Onan - Kohler - Westerbeke

[BlewByYou88]

Need to take up a poll here. in my 1988 268 Sea Ray Sundancer I have an old, noisy Onan 3 kw genny with about 400 hours on it (raw water cooled). In my dealings I've come into a 1997 freshwater Kohler 4kw with 90 hours on it (Closed cooled), and a 2005 Westerbeke 3.0 kw with about 300 hours on it. (mixed fresh and salt)(Raw water cooled) (All gassers)

Do I:
A: Leave the old reliable Onan 3.0 kw noisy SOB where it is.
B: Put in the closed cooled, higher kw 4.0 Kw Kohler (Still kinda noisy)
C: Go Westerbeke, because it Westerbeke, and its super quiet.

...........And go!

 

[NotHerDecision]

I say keep what you have and work to make it quieter. Look at a GSI sound shield, new motor mounts and general insulation in the compartment it is mounted in.

I am working on quieting down my westerbeke now and you wouldn’t believe how much new motor mounts made a difference as well as just finding the different things that are vibrating and correcting those items. My intake had a filter that was making a TON of noise. I added some foam tape in spots and it worked.

 

[Korkie]

+1 on NotHer Decision. Sound shield would certainly help you out. I have 5kw Kohler, it is not so bad once I close the hatch. I added some sound shield to my engine compartment and it helped alot. Didn't do the enclosure as I like to see the genny just by lifting the hatch and taking a peak. Start messing with something that is working fine IMO is inviting the mushroom effect.

 

[endless seas]

Keep what you have.

 

[BlewByYou88]

Sound Shield is not an option. If you were familiar with the engine compartment of a 268 with twins and a genny, you would understand. You cant even barley change the oil, and impeller on the genny, much less jam a shield down in there. Plus, sound shield for the Onan would probably have to be custom made, or redneck engineered. Dont see many sound shields out there for old Onan MAJB's. Kinda shocked everyone would keep the 32 year old single cylinder genny in the hole.

 

[Korkie]

How about better sound shielding the engine compartment as we did. Didn't totally stop all the noise, but certainly helped a lot.

 

[NotHerDecision]

There is room for a gsi sound shield. They are soft and custom made. Probably cost you a boat dollar.

 

[Craig]

There is room for a gsi sound shield. They are soft and custom made. Probably cost you a boat dollar.

That's a good solution. Those things are pretty neat.

 

[Bayou340]

What did you use to sound shield the compartment and how did you attach it? Just spray adhesive or insulation hangers?

 

[Cocktail Time]

I had a '91 270 and added an MAJB 3kw Onan because that is all I thought I could fit. It was loud and in general worked ok. I would have 100% done it over with a newer Kohler or Westerbeke. I don't think the Westerbeke 3kw is an 1800 rpm unit but could be wrong. An 1800 rpm unit is ideal. But you couldn't lose by trying the soft sided sound shield. If it isn't quiet enough keep it for the unit you upgrade to. I had a single 7.4 but there was surprisingly a lot of room on the port side ER shelf to put a bigger unit.