G'day all,
Thought we should pass on our experience with a damper plate issue.
Our engine has done 1200 hours and suddenly we lost all drive.
There was no excessive noise that forwarned us.
Pulled gearbo, which was ok.
Pulled damper plate and found total failure.I have attached photos of old and new.
Decided to go with the same plate and will keep fingers crossed.
Must admit to disappointment that the life of the plate was so short.
Has anyone else had same experience.
cheers
—
Kerry Boden
Les & Trish Troyer
Mahalo
Everett, WA
1983 C-36 Hull #0094
C-36 MK 1 Technical Editor.
Commodore
Hi,
No real clatter at all and the gearbox spline is ok.
It would seem that the metal in the damper spline was particularly soft.
Kerry Boden
The shaft spline is hardened steel. The Damper Plate is Aluminum.
Paul & Wendy Keyser
"First Light"
Rye NH
2005 C36 MKII #2257
Wing, M35B
I stand corrected. The damper plate is made from steel, not aluminum (a magnet is attracted to all the metal componets). It likely is made from a mild steel vs. a hardened steel for tranny shaft. That said, I can't imagine the damper plate hub splines totally wearing away to allow a free spinning shaft. Does your prop shaft turn freely with the transmission in neutral? Did you wrap any lines around the prop last year? Did you have a pile of metal shavings and debris in the bell housing? Was your transmission securly bolted to the bell housing? It would seem that there might be another problem in the drive train to lead to this.
I pulled our damper plate after a 1000 hours. There was only slight wear in the plate hub that lead to an obnoxious rattle. The new damper plate had a slightly tighter fit, but was only marginally quieter.
Paul & Wendy Keyser
"First Light"
Rye NH
2005 C36 MKII #2257
Wing, M35B
Kerry;
I am following your thread and sorry you ran into this problem. I would be interested in understanding where you obtain another plate.
Bill
Bill Dolan 1990 Catalina C-36 MKI - Hull #1041 'Williwaw'
Std. Rig, Walk Through, Wing Keel
M35, Oberdorfer Conversion,
Home Waters; Charlotte Harbor & The Gulf Islands of Florida
'You are never out of work if you own a boat'
There is no problem with shaft prop. or gearbox.
All properly aligne and spinning freely in nuetral.
One mechanic who looked at the plate suggested that the spline may have not been properly hardened.
The housing contained a lot of metal filings.
I obtained the new plate locally in Hobart. It is identical, with the same numbers and markings. I understand that they are made in the UK and imorted in Australia. Cost A$290.00.
cheers
Kerry Boden
Was that damper plate original to the engine? Any idea if it had been replaced by the previous owner? I take delivery of a 1999 C36 MKII next month (May 19). The previous owner says there is normally a "rattle" every time he moves the transmission in and out of gear. In fact, every boat's previous owner I spoke with mentioned this rattle. Wondering if this rattle is normal and just due to the arrangement of this transmission? Hoping long-time C-36 owners could speak to this... How normal is this rattle? Does it become worse as it gets closer to failure? Is this something that should be replaced at a certain engine time? I have some concern about the boat I am under agreement for, as the tach only shows 411 hours! This is extremely low time for a 1999 boat, even if you are immediately sailing from it's home port. Should I assume that the tachometer was replaced at some point? Any way of knowing? Sorry, one question led me to more.
Found this damper plate on Catalina Direct...
https://www.catalinadirect.com/index.cfm/product/4320_800/span-style-damper-plate-oembrm-25xpb-m-35bspan.htm
Jackfish Girl, 1999, C36 MKII, Tall Rig, Wing Keel, In-mast furling, Monument Beach, Bourne, MA
Mine has been noisy since I bought it 10 years ago with 540 hours on the engine. Today there is 1200 hours. Rattle sound has not increased. I read that it is due to the way that the gears are arranged inside and not to be concerned. I am not sure what that means.
Sail La Vie 1999 Catalina 36 MKII, M35B-17031, Coyote Point, San Mateo, CA
About Sail La Vie
Rattle is normal for our C36 ZF/Hurth transmissions. It originates from both the gears and damper plate. The noise tends to be louder at low RPM's or when idling in neutral, and pretty much goes away at medium to high RPM's. There's lots of transmission info on this web site.
Difficult to know if your Tach was replaced. My previous boat was 7 years old with only 23 engine hours when we purchased it. It was lightly used, and the previous owner sailed it off the mooring and usually picked up the mooring under sail. (He had a great location)
If you have a Raymarine Speedo- it probably has a trip log that shows the total miles cruised. Our current boat-a 2005 C36 shows 3200 miles and 1000 hours on the engine to give you a reference point. I think it's reasonable to estimate 30%-50% of underway time is under engine power for most of us.
Paul & Wendy Keyser
"First Light"
Rye NH
2005 C36 MKII #2257
Wing, M35B
The damper plate was the original and the same as the one you provided the link to. I understand they are manufactured in the UK. The US price seems verry high.
I am now satisfied that the plate wore prematurley and that there are no other issues before or after with the rest of my drive train.
cheers
Kerry Boden
We sail our C36 since new back in 1991, Universal M35 with 2.500h, rattle has being always there at low rpm, but as we increases to 1.000 rpm, it disappears.
Never an issue with the damper plate. Ten years ago, after taking a net under engine, Hurt transmission seemed to be damaged and was replaced by a ZF 10.
Our damper is the “springs” model.
Best regards
Eladio Vallina
C-36 TR EUREKA II
Hull 1122 (1991)
Home port Barcelona (Spain).