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I've owned Kalina for 12 years now with no significant engine repairs and no indication any significant repairs were ever made by the PO. The engine has always started within a second or less of cranking regardless of layoff time. I've become so confident in it I open the raw water intake thru-hull before starting knowing there's no risk of overfilling the waterlift.
Until yesterday . . . .
I went through the normal routine: blower on, fuel valve on, engine start battery on, intake thru-hull open, sink drain thru-hull open (Catalina 30 owners know why), check the oil, sniff the bilge. All good. I pulled the choke on full, cracked the throttle open, ignition switch on and push the start button. She cranked, popped and coughed but no joy. Oh-oh, now it's finally happened to me. Better close the thru-hull before I make things worse and of course left the ignition switch on without the engine running. After the 10 second delay I built in to my EWDS installation the buzzer lit off so at least I was reminded*. BTW, during the start attempt there were no EWDS faults which indicated sufficient fuel pressure and sufficient coil input voltage.
I tried starting a few more times, jockeying the throttle and choke but still all I got was popping and coughing. Okay, at this point, what to do? It could be this, could be that, fuel or electrical, who knows? Well, I had a little information to start with. It was popping and coughing suggesting I was getting spark. Probably the best thought I had was, "what was the last thing you did to the engine?"
Several weeks ago Tom Thatcher and I took Kalina over to Catalina, an abbreviated trip due to a severe weather forecast that came up overnight (we decided discretion was the better part of valor and got the Hell out of Dodge before the weather hit). We motored all the way over, saw a gray whale and a juvenile humpback (very cool) but also experienced a couple of RPM blips. After returning I removed the carburetor for a thorough cleaning, fuel filter replacement and examination of the filter contents. I found a speck inside the carb but nothing else.
I reinstalled the carb with the idle mixture screw the prescribed 1½ turns off the seat and she started easily, dialed in the mixture, ran it for a while and called it good. That was the last thing done, idle mix adjustment. This episode was the first time I'd started it, or tried to, since then. With all the combined information I screwed the idle mix screw in to its seat counting the turns. Oh-oh, 2½ turns. That ain't right, it's always been happy at about 1¼ turns. I reset to the default 1½ turns and she fired easily. Cool. I shut her down immediately because the thru-hull was still closed as a precaution. After opening it I restarted and carefully dialed in the mixture screw, wound up at the normal 1¼ turns. I ran her in gear at the dock for ½ hour, smooth as silk.
The lengthy story (sorry) is intended as an example of gathering up as much information as possible before tearing off on a guessing expedition.
*About the EWDS
With the accidental ignition on-engine off episode the EWDS gave me the audible alarm combined with oil pressure, fuel pressure and raw water flow indicator lights. Perfect.
Until yesterday . . . .
I went through the normal routine: blower on, fuel valve on, engine start battery on, intake thru-hull open, sink drain thru-hull open (Catalina 30 owners know why), check the oil, sniff the bilge. All good. I pulled the choke on full, cracked the throttle open, ignition switch on and push the start button. She cranked, popped and coughed but no joy. Oh-oh, now it's finally happened to me. Better close the thru-hull before I make things worse and of course left the ignition switch on without the engine running. After the 10 second delay I built in to my EWDS installation the buzzer lit off so at least I was reminded*. BTW, during the start attempt there were no EWDS faults which indicated sufficient fuel pressure and sufficient coil input voltage.
I tried starting a few more times, jockeying the throttle and choke but still all I got was popping and coughing. Okay, at this point, what to do? It could be this, could be that, fuel or electrical, who knows? Well, I had a little information to start with. It was popping and coughing suggesting I was getting spark. Probably the best thought I had was, "what was the last thing you did to the engine?"
Several weeks ago Tom Thatcher and I took Kalina over to Catalina, an abbreviated trip due to a severe weather forecast that came up overnight (we decided discretion was the better part of valor and got the Hell out of Dodge before the weather hit). We motored all the way over, saw a gray whale and a juvenile humpback (very cool) but also experienced a couple of RPM blips. After returning I removed the carburetor for a thorough cleaning, fuel filter replacement and examination of the filter contents. I found a speck inside the carb but nothing else.
I reinstalled the carb with the idle mixture screw the prescribed 1½ turns off the seat and she started easily, dialed in the mixture, ran it for a while and called it good. That was the last thing done, idle mix adjustment. This episode was the first time I'd started it, or tried to, since then. With all the combined information I screwed the idle mix screw in to its seat counting the turns. Oh-oh, 2½ turns. That ain't right, it's always been happy at about 1¼ turns. I reset to the default 1½ turns and she fired easily. Cool. I shut her down immediately because the thru-hull was still closed as a precaution. After opening it I restarted and carefully dialed in the mixture screw, wound up at the normal 1¼ turns. I ran her in gear at the dock for ½ hour, smooth as silk.
The lengthy story (sorry) is intended as an example of gathering up as much information as possible before tearing off on a guessing expedition.
*About the EWDS
With the accidental ignition on-engine off episode the EWDS gave me the audible alarm combined with oil pressure, fuel pressure and raw water flow indicator lights. Perfect.
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