[C38] Any advice?

[Tom Troncalli]

Unless your engine has had a loss of oil pressure and/or has low 
compression, I would try to stay with the current engine.  Diesels are 
tough.

Probably the worst problem regarding cooling is having an inadequate 
heat exchanger.  The original Universal 1024 had a heat exchanger that 
was too small in perfect conditions and as the exchanger got older and 
collected corrosion and debris they got even worse.  I had my boat in 
Tampa Bay which is pretty warm making a bad problem worse.

I built a larger exchanger and never had problems with overheating again.

Regarding thermostats, I had a friend work on my engine with me and 
unknown to me he decided to throw the original thermostat away since 
they are cheap and mine was original.  We found that the factory 
thermostat is not a standard diameter and are very expensive and no one 
had one when I needed it.

With no other choice, I bought an automotive thermostat of the same 
temperature rating and ground the edge down to make it the same flange 
diameter as the original.  It worked perfectly for about $5.00 and a few 
minutes on a grinder.

Most marine engines are slow to "burp" and the Catalina 38 is no 
exception.  Any air left in the cooling system will greatly reduce 
cooling efficiency.  I put a Prestone flush adapter between the engine 
and heat exchanger so I could apply city water pressure to the system 
with the cooling cap removed to remove trapped air.  The engine will 
usually burp during use but power flushing helps, just keep the water 
volume low and cut it off before very much of your antifreeze flows out.

The Universal engine is an old design but can give a long life if 
maintained.  Kabota makes the block and many parts can be bought 
directly from Kabota at lower than marine prices, including the head 
gaskets and fresh water pump to name a couple of expensive items.

Tom Troncalli

     `




On 6/23/2015 6:40 PM, D McC wrote:
> We had ours overheat and boil over. We limped back by allowing it to cool and then adding water and running for short runs when necessary.
>   It turned out to be a stuck thermostat~!~
> Start with the simplest solution and work up through your bank account. Hopefully you won't get too far.
> <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
>
> Common Sense is a rare gift from the Gods.
> Most people have only technical training!
>
> <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
>
> The gods do not deduct from man's allotted span those hours spent in sailing.
>
> <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
>
> --------------------------------------------
> On Tue, 6/23/15, 1derful at comcast.net <1derful at comcast.net> wrote:
>
>   Subject: [C38] Any advice?
>   To: "Catalina" <listserve at catalina38.org>
>   Date: Tuesday, June 23, 2015, 1:59 PM
>   
>   My
>   Universal engine overheated.  Marine mechanic
>   doesn't know if it is the head gasket, the head or the
>   block.
>   
>   Expensive in labor to replace head gasket.  If it
>   ends up being the head they can try and fix it but I still
>   have a 30 year old engine.
>    
>   I am thinking of replacing engine.
>    
>   Any thoughts?
>    
>   Patrick
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