[C320-list] Ahoy owners with Westerbeke

[Rick]

Max,
 
Consider my 1995 320 history with the  Westerbeke engine:
1. There was a recall/upgrade on the motor mounts in 1996 or 1997  because the original mounts were too soft and prone to failure. ( Not a bad idea to replace the motor mounts after 15 years). On my engine I noticed that when I replaced the original motor mounts sent to me from Westerbeke that two were loose and the engine was twisting a couple of inches and that explained why I was experiencing increased water leaking from the packing gland. May want to contact Westerbeke to learn if your boat/engine number ever recieved the upgraded motor mounts. The last time I was on their website one may leave a message for a technician and I always received a timely reply.
 
2. Have experienced a brittle electrical connection/wire breaking at the starter motor. Could not get the boat to start when returning to the dock and got lucky when I reached for a wrench to tap the starter motor that would not engage the bendix spring/starter gear. 
Managed to get the motor started by holding the wire to the starter hot side while my spouse hit the starter button.
 
The hot wire to the starter broke due to engine vibrations flexing the wire at the connector bolted to the hot side of the starter. Fixed the problem by  splicing to the original stiff wire a more flexible wire with some length with a new connector at the other end of the new flexible wire. 
 
3 Look for the same type of problem with stiff wire fatiguing one of the engine oil pressure sender near the dipstick side of the engine down low and in front of the oil pan. Again the engine vibration was the culprit and the low oil alarm sounded when  the electrical circuit was broken by the broken spade connector on the sender. Simply splicing the two connection wires together to quiet the alarm was necessary until I replaced the sender, but with softer wire splices to avoid the vibration fatigue problem.
 
4. The original fuel pump failed after about 300 hours. Found a NAPA replacement for under $30 when the  factory replacement was something like $150. If you do not hear the fuel pump clicking when you turn on the key to power up the instrument panel and the engine circuit, then you know that there is a problem with the fuel pump ( also keep an eye on the fuel pump wire connections as well due to the vibration causing wire/connection fatigue). The engine would still run ( but with less torque and throttle response) due to the gravity feed to the injectors, but when the fuel tank runs below half the engine will be starved of fuel and then it pays to know how to sail up to a dock without power under a head sail that can be released with good timing on the drift speed and offsetting wind forces at work to test your skills....those days on the Sunfish really paid off when it came to docking the 320 under sail!
 
5. Had to have a new seal installed on the external water intake pump that  started to leak after 5 years. that cost me about $100 rather than replacing the entire pump for almost $300.
 
6. I make sure that I keep the biocide levels up in the fuel, use Diesel Kleen to boost to cetane level and keep the injectors clean and replace the fuel filters regularly. The enginel preform s well. While any three cylinder engine will vibrate, the Westerbeke can be rather noisy, especially if the valve train needs to be adjusted, but it is very reliable but for the mentioned issues I outlined. 
 
For each one half gallon of fuel I am getting about one hour of service at 2,500 RPMs with no major internal engine issues after nearly 1,000 hours on the clock. Been using Mobil 1 synthetic oil and a Fram oil filter. Adjusted the valves after 700 hours and made sure to run more rather than less gap on all tappets to avoid burning the valves. The engine will probably outlive many of us reading this blog if periodic maintenance is performed.
 
Hope this list provides you with some alerts that may prove to avoid some of experiences that I accepted as a challenge to my motorhead skills, but then again, sailing is all about the journey and not just reaching a destination...
 
Rick
My-Ria Hull #277
 
 
 
 
 
 
On Fri, Oct 23, 2009 at 6:48 PM, Max Ruddy <maxruddy at gmail.com> wrote:

Anyone have a westerbeke engine out there?  If so, any problems I should be aware of as I am a recent owner of a 1995 320.

Thanks

Max

-----Original Message-----
>From: Max Ruddy <maxruddy at gmail.com>
>Sent: Oct 23, 2009 6:48 PM
>To: "C320-List at Catalina320.com" <C320-List at Catalina320.com>
>Subject: Re: [C320-list] Ahoy owners with Westerbeke
>
>Anyone have a westerbeke engine out there?  If so, any problems I  
>should be aware of as I am a recent owner of a 1995 320.
>
>Thanks
>
>Max
>
>On Oct 23, 2009, at 1:54 PM, "Kirk McCullough" <kirk.mccullough at telus.net 
> > wrote:
>
>> Another option is to get the ZF 10 (hurth 100) which is designed to  
>> take the
>> 29 hp the Perkins can deliver, in fact as I recall it's good up to  
>> 45 hp.
>> The ZF 5 or ZF 6, just like the Hurth 50 is really on the edge of the
>> specification for our engines. The ZF 10 a little longer but  
>> otherwise is a
>> direct replacement.
>>
>> Kirk
>> #124
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com
>> [mailto:c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com] On Behalf Of Warren  
>> Updike
>> Sent: 22 October 2009 09:27
>> To: c320-list at lists.catalina320.com
>> Subject: [C320-list] Ahoy owners with Perkins engines
>>
>> Actually, this is about your Hurth transmission. FoleyEngines.com is  
>> an
>> authorized facility for Perkins and ZF/Hurth products.  This is not a
>> recommendation, just a heads up for owners that may not know about  
>> Foley.
>> Check this out:
>>
>> http://archives.subscribermail.com/msg/9ca93553bbd5413abfd0e5ce4695fe78.htm
>>
>>
>>
>> Warren & Pattie Updike
>>
>> Catalina 320, #62, "Warr
>>