Westerbeke GenSet issues

dwna1a

Well-Known Member
PLATINUM Sponsor
Apr 23, 2012
5,974
James River
Boat Info
88 Weekender 300 "Seahorse"
Engines
Twins 350
Look many of us own these red monsters and I'd say most of us have had a issue with ours from time to time. Some of us have gotten great on the electrical and others on the engine side. Since we have so many new members and so many new owners I thought we should share so of the things we have found to fix some of the issues these red monsters.

My first issue with mine was from the week I bought the boat. Genset would run and then stop. My dealer was great and spent a good bit of money to try to fix the problem. Turned out to be 2oz of oil in the govenor. Even his service guy did not know about the oil cooled govenor.

Next was a cooling issue. I had a cracked heat exchanger. Upon trying to replace it and the elbow I found that those parts are no longer made. All they are is cast aluminum, so I found a machine shop and he fixed the problem.

Just this past week the engine was getting harder to start. Upon reading the service manual I found that both the intake and exhaust valves are supposed to be adjusted every time the head bolts are checked. If I remember right that's every couple of years. I will go back and post the correction.
 
Look many of us own these red monsters and I'd say most of us have had a issue with ours from time to time. Some of us have gotten great on the electrical and others on the engine side. Since we have so many new members and so many new owners I thought we should share so of the things we have found to fix some of the issues these red monsters.

My first issue with mine was from the week I bought the boat. Genset would run and then stop. My dealer was great and spent a good bit of money to try to fix the problem. Turned out to be 2oz of oil in the govenor. Even his service guy did not know about the oil cooled govenor.

Next was a cooling issue. I had a cracked heat exchanger. Upon trying to replace it and the elbow I found that those parts are no longer made. All they are is cast aluminum, so I found a machine shop and he fixed the problem.

Just this past week the engine was getting harder to start. Upon reading the service manual I found that both the intake and exhaust valves are supposed to be adjusted every time the head bolts are checked. If I remember right that's every couple of years. I will go back and post the correction.
Thanks for the info!
 
Look many of us own these red monsters and I'd say most of us have had a issue with ours from time to time. Some of us have gotten great on the electrical and others on the engine side. Since we have so many new members and so many new owners I thought we should share so of the things we have found to fix some of the issues these red monsters.

My first issue with mine was from the week I bought the boat. Genset would run and then stop. My dealer was great and spent a good bit of money to try to fix the problem. Turned out to be 2oz of oil in the govenor. Even his service guy did not know about the oil cooled govenor.

Next was a cooling issue. I had a cracked heat exchanger. Upon trying to replace it and the elbow I found that those parts are no longer made. All they are is cast aluminum, so I found a machine shop and he fixed the problem.

Just this past week the engine was getting harder to start. Upon reading the service manual I found that both the intake and exhaust valves are supposed to be adjusted every time the head bolts are checked. If I remember right that's every couple of years. I will go back and post the correction.


The "harder to start".....is usually cured with a fresh set of plugs. I can't recall the last time I adjusted the valves on one of those things unless they were making noise.

The Governor oil separates the old school mechanics from the ones that need a data port to figure out what is wrong. The oil dampens the operation of the governor. The wrong type of oil and it doesn't work. Too little oil and it doesn't work. Too much oil and it leaks out of the seal.
 
The "harder to start".....is usually cured with a fresh set of plugs. I can't recall the last time I adjusted the valves on one of those things unless they were making noise.
The Governor oil separates the old school mechanics from the ones that need a data port to figure out what is wrong. The oil dampens the operation of the governor. The wrong type of oil and it doesn't work. Too little oil and it doesn't work. Too much oil and it leaks out of the seal.

Hard to start for me has always been wrapped around the choke solenoid and its linkage. So much so, that I tied a string to the linkage after 3 replacement solenoids at $125 each, and when I start, if someone pulls that string, it starts immediately. A part spec'd for 180 degrees max in an engine room in Florida has no chance of surviving on its on. One of many "Cajun" fixes on Beach House, but hey, they work
 
My Westerbeke was perfect for the first 3 months (april-june 2019) of ownership. then hard to start sometimes and other times would run great.... troubleshot to fuel pump was going out intermittantly. changed it this spring.... ran great for a couple weeks, then started to die after 20 mins. then died after 10 mins, then after 5 mins. Each week it ran a little less..... rebuilt the carb, Knock on wood, perfect now..... been running strong for a couple months
 
Great thread, these red monsters can make you crazy. Mine ran great the first 3 years of ownership and one day it would only turnover and not start at all. Turns out to be the choke solenoid. I hope I don't have to replace it 3 times.;)
 
Will chime in here. Have had my boat with a 4.5 for 10 years. Was out of water for the last 5 years, back in now. When recommissioning this spring, found a rusted out fuel line, changed fluids, rebuilt raw water pump. Ran fine on the hard, started right away, etc. Put boat in the water and of course bang, fuel pump dies! Replaced that(do all my own work) and all has been good until last weekend. Wouldn't turn over, nothing. For some reason the little fuse on the unit mounted control panel had blown. Don't know why and am trying to figure that out. I would just say, they are good machines, and if maintenance is carried out on a regular basis, they will be mostly trouble free. I have not changed my plugs or any part of ignition system. I hear distributor caps are exorbitant! But things still happen. They are complicated living under not ideal conditions. The string for the choke cracked me up!
 
Will chime in here. Have had my boat with a 4.5 for 10 years. Was out of water for the last 5 years, back in now. When recommissioning this spring, found a rusted out fuel line, changed fluids, rebuilt raw water pump. Ran fine on the hard, started right away, etc. Put boat in the water and of course bang, fuel pump dies! Replaced that(do all my own work) and all has been good until last weekend. Wouldn't turn over, nothing. For some reason the little fuse on the unit mounted control panel had blown. Don't know why and am trying to figure that out. I would just say, they are good machines, and if maintenance is carried out on a regular basis, they will be mostly trouble free. I have not changed my plugs or any part of ignition system. I hear distributor caps are exorbitant! But things still happen. They are complicated living under not ideal conditions. The string for the choke cracked me up!
lil fuse ( 8 amp) is 99% a sensor and 95% temp sensor $35 later mine runs like great again....

its all about the preheat and starting properly I was told...
 
Agree, good thread. I want to say I love mine, but.....1999 10BTD. 2200 hours. I've owned it 9 years. I do all my own maintenance. Most recently, needed a new coolant circ pump. $380 (Yikes). WB made it difficult wrt to a gasket, paid for 2 day shipping. Took a week. I wrote to them, no response.

2 years ago, leaky HE (coolant to saltwater). I forgot what WB wanted for a new one, I think approx. $1,000. Found it at SenDur for approx. $400

Several safety sender failures. Leaky seawater pump several times. (I've learned to rebuild these, if you don't know Depco pump, look them up.)

My coolant tank/exhaust manifold has a defect. The overflow fitting at the cap neck does not have a hole in it. No coolant can flow from/to tank. Overflow tank is useless.

It has been more time/maintenance than I would like. And did I mention noisy? I have a softcover, but still louder than I'd like.

I guess I can't complain too much as boat stuff goes. If customer service was better and replacement parts more reasonable, my view would be better.

If I had to get a new one tomorrow, I'd look at Northernlights. Buddy has one. Awesome
 
If anyone comes across a two cylinder one that still has its exhaust manifold. Please email me. Westerbeke no longer makes them.

Once mine starts she runs great and will power the whole boat. This winter she gets all new hoses and belt. She will also get a complete tuneup
 

Forum statistics

Threads
112,945
Messages
1,422,746
Members
60,928
Latest member
rkaleda
Back
Top