4.5 Westerbeke problems

Mknupp

Mknupp

Member
Sep 25, 2019
73
finger lakes
Boat Info
1995 330 Sundancer
Engines
7.4 454 v drives
1995
Gen starts but runs real rough,won’t come up to speed
I have changed plugs..oil..gov oil..fuel filters.. starting to think
It may be fuel pump or carb issue
Any thoughts on what else I may be over looking
Thank you
MKnupp
 
You don't mention cap, rotor or wires. If those are good the next step would be a compression test.
 
It's a 3 cylinder. Do a compression test. It most likely is running on two cylinders. How many hours does it have?
 
I've got a 2001 4.5 Westerbeke BCGB. The carburetors are incredibly sensitive. I refurbished mine when I bought the boat with new plugs, distributor cap and rotor, and fuel pump. Ran like crap, often surging. Rebuilt the carb twice, one with the Sierra kit (didn't fix it), second time with the OEM kit. Also, put a large pre-filter/water separator in the line. That fixed it.
 
I’d start with the cap and rotor. Check the fire at the plugs. Coil might be weak.

When it comes to Westerbeke I always add this in. Check and change the oil in the governor. That one thing can make the whole system go crazy. It takes 3.5oz of 30W oil. It’s very easy to do and seems to be the most overlooked part of the system.
 
Wires and cap were replaced a few years ago and look good, ran fine earlier this season but didn’t come up to speed. Guess its time to dig a little deeper, thank you all for your thoughts.
 
PlayDate said:
It's a 3 cylinder. Do a compression test. It most likely is running on two cylinders. How many hours does it have?
Click to expand...
3200 hrs, I know.. crazy.. previous owner had lots of work done and it ran fine until a month ago. Seemed to start acting up after changing water separator filter, not sure why, oil is fresh impeller is fine, gov oil has been changed and checked, possibly carb problem
 
Ok, this is a possibility and it sounds out there but it’s true.

You say it stated after the separator filter was changed. Were the gaskets put back in correctly? If the bottom gasket was put on top it allows air to get into the system. We found this on a 4 cylinder Wester. Also check to be sure the gasket for the separator housing gasket didn’t get doubled up. Sometimes the old gasket gets hung up in the groove and the new one gets put in on top of it.
 
dwna1a said:
Ok, this is a possibility and it sounds out there but it’s true.

You say it stated after the separator filter was changed. Were the gaskets put back in correctly? If the bottom gasket was put on top it allows air to get into the system. We found this on a 4 cylinder Wester. Also check to be sure the gasket for the separator housing gasket didn’t get doubled up. Sometimes the old gasket gets hung up in the groove and the new one gets put in on top of it.
Click to expand...
I will double check that. Thank you
 
With 3200 hours I'd be all over that engine with a compression gauge. Gotta start with the basics.
 
dwna1a said:
I’d start with the cap and rotor. Check the fire at the plugs. Coil might be weak.

When it comes to Westerbeke I always add this in. Check and change the oil in the governor. That one thing can make the whole system go crazy. It takes 3.5oz of 30W oil. It’s very easy to do and seems to be the most overlooked part of the system.
Click to expand...

There is also a small screen filter on the Carb that needs to be cleaned/replaced. Westerbeke is proud of it ($40).
 
They are very proud of all of their parts!
 
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