Westerbeke 42B loosing colant

[model 10]

Originally Posted by moctrams

A friend of mine has a 38' Hinckley with the same problem. After talking to the Westerbeke folks at the boat show">Annapolis Boat Show he was told there are "O" rings in between the cylinder sleeves and the block. These "O" rings wear out and let coolant past them.

That is a feature of the Perkins 4-107 engine, it has wet cylinder liners. If the o rings are leaking there are weep holes in the outside of the block to indicate O ring leakage. So, if they were leaking you would see leakage on the outside of the engine. Unless the weep holes are clogged then you would see water in the oil.

[moctrams]

My friends engine is 40 years old and it is a Westerbeke and he did see coolant in the oil. He decided to overhaul the engine.

[Captain Bob]

Almost always the HE especially in salt water. Has the zinc anode been replaced regularly? I just had this problem with the same engine and it was the HE. The owner did not know there is a zinc in the HE. He does now!

[Valmika]

Thank you all for the input especially Jkishel with an honorable mention to Sailorlady. I pulled the HX last night and did the old mouth hand pressure test (mouth over one hole, hand over the other) It failed miserably. A new one is ordered $790 WB or $390 from MrCool. Guess which one I bought. Made in Amerika Should be here Friday. I'll let you know how it works out. The guys at Mr Cool were great so lets hope the product is.

Thanks everyone again. I should have trusted my gut to begin with.

[Calypso52]

Mark, yes please let us know the new cooler solves the problem.

FWIW, a simple oil test will reveal if there is excess sodium and potassium in the oil, an indication of coolant in the oil.

[Valmika]

Originally Posted by Captain Bob

Almost always the HE especially in salt water. Has the zinc anode been replaced regularly? I just had this problem with the same engine and it was the HE. The owner did not know there is a zinc in the HE. He does now!

I do the zinc about every three months. If I wait longer I have to pull the end cap off and take out the pieces.