My boat lives in salt water and my M-18 exhaust system failed at about 12
years. The saltwater had eaten the tail pipe up from the inside out. The last
secton of pipe snapped off and black smoke filled the engine compartment. The
Catalina exhaust pipe design has to be the worse of any item on the boat.
My repair was to come out of the heat exchanger with new black iron pipe and
turn my pipe veritical as did the orig. pipe, I installed a Yanmar water
injector elbow which converts the iron pipe to rubber exhaust hose and it sends
the exhaust hose downward at a 45 degree angle. I then installed a verilift
fiberglass muffler. The Yanmar water injector was about $100 at the time and I
think the muffler also cost about $100. I attached the origional exhaust hose
to the muffler output and added a hose from the Yanmar water injector to the
muffler input. Now the injected salt water combines with the exhaust in the
rubber hose not the steel pipe.
I noticed the other day that West Marine sells the fiberglass exhaust wrap
tape. I don't know what kind of exhaust wrap tape Catalina used I would take
all precautions when handling the old exhaust components.
Eddie Longest
Reniassance
Ches. Bay
