Electronic Igntion for Westerbeke 6.5 bcg (1989)

[390x]

I got tired of dealing with points, condensers, dwell, etc on my Westerbeke, and I also got tired of Westerbeke oddball parts so I added electronic ignition to my 6.5BCG. Here's the parts I purchased for the project:
1 Pertronix 1632 igniter. This kit is not specifically supposed to be for this generator, but it is made for a 3 cylinder Nippondenso distributor, which this genny has. It fits like a glove.
1 Pertronix flame thrower coil--using this coil eliminates the need for a ballast resistor
1 MSD coil holder
Here's the process:
My ballast resistor had a purple wire, and an orange wire on the positive side. These will go to the positive side of the new coil. There was a red wire that went from the negative side of the ballast resistor to a prong on the coil. Discard this wire. There was also a black wire with a grey stripe going from the coil to the distributor. This wire can be discarded as well. There was also a yellow wire connected to the coil. This wire can be cut/capped off. It will not be used. There was also another black wire with a grey stripe going to the distributor. This wire will be connected to the negative side of the new coil. There are also two wires, a black and a red coming out of the new ignition. They will be connected to the positive and negative posts on the new coil, respectively. Here's the summary of the connections:
Positive post of new coil: Purple, orange, red. Negative post: black with grey stripe, black. It runs like a swiss watch, and now I can buy off the shelf parts to service it if I need to. I have no idea what the oddball Westerbeke coil would have cost, but I'm sure it would have been expensive. I would guess that a 4 cylinder Pertronix igniton for a 4 cylinder Denso distributor would work on a 4 cylinder Westerbeke as well, but I can't be sure. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[Saverio]

Hi

thanks for the info!!!!
i bought a 39 searay 1988 that had sandy damage I can't get the generator to start no spark and traced out to the igniter. Or trigger their connected. The parts are bout 1500 which is crazy. It has a four cyc 8 kwg generator. But the igniter is made by Mitsubishi. Any thoughts on converting???

thanks for any help
Saverio

 

[390x]

Hi

thanks for the info!!!!
i bought a 39 searay 1988 that had sandy damage I can't get the generator to start no spark and traced out to the igniter. Or trigger their connected. The parts are bout 1500 which is crazy. It has a four cyc 8 kwg generator. But the igniter is made by Mitsubishi. Any thoughts on converting???

thanks for any help
Saverio

Do the same thing I did with mine. Just get an igniter for a 4cyl mitsubishi, and a matching coil. That should be really easy to get.

 

[Saverio]

I finaly found the right parts. I went to Mitsubishi with the distrubator and they said it came from a 1983azda 323. Mazda 323 didn't come here till 1988. I searched eBay Japan and found the igniter and trigger new for 9.99 each. I took part numbers and ordered them locally. Same crap used on 80-9 dodge mini van

 

[Air O'Nautical]

I got tired of dealing with points, condensers, dwell, etc on my Westerbeke, and I also got tired of Westerbeke oddball parts so I added electronic ignition to my 6.5BCG. Here's the parts I purchased for the project:
1 Pertronix 1632 igniter. This kit is not specifically supposed to be for this generator, but it is made for a 3 cylinder Nippondenso distributor, which this genny has. It fits like a glove.
1 Pertronix flame thrower coil--using this coil eliminates the need for a ballast resistor
1 MSD coil holder
Here's the process:
My ballast resistor had a purple wire, and an orange wire on the positive side. These will go to the positive side of the new coil. There was a red wire that went from the negative side of the ballast resistor to a prong on the coil. Discard this wire. There was also a black wire with a grey stripe going from the coil to the distributor. This wire can be discarded as well. There was also a yellow wire connected to the coil. This wire can be cut/capped off. It will not be used. There was also another black wire with a grey stripe going to the distributor. This wire will be connected to the negative side of the new coil. There are also two wires, a black and a red coming out of the new ignition. They will be connected to the positive and negative posts on the new coil, respectively. Here's the summary of the connections:
Positive post of new coil: Purple, orange, red. Negative post: black with grey stripe, black. It runs like a swiss watch, and now I can buy off the shelf parts to service it if I need to. I have no idea what the oddball Westerbeke coil would have cost, but I'm sure it would have been expensive. I would guess that a 4 cylinder Pertronix igniton for a 4 cylinder Denso distributor would work on a 4 cylinder Westerbeke as well, but I can't be sure. Let me know if you have any questions.

Wish I did this while I had the genny out of the boat.
Im going to save this for reference. Maybe I'll do the same over the summer of 2014.
Doubt I'll get to it sooner rather than later because it running well...but do like the idea of getting rid of the points for a modern set up.

Thanks for the great post.

Mark

 

[Wyocoyote]

I'd sure like to do similar with my 2cyl Westerbeke. Unfortunately the name plate has corroded. The cap part number is 029120-0630 and there is a 2 above it. Seems Doubtful that there is a Pertronix kit for this, but wonder if whatever worked for your distributor might work for mine if its a same diameter, depth Distributor and cap. I'm already faced with replacing a coil cap and rotor, and they are super pricey through WB And my cap is no longer available (found on ebay though)

 

[Wyocoyote]

Basic Pertronix how to install ignitor:

I know see because of the magnets It could not use a 3 cyl model on a 2 because of the magnet. Maybe a 4 cyl and modify be removing 2 opposing magnets. Intriguing.