Official Caterpillar3116/3126 Thread

been there and done that, I learned the hard way too... I like the bright a lot more than the beige-colored white.

 

I broke down and bought a can or two rattle cans for touch up.

I had the Heat Exchangers powder coated in what I recall was Artic White. I cant tell the difference, and hopefully never have to touch those up ever again.

 

You guys are comparing a 1996 450DA with a 2000 and a 2001 400DA and a 380DA. The light source on the 400 is 12VDC bilge lights and an engine hatch located almost behind the engines on both of the photos you are comparing, you light source is a full floor hatch that opens fully over the engines. I think it is no doubt that my photo might be a bit dull compared to your taken in full daylight.

When I posted the Paris White color code I explained that I removed a Cat engine bracket from a new 1997 Sundancer and took it to a PPG autobody paint shop and asked them to photo match it with a PPG acrylic enamel. I repainted the Cat bracket I borrowed and returned it to the new 1997 3126 Cat powered boat it was borrowed from.

At this point, I've given you the way I found the paint match I used for 25 years. If you have not used an enamel hardener you can expect your paint to yellow and get dingy over time. I'm sorry you are not happy with the Nissan Paris White, but at this point, I'm out of suggestions…………….

 

I used Dr Websters suggested PARIS WHITE on my 1996 3126 Cats

I mixed it with the correct ratio of reducer and hardener and also added FEE (fish eye eliminator) which is really important when there is a potential for oil/grease contamination.

IT IS ABSOLUTELY A PERFECT MATCH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When Miley CAT removed, boiled, tested & rattle can painted my aftercoolers, they matched perfectly.

Next time they come off, I'll likely get them powdercoated, or at the very least, paint them proper, like I did the rest of the engines & gears

The real deal is the hardener, something that won't come out of a rattle can.

Hardener is an isocyanate - i breathed a bit of this in as a young man - not a good thing as it coats your lungs

WEAR THE CORRECT MASK PURCHASED FROM THE AUTO PAINT STORE WITH FRESH CARTRIDGES ONLY and don't go back in the engine room without it until there is zero VOC smell remaining.

Trust me on this !

The good thing is the paint is hard and quite impermeable.

It won't rust as quickly and IT WILL NOT STAIN !

The Preval sprayer takes some getting used to but in the end was nice not to have to clean up the gun.

As a test, I added hardener to grey BILGEKOTE, and tested a few spots.

Still clean, shiny and easily wiped off with no staining.

I plan on doing the grey engine room that way this winter, likely with a brush

BEST !

RWS

 

@fwebster for the record, I'm not complaining, always appreciate your input and advice here.

 

Be careful repainting the bilge floor on a Sea Ray with a little age on it: Sea ray uses a gelcoat (not paint) called gray bilge coat. It has a wax component in it that comes to t he surface when the hardner kicks in the gelcoat. That gives you a bilge surface that is impervious to oil spills but is also one that requires a lot of sanding and acetone to get a paint to stick to it. It is going to be a much harder job that takes a lot more time than you would ever think.

 

That's why this will be a winter project.

Wouldn't consider this in the heat.

will also have to grind delaminated portions that have famously peeled off under the engines with a die grinder.

I did the test areas last March, and to date they have held up well.

It wasn't planned. WHen switching out the water heater, I grabbed a quart of BILGEKOTE to paint the area exposed during removal and on a lark thought about adding the hardener.

VERY IMPRESSED with both the results and the color match.

BEST !

RWS

 

has anyone switched to multi-vis CAT (or other) oil yet? Any difference in performance, samples, etc.? Ours has the T1 in it from the fall change and I'm still contemplating whether to run a season or switch out after we launch to the now CAT recommended DEO

 

I switched to the CAT 15/40 for my fall oil change.

 

not many hours on it I’m assuming? Since you’re in Michigan

 

I believe about 1 hour run time since the oil change. I know that the previous owner used 15/40 for years in these engines and I was the one to change it to straight weight. I have nothing to base this off of besides feel and sound, but I feel like the boat runs better with the 15/40. I had a port engine idle surge after warming up that nobody could diagnose, at least the last run of the year it did not surge.

 

On that surging - there are five tiny plastic check valves in the injector pump. Over time they tend to get gummed up and will not check fuel flow causing a surging / unstable idle condition. They are cheap and easy to replace.

 

I’ve read this mentioned many times here and on other sites, I think it should probably be baselined our engines since the previous owner was a bit loose with fuel management

I’ll take a look through the service manual, are there any other resources you’re aware of that show the process? Hopefully they’re easy to access

 

This shows 4 check valves but I'm pretty sure there are 5 in the system.

 

This has been a saga for some time with this. Those check valves have been replaced, a new governor installed, a new rack installed, and all six injectors replaced (one new one was actually bad). The weird thing is, it only ever happened when the engine was fully warmed up after a good run. None of the above changed it, with the exception of another CAT mechanic not knowing how to properly set the overhead and fuel settings. I had another CAT tech out that knew what he was doing and drastically improved it.

The only thing we can come up with is that the 30WT oil was just too thin for the governor to work properly on this engine.

 

In the process of slowly painting the whole engine bay. First is a degreaser, then a spinning brush with Total Boat Dewaxer. Have retained Andy Miller from BoatworksToday.com to provide technical assistance with the refit. His input has been invaluable.

 

Andy is AWSOME!! I love watching him work, and I've learned a S**T ton from him. One of the few YT channels I actually subscribe to. I imagine he'll be a big help on the swim platform. Did he recommend the structural material for that rebuild?

 

The question is, where are these little buggers actually on the engine? I've never seen a picture or well documented how to on these. I have the CAT service manuals, but haven't come across this there either.

 

All but one are on fittings and plugs on the pump. For example the fitting the tube connects from the fuel filter is one and the little screen filter. My mechanic changed all on my engines and it took him about two hours to do all.

 

Had a FaceTime call with him this morning, regarding the swim platform rebuild. Going to post info on the SeaRay 380 thread.