Need help Westerbeke 40 (Perkins 4.108)

[River Runner]

Great idea! For $20.00 that could save a lot of busted knuckles.

[marcjsmith]

for parts that are state side, look at Transatlantic diesels TAD https://www.tadiesels.com/ i had great luck with them ordering parts and received in short order.


on my 4108 with the bowman HE, its a PITA getting access to the port side of the engine. I have great access stbd and aft, OK access port and poor access fwd.


there are PDF's of the service/teardown manual which will help as well.


and when bleading be very gentle with the bleeder screws on the fuel injection pump...

[skipperpete]

Originally Posted by River Runner

Thanks Skipperpete!

That would be a good start to locate it. Can you think of anything I may need to remove to be able to get to the cover?

Haha, good question River Runner, on some installations the answer could be “the engine”
But hopefully in your case just the intake manifold and some plumbing. The gasket is often cork and won’t survive a removal and if my suggestion that a stuck valve contributed to the missing pushrod is correct, a gasket set might be worth considering.
Pete.

[River Runner]

Originally Posted by marcjsmith

for parts that are state side, look at Transatlantic diesels TAD https://www.tadiesels.com/ i had great luck with them ordering parts and received in short order.


on my 4108 with the bowman HE, its a PITA getting access to the port side of the engine. I have great access stbd and aft, OK access port and poor access fwd.


there are PDF's of the service/teardown manual which will help as well.


and when bleading be very gentle with the bleeder screws on the fuel injection pump...

Thanks, I’ll give transatlantic diesel a try. I ordered the new pushrod yesterday and forgot to get new gaskets.

[River Runner]

Originally Posted by skipperpete

Haha, good question River Runner, on some installations the answer could be “the engine”
But hopefully in your case just the intake manifold and some plumbing. The gasket is often cork and won’t survive a removal and if my suggestion that a stuck valve contributed to the missing pushrod is correct, a gasket set might be worth considering.
Pete.

Quick question, do you think the valve may still be stuck? I would hate to put a new pushrod in just to bend it again. Thanks

[skipperpete]

Originally Posted by River Runner

Quick question, do you think the valve may still be stuck? I would hate to put a new pushrod in just to bend it again. Thanks

Once you get the rocker cover off you should be able to see if the valve is the same height as the others. If it is the same height, try pushing the valve down using a piece of wood ( hammer handle works well). The valve should spring back instantly when the pressure is relieved. Make sure you don’t lose the little cap on the top of the valve stem if your engine version has em.

[Searles]

Maybe a bent pushrod ,the side cover plates are reasonably easy to get off ,to access the cam followers and lower end of pushrods ,should reveal all ,hard to believe it ran smoothly,basically a good if not heavy older style engine.⚓️⛵️

[River Runner]

Originally Posted by Searles

Maybe a bent pushrod ,the side cover plates are reasonably easy to get off ,to access the cam followers and lower end of pushrods ,should reveal all ,hard to believe it ran smoothly,basically a good if not heavy older style engine.⚓️⛵️

Yeah, it fires right up. The big problem was the smoke. It was embarrassing out on the San Francisco Bay with other boaters pointing at the big black cloud of smoke following us like We we’re clueless. The last straw was when our US flag’s white stripes turned gray!

[Celestialsailor]

I'm having a hard time imagining that the engine isn't trying to jump off it's mounts running on 3 cylinders. You say it runs smoothly. Not sure how that is so if it is out of balance and would be difficult to start.

[Boatyarddog]

Originally Posted by River Runner

Yeah, it fires right up. The big problem was the smoke. It was embarrassing out on the San Francisco Bay with other boaters pointing at the big black cloud of smoke following us like We we’re clueless. The last straw was when our US flag’s white stripes turned gray!

My 4-108 had 3 stuck valves and 3 bent pushrods.
The previous owner had not repaired a drip of seawater coming from the water pump">Raw Water pump and the drip ate a hole in the timing cover, got water in the oil.
That's how he left it.
A Couple years later I found the vessel and checked it out.
After pulling the valve cover, I found the valve train had rusted up.
I removed and soaked the rail and all parts in Kero and deemed them able to be used.
Pulled the side cover, inspected for damage, all okay there.
The 3 stuck Valves would not move at first, so I sprayed the all down with Kroil penetrant waited a day or so and lightly tapped on those that were stuck and then they moved down further, still stuck.
I was pleased to find that there are no pre combustion chambers in the 4-108 and was able to "tap" the valve heads using the piston with a rachet on the crank pulley.
Bumping the heads of the valves can be a disaster if on an angle.
These engines have the valve pointing straight down though, so I was able to tap down and bump up till they were working on their own spring pressure to move up.
It worked for me.
You can tap on those valve heads with a dead blow hammer and you'll be able to tell if they are stuck.
The Perkins are pretty robust engines.
Mine has run perfectly since, it's been 6 years and a couple hundred hrs since.
SV Cloud Duster

[Boatyarddog]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

I'm having a hard time imagining that the engine isn't trying to jump off it's mounts running on 3 cylinders. You say it runs smoothly. Not sure how that is so if it is out of balance and would be difficult to start.

Mine started on 2 cyl.
But didn't run "as advertised"
Actually ran though.
SV Cloud Duster

[River Runner]

Originally Posted by skipperpete

Once you get the rocker cover off you should be able to see if the valve is the same height as the others. If it is the same height, try pushing the valve down using a piece of wood ( hammer handle works well). The valve should spring back instantly when the pressure is relieved. Make sure you don’t lose the little cap on the top of the valve stem if your engine version has em.

Originally Posted by Boatyarddog

Mine started on 2 cyl.
But didn't run "as advertised"
Actually ran though.
SV Cloud Duster

My brother said re-name it “Mosquito Abatement” and runner as is!