[C320-list] Exhaust elbow

[Robert Seastream]

Where to get these elbow replacements?  Are they still 'made to order'  
or has Catalina (or engine mfr) come to its' senses and established  
replacement parts by engine and year for that part?  I'm with Jeff on  
preemptive maintenance.  Our 2009 two week cruise around Maine waters  
had me replacing (underway) a hot water heater hose and (laying over  
in Portland) a macerator pump (thanks to a prior guest flushing a  
'handi-wipe'), along with two other freshwater supply (hose) system  
items that packed up.  We've got about 500 hours on our 2002 Yanmar  
3GM30F.

Bob Seastream
Intuition # 906


On Nov 28, 2009, at 6:13 PM, Jon Vez wrote:

> I agree with Jeff on this one! I plan on replacing my exhaust elbow  
> AND the
> muffler this winter as a precautionary exercise. I have about 600  
> hours on
> my '99 and I've checked my exhaust elbow and cleaned it up every other
> season--it's been fine, but like Jeff says, I'd rather do it now  
> than when
> I'm in the Gulf of Maine during my preciously short sailing season!
> Regards,
> Jon Vez
> Solstice #582
>
> -----Original Message-----
> Subject: Re: [C320-list] Exhaust elbow
>
> What I think people have experienced is pinholes that can be hard or
> impossible to detect until they really start leaking.
>
> Here's one scenario that isn't hard to imagine.   When it goes,  
> you'll be on
> your way to some destination or nice daysail somewhere.  Maybe its a  
> long
> trip you planned for a while.  It'll probably start to fill the  
> bilge and
> float the floorboards before you notice. You won't notice the bilge  
> pump
> because the engine will be running. You'll be alarmed thinking a  
> thru-hull
> is leaking or broke.   Etc....     Unnecessary stress in my opinion.
>
> In the end, you'd be happier to be able to replace questionable  
> parts on
> *your* schedule rather than on "the  emergency plan".  :)
>
> Boats aren't great platforms to try to squeeze every last drop of  
> life out
> of each part (in my opinion).   I love it when I get through an  
> entire 2
> week cruise and nothing breaks.
>
> I'd say replace it.  And just cross that part off your list of  
> concerns for
> many years.   I'll be doing that next year and our 2001 Yanmar has  
> less than
> 275 hours on it.
> -Jeff
>
> ------Original Message------
> From: Dave Anderer
> With the boat out of the water it is time to start the winter-list.   
> Only 4
> months to get it all done.
>
> When we bought the boat 4 years ago it had about 375 hours on the  
> Yanmar.
> The surveyor was quite concerned about the corrosion on the exhaust  
> elbow.
> He wouldn't commit as to how long it would last before total failure.
> Wouldn't even comment on if it would last the 6 hours to get the  
> boat back
> to our dock.  I bought some muffler repair tape and crossed my  
> fingers.  We
> made it, I pulled the elbow, and buffed the corrosion off in about 30
> seconds.  Just light surface corrosion.
>
> (This surveyor took the same approach on several other issues - they  
> sky was
> falling, but he wouldn't venture a guess as to when it would hit  
> us.  As
> I've pulled things apart I've concluded his concerns were pretty  
> much all
> unwarranted.  Waste of money.)
>
> I put the elbow back in.  We've now put another 440 hours on it - TT  
> is just
> over 800 hours.  I pulled the elbow today.  Same surface corrosion  
> (though a
> couple spots bother me).  No evident carbon restriction in the  
> manifold or
> the elbow.  We run consistently at 2800 RPM and have observed no  
> problems
> with the engine.
>
> Don't know if I'll bother replacing the elbow now or not.