[C38] Starting woes

Fri May 13 17:54:59 EDT 2011

Resting voltage of good battery is 12.6 volts, anything less is suspect.  12.2 
volts is a damn near dead battery in my book.  Resting voltage is described as a 
fully charged battery, taken off charger and left with no load on it for a day 
or at least overnight.

I would seriously consider replacing your start battery.
michael

________________________________
From: Pierre Patino <pierre.patino at gmail.com>
To: Catalina 38 Listserve <listserve at catalina38.org>
Sent: Fri, May 13, 2011 2:41:59 PM
Subject: Re: [C38] Starting woes

Hello

As promised, I'm reporting on the starting problems.

The battery and battery cables are basically new. However, I noticed some 
corrosion on the starter solenoid terminal where the positive side of the 
battery(ies) connect. I scraped everything and reinstalled the cable. There are 
two connections to the starter solenoid. One is for the battery and the other 
one goes to the panel where the starter switch is located.  The battery cable 
was not the first one in contact with the before and now it is. I wanted to add 
a washer so I made one by drilling a hole in a nickel (since I was washerless) 
and installing it. Now I can start the engine with only one battery which is a 
first. I'm still not satisfied with the speed at which the starter turns the 
engine. Can someone tell me what the "ideal" starter crank speed should be? 
100RPM? 200RPM?

Furthermore, there's a 2.2V drop at the battery switch. I think that's a lot. 
I've been googling for the specifications on the "On Resistance" of 
marine-quality battery switches but haven't found anything definitive.  Thanks 
to Les for this tidbit. I disconnected the switch and simply clamped the cables 
together and I noticed a slight improvement in the cranking speed. It could be 
subjective though..my mind wanting it so...

When I crank the engine now, the battery goes from 12.2V down to 11.4V. I'm not 
sure if that's too much. Do I need beefier batteries?

Anyway, I feel safer now knowing that I only need one battery to start the 
engine. Still, I would like to start saving $10,000 so I can buy a new engine 
like the one I saw at the Sailboat show last month. Ha Ha.

Due to lack of time, I did not look at the negative side where the engine block 
connects to the battery. That's next week's project after a bit more yoga.

Cheers

On Tue, May 10, 2011 at 3:31 PM, Pierre Patino <pierre.patino at gmail.com> wrote:

Thank you all for your excellent suggestions. I have the weekend cut out for 
me.  I haven't tested the entire electrical path but I wanted to know the effort 
in removing the starter in order to budget the rest of my headache.
>
>I'll keep the list informed of my findings.
>
>Cheers
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>On Tue, May 10, 2011 at 1:52 PM, Max Soto <maxsoto at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>If light are dimmimg, it means that you have the battery switch on the "all" 
>position, and still you are not getting enough juice....
>>As Les said, you have resistance somewhere on the circuit. When I bought 
>>Estancia a eight years ago, I had the same starting problem, so I replaced the 
>>battery wires because they had lots of corrosion, and at the same time I cleaned 
>>the starter and replaced the solenoid... Problem solved until last year...
>>I thought it was the starting battery, and turned out to be the battery 
>>switch... It looked like new, but had a lot of resistance on th "1" position... 
>>I noticed that when I installed a new Blue sea switch instead of the old 
>>perko....
>>
>>
>>Follow Les's advice and check this switch ....
>>
>>
>>Regards
>>
>>
>>Max
>>
>>
>>2011/5/10 Joseph Launie <jlaunie at cox.net>
>>
>>my mechanic solved my starting problem by replacing the solenoid -all I know - I 
>>do not understand why engines work Joe
>>>
>>>
>>>On 5/10/2011 8:49 AM, Pierre Patino wrote: 
>>>
>>>>Hello All
>>>>
>>>>My engine is difficult to start. It's the Universal Diesel 5424. I believe it 
>>>>was somewhat rebuilt two or three years ago but I cannot locate the records 
>>>>indicating exactly what was done. According to the service manual, the symptoms 
>>>>indicate a possible starter problem (assuming "bad engine" ain't the cause). Can 
>>>>anyone tell me about how long it takes to replace the starter? I'm somewhat 
>>>>mechanically inclined but no longer a gymnast.
>>>>
>>>>Among the symptoms in page 17 of the manual is "[Starter] Pole core screw 
>>>>loose". It seems to me that this would preclude the starter from turning at all, 
>>>>is this correct?
>>>>
>>>>By the way, the symptom is: Motor turns very slowly (about once per second)  
>>>>while starting and the cabin lights dim almost to darkness. Brand new batteries 
>>>>too.
>>>>
>>>>Thanks in advance.
>>>>
>>>>Cheers
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________ Listserve mailing list 
>>>>Listserve at catalina38.org 
>>>>http://catalina38.org/mailman/listinfo/listserve_catalina38.org 
>>>>
>>>_______________________________________________
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>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>-- 
>>Max Soto
>>C38 #198 ESTANCIA
>>Puntarenas, Costa Rica
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>Listserve mailing list
>>Listserve at catalina38.org
>>http://catalina38.org/mailman/listinfo/listserve_catalina38.org
>>
>>
>
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