The Westerbeke saga continues...(failed heat exchanger)

[kmacdonald]

Just hack saw them. No precision necessary.

[sailah]

Originally Posted by kmacdonald

Just hack saw them. No precision necessary.

When you have a precision toolroom lathe, everything is precision. And much faster too

[kmacdonald]

Ya, from the looks of the motor you are pretty particular. The trailer like electrical connector on your motor wireing harness is notoriously problematic. Might want to replace it with a terminal block.

[Reefmagnet]

Originally Posted by sailah

Thanks. I guess it's just complete frustration after having serious issues EVERY year with about 125 hours annually. I've worked on lots of diesels and engines, this one just seems cursed. It won't beat me though, I'm too stubborn.



Yeah I spoke to them a few times today. Really helpful and super nice. Just got the shipping notice a few hours ago so that's some quick turnaround.



Ha, my alternator is a Balmar and runs 100%. Replaced water pump">raw water pump last year after the seals let go on 125 mile motor back from Maine last summer. Bit sketchy taking on water with no wind. I think the exhaust manifold is the only component left on the engine that is a Westerbeke part and hasn't failed.



I just shot the entire engine with Rustoleum red. A pain to mask it all off too. Will def need some touchups after all this work the last 2 years.

You may be onto something there. I have a Sole S3L2 based engine that I swear is cursed. At 190 hours and 18 actual months on the water over 9 years it now sits completely disassembled while I contemplate a rebuild or replace. My first ever new car was cursed too. I couldn't drive it any where without someone running into me. A small hose failed when it was 13 months old causing it to overheat and seize the engine. When trying to bring it home on a trailer, the trailer went out of control and nearly flipped us over into a ditch. The motor was replaced, but the curse continued and the car was scrapped at four years old.


The creepy thing is that in both these cases, the curse extended across multiple owners. The PO in the case of the boat engine and the next guy in the case of the car.

[sailah]

Huge props to the awesome folks at Lenco. I ordered at 10am on Wednesday and it shipped same day. Got it yesterday. 24 hour heat exchanger swap out. I ran out of coolant so I need to go get more today to start it up.

I also checked clearance with standard pencil zincs and confirmed that the new Lenco does not bind or hit anywhere when installed. I did ask them to double check this when they built it. Interestingly they did say that Cupro-Nickel is overkill and he recommended just copper. We went back and forth "arguing" about which was a better option. Mine was stock made from copper. He said the Cupro is often touted as a better option by the internet retailers and he only recommended it if I was a charter boat or sucking up lots of sand. At the end of the day it was only $40 more and I decided to go for it. He did mention that cupro can tend to leak as it's an alloy and likely to do with brazing. Which does make sense but I like to overdo everything.

I did manage to get enough coolant in to pressure test the system with my Stant. Was holding 15 psi for 20 and I left it overnight.

I was pleased they painted it but due to the rush to ship and some water in the box from testing, the paint job wasn't great. No big deal and I need to touch up the paint anyways on a few more parts that got wet last during the water pump fiasco.

[Kalinka1]

had a Westerbeast 30. Spent more time in the engine compartment than sailing. Finally after a rebuild got rid of it and put in a Beta 30. Now I forget where the engine room is!

[SVTatia]

Originally Posted by Kalinka1

had a Westerbeast 30. Spent more time in the engine compartment than sailing. Finally after a rebuild got rid of it and put in a Beta 30. Now I forget where the engine room is!

Your Westerbeast 30 - the PO had it new and was purring like a kitten. Then he forgot where the engine room was...

Originally Posted by sailah

...

I was pleased they painted it but due to the rush to ship and some water in the box from testing, the paint job wasn't great. No big deal and I need to touch up the paint anyways on a few more parts that got wet last during the water pump fiasco.

This is the engine (high heath) paint that came closest to the original ($30+/can)

https://www.autozone.com/paint-and-b...1oz/464826_0_0

I also had to remove, test and paint my HX - one of the support bolts broke off and the PO held it in place with wire and some ropes... it did survive a few months with him. But since I had to remove it to fix the bolt, I had it cleaned and tested.

[Compass790]

Wow I admire your persistance!
After following some of your earlier battles with the red beast it's like reading something by the Marquis de Sade. Good advice you gave the hive about checking head flatness after overheating. Interesting that the heat exchanger guy was all for copper. I was under the impression that cupro-nickel was superior too, was curious in case I need to make one.
I wish you much better luck. We had a titanic battle with our worn out & badly maintained Yanmar ysm8 but eventually came out winners despite trying to fix it without spending much on it. I know the feeling about being constantly anxious about the engine & it takes a while to fade but it's a beautiful thing when it does.
Hope I stop cringing reading your posts soon

[sailah]

I went out to boat and the coolant tester was right where I left it. OK maybe 1 PSI down but it was cool out last night.

Fired right up, no leaks. Wiped everything down and cleaned up the mess. Will shoot some touch up paint.

Hopefully this concludes Westerbeke 2020, see you next year.

Now on to some varnish...