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1

Main Message Board / Exhaust leak

« on: September 16, 2023, 11:53:00 AM »

Last weekend, coming back from a sail, I noticed the cabin was very smoky. Shut engine off and sailed to a nearby dock. Closer examination revealed water gushing from the nipple/exhaust riser area. I was able to limp back to my slip, which was pretty close. Engine temp stayed normal. Here is a video of what is going on.
https://youtube.com/shorts/UnRdK4REvL8?si=ymg-kRBSAhbFxa7k
Any suggestions on how to approach this problem? I am guessing I need to pull the exhaust off and either get a new one from Catalina Direct, or make one myself, but could there be an easier fix? I did recently change the HX zinc, and this was the first time I took the boat out after that change, not sure if that had anything to do with it. This is a '86 C34, M25 engine.

Thanks,
Junaid

2

Main Message Board / Engine oil shelf life

« on: April 23, 2022, 12:05:44 PM »

I just changed the oil on my M25. There was a sealed gallon of Delo 40 sitting on the boat left by previous owner, so I used it. Just as was sitting down, congratulating myself on a job well done, I happened to glance at the oil jug. It had a 2001 date printed on it. It seemed to look and pour normally. Seems to be the right consistency and color. My search online shows most companies say 2-5 year shelf life on engine oil. Yet there are many people who report using 15-20 even 30 year old engine oil in their car engines without ill effect. What do you guys think? Should I suck this oil out or just use it? Walmart has Mobil 15W40 for $10.50 right now so I picked some up just in case.

3

Main Message Board / Re: House Battery Bank Questions

« on: March 18, 2022, 01:51:33 PM »

I should have mentioned, batteries had been topped off with distilled water before all these readings. No bulges in batteries but I think the time has come to replace. I have yet to spend a night at anchor so I think I will probably go with the cheaper option. When I turn on the charger it shows 8 or 9 amps going into the battery bank. This continues to drop off steadily to about 1A after several hours.

4

Main Message Board / House Battery Bank Questions

« on: March 17, 2022, 11:20:30 PM »

I have a house bank of 4 Trojan Mileage Master 6V batteries of unknown age.  I think there is a Xantrex battery charger. Recently I noticed the cabin lights get dim after 3-4 hours of use when boat had no shore power. The Link 20 battery monitor shows green lights but when I check voltage it's about 10V. After leaving the charger on for a few days, I turned it off, turned everything off that could draw current (Link 20 still showed 0.1A current for some reason), after a day the fully charged house bank was down to 9.9 V with nothing on. When I put a multimeter on the 4 batteries, two of them show 5.5 V and two show 4.5 and 4V respectively. Is there any way of milking some more life out of these batteries by getting rid of the weaker two batteries? In case I need to replace, the Interstate Golf Cart batteries at Costco are about $100 whereas the Trojan batteries run about $300 at the local battery store. Both have roughly the same amp hours, 210 vs 225 AH. Are the Trojans really 3 times better? Any other 6V battery recommendations? Thanks.

5

Main Message Board / Re: Autohelm 4000 question

« on: June 13, 2021, 01:51:16 PM »

Pic

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Main Message Board / Autohelm 4000 question

« on: June 13, 2021, 01:50:42 PM »

I have an autohelm 4000 which is not powering up. No red standby light or other signs of life.  There are 4 wires (red/black, blue/brown pairs) in the connector. I am assuming one of these pairs powers up the control box and the other one would presumably drive pulses to the motor which drives the wheel with a belt. I am not sure which pair is the power source or even if this is a correct assumption. I am seeing 12V on both pairs when I turn on the autohelm at the switch panel. Even without the control panel connected. The picture shows voltage on the blue/brown pair (wire is not connected to the board) and the polarity seems reversed (blue should be negative but is positive). A later probe showed 12V on the red/black pair as well. Anyone on this forum have the same unit? Any info on the wiring/troubleshooting? Thanks.

7

Main Message Board / Re: thermostat - water heater connection

« on: April 20, 2021, 12:01:42 AM »

Stu,

Thanks for the detailed reply. I agree that there is no room under the companionway steps for anything but the petcock, but I was thinking of using mainesail's contraption as a temporary thing to be screwed in when bleeding air and then replaced with petcock. Does that sound feasible?

Junaid

8

Main Message Board / Re: thermostat - water heater connection

« on: April 19, 2021, 04:47:12 PM »

Since this whole issue really started with the nipple pulling out along with the hose, I have become very averse to hose pulling methods to bleed air out of the coolant system. I am going to resort to petcock in the future. Maybe try that contraption that is mentioned elsewhere that can be fitted in the thermostat pet cock opening.

9

Main Message Board / Re: thermostat - water heater connection

« on: April 18, 2021, 04:52:20 PM »

This morning I went back to the boat and was gratified to see that the coolant had gone down in the tank.  Added coolant and ran at the dock in gear for 10-15 minutes. Temp held steady at 160. Will try venturing out next weekend and see if it still  holds under load for extended periods.  Thanks again for all your helpful advice.

10

Main Message Board / Re: thermostat - water heater connection

« on: April 18, 2021, 11:21:17 AM »

And which hose did you replace?

The large 7/8" hose that is about 2-3 foot long and carries coolant from the pump to the heat exchanger was the hose we replaced.

11

Main Message Board / Re: thermostat - water heater connection

« on: April 18, 2021, 11:19:16 AM »

As I mentioned in my earlier email. I took the WH 3/8" loop hose off the thermostat and poured antifreeze in. Almost immediately it started coming out of the thermostat hole. To me that seemed sufficient evidence that that loop was air-free. However I am puzzled why the hot water at sink never heated up despite running the engine repeatedly for the "burping" process.  Is it because the coolant only circulates in the water heater loop AFTER the thermostat opens? That would explain the lack of warm water at the faucet as I had to shut off the engine fairly quickly after the thermostat opened. The coolant itself gets pretty hot by the time I shut the engine off.

12

Main Message Board / Re: thermostat - water heater connection

« on: April 17, 2021, 10:24:13 PM »

I put coolant in the 3/8" hose that goes on the nipple and is part of the water heater loop. As for the nipple, the old one had corroded threads which was probably why it wasn't going on.

13

Main Message Board / Re: thermostat - water heater connection

« on: April 17, 2021, 07:44:31 PM »

So I got the nipple from the local Universal dealer (same price as the Kubota dealer $17). Managed to get it on after some effort. Put coolant into the hose and it almost immediately comes out of the nipple. We put the hose  back on and started the engine. It overheated after about 10 minutes (at least the water temp alarm works great now once I put that loose wire back on the connector).  Tried opening the petcock on top of the thermostat.  Coolant dribbles out the petcock after temp reached 180, but water temp keeps increasing so I shut off the engine shortly after that point (1 - 2 minutes at most). Tried this a few times but engine still overheats after a little bit.  Coolant is hot but the hot water at the sink is still cold. Not sure why? Water is coming out the back more or less normally. Am I missing something? Does the radiator cap need to be off or on when the petcock is open ( we tried it both ways)? There is a cabin heater that apparently uses engine heat, is that another loop that needs air removal? The whole saga started after replacing the large hose that carries coolant back to the heat exchanger, did that hose need to filled with coolant before securing it with clamps? Any advice / suggestions will be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Junaid

14

Main Message Board / Re: thermostat - water heater connection

« on: April 12, 2021, 11:54:45 AM »

I am happy to use Devcon, but just want to understand what you guys are advocating. Just place the nipple at the mouth of the opening with no threads engaged and slather Devcon around it and then put the hose back on? Or get a slightly smaller nipple that goes into the hole so it is a better connection before applying the Devcon?

15

Main Message Board / Re: thermostat - water heater connection

« on: April 12, 2021, 11:42:21 AM »

I am not sure where the JB Weld is applied? Outside the hole? The nipple isn't fitting in the hole.