Dead Engine. Frozen. Where to Start?

[sglazebrook]

I've got my negative attached to the block on a bolt beneath the water pump, then the instruments connected to the next bolt up on the flywheel housing. Yours looks ok to me, depending on how the rest of your wiring runs.

Wow, hull number 110. I didn't expect a 1970 to get that high. I've got number 37 and I've seen as high as in the 60s for the 1970 and mid-100s in the 1972. I haven't seen much on the production rate or total numbers produced over the 5-year run.

Good luck on the A4. Sounds like you have a good start. Keep us posted!

EDIT: Neil, I think the early Coronado 30s came with an A4 or Palmer - later ones may have been mostly Palmer. Also, the trim tab cable is as you said - mine was rusted solid where it entered the bilge beneath the dinette... had to cut it out with a hack saw from under the galley sink (the only "reasonable" access and not an easy job at all!).

[69reneb]

Update. Dismantled the engine. Tried breaking compound, acetone, and a hammer. Cant get her to spin. Got all my head bolts off, but the head is frozen on. Somebody suggested aluminum wedges to break the head gasket and start the head coming up. I don't see any other way to get the head off.

Will be removing the motor in the next week, and have my replacement motor all tuned up, new impeller, electric fuel pump, and ready to go.

I'm dying to get her running.

Thanks

[Launchpad McQ]

69reb I think I might know your boat. Did you recently pick it up of CL? If so I was hunting about the same time and ended up with a Catalina 30 that seems to have suffered the same fate. My A4 is frozen solid too and I'm praying to the Marvel Mystery Oil+PB Blaster+ATF Gods for the next few days before I throw a Hail Mary pass at the flywheel with this...
and this....



It looks like you're already traveling down the road I most likely will so I'll be curious to see how it goes.

[lat 64]

Launch,

Don't force it all in one go. wiggle it for hourss if need be. At this point you are probably just saving the core, but you can do a lot of damage yet if you aren't careful.
Nice tool.

Welcome to the forum,

Russ

[sastanley]

Launchpad...looking good. As Russ said, be careful..I think a wiggle process is much better.

I can see you've already figured out where all the hidden screws are to get the galley out of the way to gain better engine access.

What is that big white fiberglass looking thing next to the engine?

+1 on the welcome.

[Launchpad McQ]

69reneb I don't mean to hijack your thread but maybe we can learn from each other's experiences (mostly my mistakes). I tried using my homemade crankshaft socket (actually version2 made from an impact socket rather than the deep socket I posted earlier) and I did nothing but shear off the roll pin on the crankshaft.
I probably should've seen that coming. Plan 'C' called for removing the starter, and tapping on a pry bar set against the teeth of the flywheel which actually worked and didn't chew up the 'wheel! Even after I got her to turn I realized 'diet & exercise' wasn't going to cut it and decided to go in for surgery. I got the head off using the Ikea butter knife (my tools are mostly back in Colorado) just to find all of the valves except one stuck...

Back to reading forum posts, ordering parts, and working. My version of lather, rinse, repeat. Catch you next week after I figure out how to unstick valves

[ndutton]

What is that big white fiberglass looking thing next to the engine?

That is Catalina's in house fabricated waterlift. It's a greater volume and lower profile than commercially available products. It is however prone to huff & puff syndrome (flat panel flex) and subsequent cracking along the base. McQ, watch for signs of damage in that area, it is a known problem.

[poogs]

Frozen Atomic 4

69reneb, first welcome to the MMI Afourian Forum!

How is your access to the starter area? If you can get the starter out and work with the flywheel you can get some real leverage for breaking it loose. My engine was frozen too when I bought it and it is still running today 29 years later now~all original except one exhaust valve! It is well worth spending a bit of time as once freed up the engine may just be fine, I have seen many a resurrection with these beasties.

It is worth making access ports to the engine that you can work "through". Are there any in your Coronado yet?

The carb looks really bad but is nothing to worry about yet.

Get the manual and learn how to reduce your pics to the 600 pixel range for our viewing.

Good luck, Dave Neptune

I agree Dave. Keep your head up everyone. I have a frozen Atomic 4 on my 1977 Catalina 30 "750". It is April 17th and the last time the engine ran was Jan 15th. Time is of the essence here, I believe. About Feb 1, 2016, my engine seal to the prop leaked and the engine got wet, to what level, I am not sure, but there was salt water in the engine. Yesterday, I learned things from this forum that I am going to try out. I put about 4 oz of BP blaster in every cylinder and sprayed around everything including the flywheel at the removed starter. I also put in about 2 quarts of a 50-50 mixture of acetone and ATF until the cylinders were filled. I then loosely placed the spark plugs back on the filled cylinders loosely to not seal the cylinders up and allow for leakage and or rust removal. Also, by doing this, the firing order of the pistons stayed the same. I also called Moyer and ordered a shaft crank. Once the crank comes in about a week, I will remove the plugs, and battery connection and see if I can slowly loosen the motor by moving the crank back and forth and even using a breaker bar for leverage. I will also try to move the flywheel the same way, back and forth easily. If lucky, I wil continue to crank the motor clockwise until it moves easily. It has only been frozen for a couple of months. It can't be that bad with rust. Wish me luck. I have owned the boat since 1998 and have loved the power train. It does slip out of gear when I use too much RPM and see that fix as well as trouble in reverse as well as having to put an extreme amount of pressure to change gears, all of which I can live with. In my Catalina 30, my flywheel housing sits right up against some non structural fiberglass that I will have to rooute out to attach the motor crank. I hope that the shaft is not too fusty and will accept the new motor crank. I will keep you all posted. Thank you for your time and tips. Matt

[Dave Neptune]

Important

Matt, be sure and work the crank in BOTH DIRECTIONS a LITTLE bit at a time~~NOT ALL AT ONCE. Leave the plugs out as if you get it to crank you don't want to "hydraulic" a cylinder and damage a piston or rod in doing so! Work primarily on the teeth of the flywheel as you will have much more leverage.

FOR ALL, the single most important thing to do when water encroaches the engine and seizes the rings is to free it ASAP, like as soon as it is discovered.

If water is found in the oil and the engine is not seized BEFORE trying to spin or start with the starter SUCK the water out from under the oil and use the oil there to begin the flushing process once the water is sucked out from under.

Dave Neptune

[edwardc]

... I also called Moyer and ordered a shaft crank. ...

Matt,

Be sure you get the right kind of crank; There are two.

One is for rotating the engine in either direction, but NOT for starting it. Thats the one you want. Looks like this:


The other is a starting crank, and it will not turn the engine backwards: