[C38] Engine starting problems- update

Sun May 14 21:45:41 EDT 2023

Hello Catalina friends

This is an update on the topic I posted a few months ago. During winter I
was able to have the injection pump and the injectors rebuilt.

 I put everything back together with the help of a friend but still the
engine won’t start. We are getting fuel to the injectors but don’t know if
pressure is built in the cylinders. We tried to finetune the injectors but
all of a sudden the engine wouldn’t  even turn (first time since this whole
issue started). We removed the injectors that were covered in rust in just
a few days suggesting that there is water in the cylinders.

The engine seems still pretty stuck, we even tried to turn it by hand and
it’s quite impossible.
We suspect 2 things:

1) hydrolock (surprising at this stage, since the beginning we only started
the engine with the seacock closed) and not sure why we wouldn’t be able to
turn the engine by hand. I have been adding oil directly to the cylinders
hoping to expel the remaining water and treat the rust

2) bad starter; we haven’t explored this yet as it is quite hard to reach.
Any thoughts on how to troubleshoot this?

Any ideas on what happened hear and how to move forward would be more than
welcome.

Many thanks!
Vassili

sailing on Naftaki, Boston, MA

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Vassili Valayannopoulos <vassilival.boston at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Aug 16, 2022 at 9:42 PM
Subject: Re: [C38] Engine starting problems- update
To: Catalina 38 Listserve <listserve at catalina38.org>

Hello All,

Brief update. After several weeks of troubleshooting I realized that I have
an issue with the injection pump. When I disassembled the line, everything
looked  rusty and frozen and there was sea water in the space. I realized
that my water pump leaked and was letting sea water into the injection
pump. Luckily there is no  apparent sea water in the injectors and the oil
is clean that makes me think sea water did not go any further . I am
planning to send out the injector pump to be looked at, then clean the cam
and injector / water pump area as much as I can and put back everything
together.
Has anyone experienced anything like this?
Is there anything else to be done?

Many thanks!
Vassili

Sailing on Naftaki
Boston, MA

On Sat, Jul 23, 2022 at 8:17 PM Dan Miller <dmills3 at comcast.net> wrote:

> I have a 1981 also with the original engine and experienced starting
> problems coming in from a Wednesday evening race. It wouldn't start so we
> were able to sail into the slip.
> Earlier that evening the engine was hard to start. It would start but only
> run a few seconds. After several  tries (about 6) it kept running.
> I have the kind of ampmeter or voltmeter (not sure which but I guess a
> voltmeter since it shows all the time) gauge that shows the battery status
> all the time. When I switch on the Glow plugs the meter shows a voltage
> drop so I know it is working. On this night it didn't show a voltage drop.
> We sprayed ether in but it wouldn't keep running.
> The next day a friend came down to help me and this is what we did. I
> checked the tank and we had fuel. I suspected air in the fuel lines and
> that is what it was. We bled the fuel filter and bled the fitting on the
> fuel injector pump.
> We put in a new momentary switch for the glow plugs. We held the switch on
> for 20 seconds but it didn't start so I used a little ether and it started
> and kept running. I ran it for about 20 minutes and shut it off. About 10
> minutes later we tried and it started right up.
> I am pretty sure you have a fuel problem and need to bleed your system.
> It's not all that hard to do.
>
> On 07/23/2022 7:17 PM Vassili Valayannopoulos <vassilival.boston at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>
> Hello,
>
> I have trouble starting my engine on my Catalina 38, 1981. The engine is
> the original M25 Universal that I just had  thoroughly serviced as it was
> underperforming and overheating (it had a stuck valve). The engine was
> running fine after the service and I made a long 2 day passage with no
> issues. 3 weeks later I was unable to start the engine.
>
> The engine cranks but won't start. As usual I warmed up the glow-plugs,
> had the batteries recharged and even added a brand new starting battery.
>
> I suspect either water in the muffler or air in the fuel lines. I am
> trying to figure out how to access the muffler and how to drain it if it's
> flooded.
>
> Any other suggestions or ideas?
>
> Many thanks!
>
> Vassili
> Sailing on Naftaki,
> Boston, MA
>
> _______________________________________________
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>
> --

Vassili Valayannopoulos
--
91 Sherman St #2
02140 Cambridge, MA
USA
+1 (857) 999-0635 (home)
+1 (857)-928-1871 (cell) <857-928-1871>

-- 

Vassili Valayannopoulos
--
91 Sherman St #2
02140 Cambridge, MA
USA
+1 (857) 999-0635 (home)
+1 (857)-928-1871 (cell) <857-928-1871>
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