[C320-list] Oil Pressure Alarm

[Troy Dunn]

Pat

Yes, I had previously tried removing the wheel, but gave up thinking I
might need a wheel puller.   Today I was able to get the wheel to slide on
the arbor. So I think I'll be removing the wheel the next time I open the
box.  Probably that will be this fall when I take apart the whole engine
panel so I can repaint it, the paint is all buggered up and although it's
only cosmetic...it bugs me that it looks so crappy.

Warren

I had to apply similar techniques to get the old alarm off.   There is only
a switch on my Yanmar, no sender.  It actually looks like there is a spot
to install a sender, and the wiring harness has a sender connector.

So today I was able to check and confirmed that I have an intermittent
pressure switch.   If I short out the switch side terminal to ground I get
alarm and light.    At this point I'm a little stuck.  In order to replace
the switch I need to disconnect the wire from the switch.  It is a ring
terminal that appears to be badly corroded to the screw that holds it in.
When I turn the screw the ring turns, and there isn't enough slack in the
wire to allow it to spin.  I'm worried about cutting the wire and not
having enough left to reconnect a new terminal.    I guess I could just use
a butt connector but would like to avoid it.  Has anyone replaced their
pressure switch on a Yanmar 3GM30?



Troy and Kim Dunn
Hull #514



On Friday, July 15, 2016, Warren Updike <wupdike at hotmail.com> wrote:

> This year I replaced the pedestal alarm. The original alarm worked
> intermittently; but, more recently mostly didn't work. Yes, there are a lot
> of wires on it, 7 in total, 3 on one terminal and 4 on the other (as I
> remember.) Took a picture before disconnecting. I couldn't get the old
> alarm out as the outside ring that screws on wouldn't turn. I had to resort
> to cutting through it and forcing off with pliers. It was a bit of a pain
> getting all those wires back on; but, once done it worked like a charm.
>
> As for engine mounted senders, different engines may have different
> arrangements and types of senders. On our Perkins, from what I can tell,
> there is a coolant temp sender (temp gage) and a separate over-temp sender
> (LED and alarm.) There is only one sender for the oil pressure LED and
> alarm (I think.) On some (Yanmar??) there may be an oil pressure sensor and
> a separate sender. Be sure to dope out what you have. Also, some senders
> may be always on or always off except when sending.
>
> Warren and Pattie Updike
> 1994 C320 "Warr de Mar" #62
> Middle River, Chesapeake Bay
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Troy Dunn [mailto:troutwarrior at gmail.com <javascript:;>]
> Sent: Monday, July 11, 2016 8:38 PM
> To: C320-List at catalina320.com <javascript:;>
> Subject: [C320-list] Oil Pressure Alarm
>
> After extensive research on parts and reading through the various trials
> and tribulations on this forum dealing with the intermittent oil pressure
> alarm and whether or not having a working blower matters, I opted to
> replace both the finicky alarm and the non functional blower switch, the
> latter of which had corroded so badly it would not budge.
>
> Removing the panel is a fairly simple affair.  Just 6 screws and a little
> bit of trickyness getting it away from the pod through the wheel.  I had to
> remove some sealant from the backside of the switch and alarm in order to
> remove these two devices.   After confirming that the blower still works by
> connecting the two switch wires and briefly turning on the ignition, I
> replaced the switch and problem 1 solved.
>
> I moved on to replacing the alarm.   A lot more wires here, so I got out my
> label maker just to ensure I put everything back where it belongs and also
> to make use of that label maker since so far the only thing it has
> been good for was labeling the locking clutches for all the running
> rigging.   Five minutes later I turned the key in the ignition and
> voila...nothing happened...grrrr...
>
> I moved on to get a good look at the pressure switch on the engine.   Down
> below with the stairs lifted and the cover off now I'm staring at what
> appears to be the pressure switch according to all the pictures I could
> find on parts websites.  At the time it was not obvious to me that I could
> simply pull off the wire from the spade connector.   I noticed some
> corrosion on the ring side of the terminal where there is a screw.
> Turning this screw does not seem to loosen the connector I might mention,
> so I gave up on that approach, called it a day and went sailing instead of
> messing around with an alarm that only works on half the Catalinas out
> there anyway if the message boards are any indication.
>
> Leaving Havre De Grace usually entails a 30 minute motor down the channel,
> but the winds were unusually cooperative on Sunday and once we had the
> sails up, we cut the motor...and of course the new low pressure alarm was
> screaming like a banshee.    I shut off the ignition and kept sailing.
>
> So now I'm re reading all the threads, kinda kicking myself because I know
> the oil pressure light works, but I can't recall if it only works when the
> alarm works or not.   My sense is that with an older engine, the switch
> gets gunked up over time and doesn't operate correctly.   Then when you
> run, the engine heats up and all that gunk becomes more viscous and then
> when you shut down, the switch works.    So that's my running theory until
> I can confirm that the light is only lit if the alarm is going off as well.
>   Kinda hoping this is the solution because nothing else makes much sense
> that I can figure.  Also hoping that the pressure switch is above the
> normal oil level in the engine when cool so it isn't a mess to replace.
>
> The only other 'repair' we worked on this weekend was confirming the oven
> temperatures seem to be about right.   When the boat surveyed we could not
> get the oven to light off.  A couple of weeks ago we got the oven working.
> This weekend we confirmed the temperature must be about right by baking
> cookies while running downwind up the Sassafrass at 6.5 kts. We burned the
> bottoms on the first batch because we placed the tray directly on the
> bottom of the oven.  Once we figured out that the tray would fit on the
> rack...life was good.
>
> Troy and Kim Dunn
> Hull #514   New name coming...got some ceremonies to deal with...graphics
> arrived today
> Tidewater Marina, Havre De Grace, MD
>
>
>