Westerbeke W46 Replacement

[bcboomer]

I'm looking for anyone with experience replacing a Westerbeke W46. Mine has a badly damaged rod journal, beyond machining, and replacement parts are stupid expensive.

Locally a Sole Mini 44 has been recommended by the Westerbeke dealer. It's also a marinized Mitsubishi. Smaller but similar power and I don't need all the power the W46 has.

Offhand I can see that the exhaust is on the wrong side but the maintenance is still on the starboard side.
It comes with a Twin Disc transmission, I currently have an HBW 150.

Any thoughts?

[roryboy]

A new Sole mitsubishi because the westerbek mitsubishi felt so good ?

[bcboomer]

Actually it was great for the past 10 years. Didn't use oil, no smoke. However it was overpropped by the DPO. He claimed it gave better fuel economy and, in my ignorance, I thought it was OK. However, I learned that it was hard on the motor, so I ordered a new Campbell Sailer in their recommended size. I was on the way to have it installed when an injector got plugged with carbon. Had the injectors rebuilt and all seemed great . Engine ran smoothly and the prop seemed to be a big improvement
After less than an hour, bang, rod bearing gone crank toast.
Now, do you have anything productive to add or do you just want to make sarcastic comments?

[DirtPete]

Beta 43 would be my choice in this scenario.

The support at Beta US is unmatched as well.

[gonesail]

the crowd I have spoken to says Beta is the best.

[stormalong]

Originally Posted by DirtPete

Beta 43 would be my choice in this scenario.

The support at Beta US is unmatched as well.

I have a Beta 50. Same block as 43 with a larger bore.

Now 20 years old and over 4,000 hours. Very happy with my choice.

[bcboomer]

Thanks I'll look into the Beta. Depends on local supply and support.

[sailingunity]

We almost repowered with a Beta 70T after finding coolant in the #3 cylinder of our westerbeke W80. It was going to run around $25k.

Fortunately rebuild kits are plentiful as it's based on the British Leyland 4/98 (parts available through tractor repair shops).

We've also found hard to find parts through Transatlantic diesel - they have a few of them on the shelf. If you haven't entirely ruled out a rebuild have you tried to see if you can get a replacement crank?

[kenbo]

Friday Parts has everything engine-wise for your Mitsubishi 4DQ5. New crank is $ 695 USD. A lot cheaper than a repower.

[bcboomer]

Probably true. I contacted Friday with my engine's serial number and asked if their crankshaft and overhaul kit would fit. (There seems to be 2 different versions of some parts).

No response.

On the other hand, I have a 30 year old motor and transmission with indeterminant hours. The new one comes with a 3/5 year warranty, new transmission and new panel.

Rebuilding this one still means pulling the engine. Lots of hours to rebuild at $150/hr. Replacing cylinder sleeves, machining them, etc. all costs.

[kenbo]

I was under the impression from your original post that the engine was already out of the boat and the bottom end was disassembled with the crank out of the engine. I say this because you mentioned the crank was damaged beyond machining.

The cranks are the same in all these engines. I believe the only significant parts that varied are the pistons and possibly the connecting rods. That engine was used in a ton of forklifts. All you need to do is measure the piston length and they know what engine you have.

Not sure why you are leaning toward a full rebuild unless there were existing problems not mentioned. About a grand in bottom-end parts and a couple grand in labor all in and you're back on the water. Even less if you get the engine ready to be picked. There could be some additional machine shop time if the conrod suffered galling but not the end of the world. Of course, you may see it differently.

In any event, the engine needs to be pulled no matter what decision you make. I'd do that take the pan off, inspect the extent of the reality, and base your decision on that.

[bcboomer]

The sump below the motor is deep enough to drop the pan and remove the con rod caps. #4 is shot, others are OK.
My insurance company is still deciding if they will cover it. If they do, a new motor is a no brainer. If not I'll need to weigh the difference between patching and replacing.
I can do a lot of the work to patch it myself but there is something to be said for having a new drive line.
The Beta is heavy and a little bulkier than the W46. The Sole sits lower and is more compact, plus 150 lbs. lighter. This boat really doesn't need a lot of horsepower and the smaller engine will probably be better on fuel.
I was hoping to hear from someone with a Sole motor to get their experience.

[skipperpete]

There’s a thread started by AK5609 back in 27/02/21 about his less than enjoyable dealings with Solè in Europe , well worth reading. I don’t personally have any dealings with the company but dislike how they made themselves part of the spare parts food chain by making sure a lot of the usual service items (filters, impellers, gearbox, lift pump) were changed enough that off the shelf parts wouldn’t fit so you became a slave to Sole. Base engines are good as is the conversion, in fact the mini range had bronze mixer elbows that last forever.... maybe that’s changed in recent times. .
Betamarine are good conversions of Kubota industrial engines but I really dislike the “Technodrive” gearboxes and saildrives, despite being called Twindisc in the brochures they’re just a cheap Italian gearbox owned by the famous US company.

[malbert73]

Originally Posted by skipperpete

There’s a thread started by AK5609 back in 27/02/21 about his less than enjoyable dealings with Solè in Europe , well worth reading. I don’t personally have any dealings with the company but dislike how they made themselves part of the spare parts food chain by making sure a lot of the usual service items (filters, impellers, gearbox, lift pump) were changed enough that off the shelf parts wouldn’t fit so you became a slave to Sole. Base engines are good as is the conversion, in fact the mini range had bronze mixer elbows that last forever.... maybe that’s changed in recent times. .
Betamarine are good conversions of Kubota industrial engines but I really dislike the “Technodrive” gearboxes and saildrives, despite being called Twindisc in the brochures they’re just a cheap Italian gearbox owned by the famous US company.

Why do you dislike techno drive? mine is nearly at 1000 hours, no issues so far
Beta will let you choose other gearboxes. I really like my Beta 50 btw. A recent charter with a common rail Yanmar validated my choice of Beta over Yanmar (the charter Yanmar 4jh45 just died one day for no reason while motoring. Started right back up but the fact that the ECU or something just decided to kill it randomly is disturbing)

[bcboomer]

Yes, I read that thread. I have local parts support that has been excellent in the past with Westerbeke. The captive parts situation is a concern and something I was hoping to hear about on CF. Sole list the same oil and fuel filters for the range from 11 to 55 hp so dealer inventory shouldn't be a problem. I'm disappointed that they don't fit a multi groove alternator belt. It comes with a 120 amp alternator but then they derate it to work with a single v belt. Stupid! I had a machine shop fabricate a couple of pulleys so I could put a 200 amp alternator on the W46, so I would need to do that again.