Catalina 350 International Association

I am about to change out the coolant on hull # 383 myself for the first time. Does anyone have a preferred method for collecting the draining coolant? Given the clearances under the motor, I could use some advice on how to cleanly collect the draining fluid. Thanks in advance.

Dave DeSalvo

Hull 383 - Ventosa

Hi Dave,

I just did this job. I'll tell you what I did, and what I intend to do next time.

I happened to have a small dust pan with a hollow handle (for the brush). I placed this under the drain above the motor mount and allowed the coolant to flow out on to the dust pan and then down the handle to a small cup I used to collect the coolant. The problem was the cup couldn't hold the full capacity so as it got near full I reinserted the drain plug. You can get the coolant to flow relatively slowly by not opening the fill cap on the manifold. It was only slightly messy.

Now for what I plan to do next time. Now that I have learned that I can keep the flow relatively slow by not opening the fill cap, I plan to buy a 1/4 NPT to hose barb fitting, and connect a hose to it about 2 feet long with a valve or some means to close it on the far end. If the hose is soft enough a large metal paper clip may be sufficient. With this drain adapter, I believe you could place a rag on the motor mount and remove the drain plug while the fill cap is closed. Then quickly insert the new drain hose. Once the new drain hose is inserted, you should be able to open the fill cap and drain the coolant into any sort of container.

Good Luck

I have discovered a "universal drainage container". A kitchen sized garbage bag works well, conforms to any shape and holds up to a gallon of liquid easily (not recommended for hot liquids). I have used it when cleaning all of the raw water strainers and working on the genset. You can squeeze it into odd shapes and hard to access areas. You have to be careful about overfilling it and sharp objects. If you get the type of bag with "ears", you can use them to tie off to nearby hard points. Best feature, its disposable, No cleanup!

Sounds doable. Thanks very much. Both are great ideas.

Hi.
Can several of you start a discussion (hopefully turned into a full blown argument) about which one do you feel is the best coolant to use?
thanks

troublemaker dave

I use premixed diesel engine coolant available at most truck stops. Practical Sailor did a review of engine coolants in the October 2014 issue and gave an excellent rating to all of the heavy-duty diesel engine coolants they tested. Most big box stores do not carry the "big rig" heavy-duty diesel engine coolants but I found almost every truck stop along the interstates have it on the shelf and ready to go.

All, thanks much for the above info. But for the life of me can't find the coolant drain on the Universal M35. Can anyone describe to assist? Cheers. -eric

Looking at the engine, it's a bolt on the port side, a few inches aft on the block and a few inches above the engine mount. It's just looks like a bolt (which it is) on the engine. Here's a link to a M35 parts manual with a good diagram.

Link with engine diagram, it's on page 3, part #11.
http://www.c34.org/manuals/Parts-List-1of2.pdf

Thanks so much Kevin. Bolt was a bear, and needed to remove oil filter to get to it, but success at last. Best wishes on your sailing out of Norfolk. I had a slip at Little Creek a few years back and loved the waters of the southern bay. Semper Fi/ E