Westerbeke w30 4-91 upgrades

[sanibel sailor]

I saw a Beta ad that had the dipstick at the front. Thought to myself, that looks useful. Next oil change I swapped out my short stick (no teasing) for a oil drain valve and a long section of painted brake line supported by custom brackets. I used a automatic transmission dipstick to get all the way down. Works like a champ.

Next pain was the secondary filter. No way to drain it nor room to pull it easily. I raised it up on another pair of hex couplers and added a small drain valve to the bottom of the filter housing.

[sanibel sailor]

Oil pan valve is a little hard to see...

[sanibel sailor]

Here is the jacked up filter


You can also see the extra coolant temp switch I added for a dummy light on the instrument panel

[sanibel sailor]

I also pulled the old wiring harness and shortened it, removing the multi-pin connector. I had removed the remote regulator when I went with a Balmar alternator. Cleaned up the mess a good bit.

[Valmika]

How did you attach the dipstick extended line to the old dipstick hole? Is it threaded or anything?

[sanibel sailor]

On my boat, it was a 3/8" (I think) compression fitting.

[Valmika]

Thanks,

I've got a 42 B I'd like to do something similar to. I don't know if I have anything extending out of the block to grab on to. I am redoing the whole cooling system now and the heat exchanger is off so I can take a look when I get down there today

[sanibel sailor]

Not familiar with the 42B.
Mine actually is a fitting on the pan. May have been the original drain spot, although the compression threads suggest otherwise. Most are a hole in the block. If it is just a hole, you can pull the old tube and stick a new longer tube in. They are usually just press fit. The level of the hole in the block is above the resting oil level (it is all in the pan), so you can pull the tube with a huge outflow of oil. Put a caliper on your existing tube to find the correct size. I used brake line which is available SAE and metric in various sizes and bends easily without kinking.