Westerbeke hard starting

[Nonsuch26]

Need advice;

have a 1986 Nonsuch 26 with a 18W (18hp ) Westerbeke diesel .
Issue,, Hard starting ?

Work completed'
I have 2 new 1000-Amp batteries, new battery cables, new main battery power shut off switch, new pre heat button, new glow plug solenoid, glow plugs have been checked and are good, all wires and contact points are clean and in good condition, battery harness plug - wire contacts cleaned and in good condition. once running the eng runs perfect...

The eng has to turn over several times to start, I don't know if this is the nature ( hard starting ) of this model Westerbeke engs. The speed that the eng turns over when trying to start is not that fast.???? Don't know if this is normal or not. ? I have to hold the preheat button for 30sec+ to start ,,, even in the summer. The only last item that I think that could be causing this issue is the starter. ?? is this possible ?. There is no outward noise etc coming from the starter, Any advice on this issue would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Ron

[suiramor]

I had same problem (symptom-wise) last year. A series o mechanics at different marinas - I was cruising NW at the time - replaced some glow plus, starter switch, proposed replacing injector pump and even the whole engine! Thing is that once started, the engine worked perfectly fine.

In my case the issue seems to have been caused first by one or more glow plugs not working. When replaced, the engine worked fine the first two or three starts and then went back to not starting. The glow plugs which were OK before now showed incorrect resistance. The extended holding of power (30s or so) to compensate for that, probably burned my solenoid. I noticed that the dip in V-meter was very minor when pressing the starter switch and eventually replaced the solenoid and all the glow plugs again. Worked like a charm. It now starts after just 5s of pre-heating. I would check whether you are getting the right power through the glow plugs.

[gonesail]

that's not the nature of my W21. It starts right up after the glow plugs are hot .. preheat is less than 10 seconds. Wild guess but maybe your idle is a set a little low

[Nonsuch26]

Thank you for the response. We ran a jumper cable from the battery directly to the first glow plug and they all got hot.. ? Do you think it could be the starter ?

[davil]

Originally Posted by Nonsuch26

Thank you for the response. We ran a jumper cable from the battery directly to the first glow plug and they all got hot.. ? Do you think it could be the starter ?

=====================
no
what you did was to bypass the solenoid.

either a faulty solenoid (being new doesn't mean much)
or improper connections on the solenoid

[Turtle Blues]

1. Can you tell the difference between a fast turning starter and a laboring sluggish spin rate? Best described as a whine vs groan?
2. Measure voltage and current draw at the starter. With all the new items described make sure the starter is actually getting all the amps it wants.
3. Fuel quality and delivery unobstructed? Clean filters and sufficient pressure?
Do be careful not to burn out the new glow plugs. They are more fragile than they appear.

[RSB333]

Are you holding the pre-heat button while starting. Try letting go of the pre-heat when you hit the starter button, as you will have more power to turn the engine over. Good luck.

[Lepke]

The speed the starter turns is related to how fast/easy the engine starts.
If slow it could be the starter or corrosion in the cable connections. Don't forget to check the ground connection.
In old cables, I have found corrosion throughout the cable. New cables, faster starter.
Also could be solenoid contacts are pitted.