Catalina engine rattle

[bretag]

Has anyone had a rattle from the engine when idling in gear, in the Catalina 34-36 models? The Westerbeke (or universal) M35B engine/gearbox combo seems to have this issue. It may emanate from the damper plate.

[Greatest Lakes]

Folding, feathering, or fixed prop?

[bretag]

Generally seems to be with std. prop=three blade fixed

[Tsuru]

Our Catalina 36 with the same Universal engine had a significant rattle at idle. Went away with a little RPM. Probably a damper plate. Some owners have gone to the damper plates with with polyurethane springs or plates that are a little heavier.
There is lots of chatter about this problem and potential solutions on the Catalina 36 owners site. https://www.catalina36.org/
I was going to swap out the damper plate with one from PYI but sold the boat.

[tsenator]

Originally Posted by Tsuru

Our Catalina 36 with the same Universal engine had a significant rattle at idle. Went away with a little RPM. Probably a damper plate. Some owners have gone to the damper plates with with polyurethane springs or plates that are a little heavier.
There is lots of chatter about this problem and potential solutions on the Catalina 36 owners site. https://www.catalina36.org/
I was going to swap out the damper plate with one from PYI but sold the boat.

This right here ^^ Very common on these boats/engines. You can check to see if possibly the "idle rpm" speed is maybe too low, lots of times the tach at the helm is off. But I replaced mine with the "polyurethane" clutch plate (I think mine was made by R D Design ?? ) instead of the "Stock springs Clutch plate" and it did reduce that "Low speed rattle" in gear that sounds like pebbles rattling around in a coffee can .

This is similar to the one I had -- make sure of all the physical measurements when replacing. https://www.asap-supplies.com/produc...-ft-rnd-22am37