Westerbeke engine in Australia

[Gazzza]

Hi
Any Australian owners of a Westerbeke powered boat. Particularly interested in a Westerbeke 42. Just wondering how service and parts supply is? should it be a factor in boat choice.
Garry

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by Gazzza

Hi
Any Australian owners of a Westerbeke powered boat. Particularly interested in a Westerbeke 42. Just wondering how service and parts supply is? should it be a factor in boat choice.
Garry

I have a B30, 27 HP Westerbeke diesel in my boat,
Its Marinised By Westerbeke, USA,

Its a Mitsubishi 3 cylinder Diesel engine,
I buy my Parts from Mitsubishi car or tractor dealers,
Electrics, I get repaired by Local Auto electrical repair shops,

Their most frequent comment I get, Who or what is Westerbeke, Never heard of them,

[Lepke]

Westerbeke makes and installs the marine gear like exhaust manifolds but not the basic engine. For any model, parts are cheaper for the base engine from tractor dealers, etc. The most expensive parts come from Westerbeke. They buy the engine parts from the engine manufacturer, put their label on the box, and charge more that the original builder.

[Fore and Aft]

Gazza I have surveyed three yachts this year with Westerbeke diesel engines and none said they had any problems with parts. Just last week I surveyed a Catalina with a Westerbeke 42B and the owner maintained his own engine with parts he purchased online.

Cheers

[Reefmagnet]

Every state seems to have a Westerbeke dealer or reseller, which is better than a many of the other marine engine manufacturers. Mahindra uses Mitsubishi diesel small engines in a fair bit of their gear, so there's a potential source for engine bits at tractor prices.

[Gazzza]

How does one figure out what the base engine is?

[Reefmagnet]

Originally Posted by Gazzza

How does one figure out what the base engine is?

Google sleuthing and comparing the original Westerbeke brochure's obfuscated engine specifications to potential candidate engines.


If you have the actual engine in front of you, it's a lot easier!



https://forums.sailboatowners.com/th...-parts.177652/

[kenbo]

I believe the Westerbeke 42B is a Mitsubishi K4F. Mitsu rated the engine at 33hp at 2800, Westerbeke rates the engine optimistically at 42hp at 3600. Those engines are very sensitive to exhaust back pressure so ensure the exhaust run is short with fewer bends and at least 2.5" in ID. If the exhaust is correct they are strong reliable runners.

[kenbo]

To the OPs original question in regards to parts, every marinization part is readily available from more economical sources that Westerbeke. Bowman makes a bespoke manicooler, RW pumps are still being made by the OEM suppliers and gearboxes are gearboxes you may need a new adapter plate but they are easily fabricated.

[Scrimshaw4]

On the subject of Westerbeke RW pumps, be careful. I have a Westy 82B4. While the RW pump is off the shelf, Westy modified the footprint of the pump to fit in the mounting flange. The modification is subtle but significant enough to render the OEM part non compatible. You can however rebuild the the pump with the OEM's parts. The heat exchangers are available from different soureces and at a fraction of Westy's price. The motor mounts, solenoid and circuit breaker are also available for far less through third parties.

[kenbo]

Point well taken on Westerbeke's ability to one off their most profitable consumables like RW pumps and starters. But both of those are typically easy rebuilds. I'm not familiar with all the Westerbeke marinizations by any means but I have found that the raw water pumps for some of the later Mitsu marinized engines like the SL and LE and be used on the older ones like the K series.

My point to the OP was that the engines are very serviceable even if Westerbeke were to go out of business and should not be a unique reason to not chose a boat.

[Roaring Sixties]

Gazzza, if you do a search Westerbeke Coomera you’ll find the agent, or try this number 07 5502 7771.
My Catalina 350 has a Kubota based engine, didn’t take long to find the matching Kubota Oil and Fuel filter, sourced impeller and other parts from agent at Coomera SE Qld. Don’t be put off. Regards LanceR

[gonesail]

I know the 3 cylinder Westerbeke 21 is a marine version of the Mitsubishi K3D.