are so far forward there isn't room for levers to swing forward. I am having to relocate clutches and teak mounting block. Anyone else have this problem? If you've ever pulled up those blocks you won't forget it.... Catalina used heaping share of bedding compound making sure they stayed there.

88 model #568
Looked around site but can't find info to determine if fuel sender can be replaced without removing tank. Testing indicates sender has failed. Any help appreciated

After years of leaving my whisker pole in the garage......finally used it and wonder how I got along without it. Question is.....I can't use a topping lift on the pole because the halyard coming off the block (forward of the masthead) comes too close to the jib furler spindle and will get wound up when I try to furl the jib. It even does this under normal jib furling without the pole. Does this make any sense to anyone? Thanks much

#R24p
Still wresting with understanding this thing....tons of info on web but can't find anything on how to use one. When the knurled screw is loosened, if water is present it is expelled...but when the water is drained, does fuel then come out? When I loosen the screw nothing comes out...is this normal?

Will a little water ruin a new racor filter or the secondary filter? Biocide always in tank. Thanks

Universal M25xp
Yesterday while not paying much attention....ran aground. To my surprise, I backed off successfully and was underway in no time. However, after a minute or two motoring into thicker water, I noticed the engine rpms seemed to drop as if it was starving for fuel but suspected that it was my imagination. Killed engine and sailed for a while longer then when time to start up again, had to crank engine quite a while before it finally began to "catch" and sputtered to a start. blueish black smoke emerged for the first few minutes then cleared and ran great back to the dock. Ok...........Changed primary racor filter and secondary within ~25 hours ago (maybe 1 year ago). Tank was removed and cleaned couple years ago and I keep biocide in fuel and air filter clean. I'll certainly change filters right away but the smoke really concerned me. Any ideas as to why the smoke and what could have happened? Thanks

When dropping my headsail, the plastic insert(s) which goes into the top of the upper swivel fell out into the drink....as usual. Anybody know where I can find one? Looked everywhere for a diagram so as to refer to it by proper name, but no luck. I know many have upgraded, but this ol gal works just fine. Any help appreciated......

1988 C34 Hull#568
It seems that I read about this problem somewhere, but can't find it. Holding fills and start spitting from vent when flushing? Emptied holding and it is filling up waaaay too soon. When pumped out it looked like clear seawater. Seacocks under head sink are always closed except when underway. Macerator seacock has never been open because macerator doesn't work. Any help appreciated.

Lost coolant due to a punctured heat exchanger and fortunately smelled funky odor and shut down before melting engine (25xp) . No alarm sounded. Anybody know if the oil pressure buzzer doubles for temp? If so, I may have bad temp sender. Otherwise I will install horn or something. Upcoming weekend project in case anyone has tips. Heat exchanger was a minor silver solder job. Test for sender function is to ground sender wire at sender and should get 12v at alarm.....right? Thx much

88 C34
Curious........Anybody know if Catalina was staining interior teak back then or was it the PO? Thought it was just maybe a batch of orangish teak but way over in the corner I can see a couple stain lines along the hull. To make it worse, it is varnished over. I found heat gun is slower than stripper removing varnish, but not near as messy. Though stain soaks thru pores, it does seem to brown the wood up some when the varnish is removed. Sheesh.....this is work. Maybe orange ain't so bad.

If anyone knows the approximate yards of fabric necessary to recover a C34's interior cushions......Please post. Catalina won't return emails or calls. It seems I read somewhere herein around 34 yards??? No luck searching archives. Thanks

88' #568
the PO for unknown reasons drilled a hole level with the cockpit floor behind the companionway steps. This is the small area some put a trash can or microwave. The hole is draining water from apparently from the cavity under cockpit floor. Not a lot of water but enough to be concerned. The water is slightly brownish as if it is derived from wood core. Is cockpit floor cored? The floor seems to be very solid. Any ideas of source? Thx much

A new thread so as to avoid hijacking the other one. Has anyone used the heressoff style cleats? I have two SS 8 inchers and their footprint is a little wider than the aluminum since it features 4 bolts instead of two. It looks like there is barely enough width. Would sure feel better to hear that someone has done this before I start drilling. Thx

Any ideas to prevent rainwater from coming in around tiller head and down rudder post?  Had same problem with c30 years ago and never did completely stop. Thinking of building a caulk bead "dam" to direct water away from post. Constant drip into steering quadrant. I bet everyone's leaks to some extent. Ideas appreciated.

When I did this in my c30, I found plywood was between bilge floor and keel. Anyone know if the c34 has similar design? Just need to drill deep enough to let a screw get a bite. Thx

First one I've used and it works very well even when reefing. But....the problem is keeping the line on the discharging side taut while furling or unfurling. Otherwise it dumps it all in a pile and usually then overboard.  May sound confusing but I'm sure anyone who's used one understands. Probably several options to remedy but before I start mounting hardware I want to solicit ideas. Thx

1988 C34 Tall Rig
Sparing you guys all the agonizing details......my rudder ran aground in reverse and I heard a "pop". My nightmare was confirmed this am as I went swimming and found a crack around the circumference of the rudder probably at the point where the rudder shaft terminates......about 2 feet down from top. Though it is still pretty rigid, there is some flex at the crack when I pull and push back and forth on the bottom of the rudder. So....first question....is there a vertical rudder shaft log allowing the rudder to drop while boat is floating (diagram appears to show this)? Second......given the fact that it is taking on water as we "speak", what are the chances of removing all water? Third......Assuming the water can be removed, a repair would include grinding around crack and epoxy/fairing.....I have some experience here. Advice appreciated.