Dear Jim, I've got a catalina 270. The stuffing box was manageable for the first couple of years, but it would leak excessively whenever the weather dropped below 40 degrees fahrenheit. I cranked the nut down each year for three successive years, with a positive response. This year, I had the boatyard mechanic replace the stuffing on the hard. It took a lot of time. I really had the nut cranked down. Catalina had only put in two races of stuffing instead of three. The mechanic put in three, ran a little hot for a couple of weeks, we sweated it out, but it is now perfect. The mechanic was chagrined that it was so tough to change the packing. FWIW,
Eric Hudson Catalina hull #346 -----Original Message----- From: Jim Bernstorf <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Sent: Sun, 2 Nov 2008 11:15 am Subject: RE: catalina27-talk: stuffing box While we're talking about engines, has anyone done the stuffing box repacking themselves? Mine is leaking enough to make my bilge pump run about once every hour or so. I have read different generic (non-C27) descriptions of how to do it but mainly wonder how much water will come in the boat if I do it with the boat in the water. It looks like it would be pretty easy to do if it were more accessible. I haven't tried tightening it up any, mainly because I'm pretty confident that it needs more than tightening. I'm not that worried about the dripping as long as my bilge pump keeps working so it isn't critical that I do it now. Jim Bernstorf 1978 TR Nashville,TN -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Port Huron Freecycle Sent: Sunday, November 02, 2008 9:22 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: catalina27-talk: atomic 4 oil There is no filter, as was said before. I installed a "Y" fitting between the block and the oil pressure sensor, and drain it while it runs, being careful to NOT let it run out of oil. Much easier, and I believe, more thorough, than trying to suck it out of the crankcase, as I did last year. Steve Bayless 1977 Std. Rig "Liebchen" Port Huron, MI
