Westerbeke Generator

[gator1]

http://s1056.photobucket.com/user/gator1116/library/?sort=3&page=1
We came back from a night on the water and while I was in the bilge noticed some oil and water coming from the generato. The more I looked realized the oil was coming from a hose with a cap on the end that just seemed to need to be tightened. However the water I found was a slow drip from the mechanism in the pictures attached, but am not sure as what it is or if this is normal? Any thoughts? I have attached a couple of photos.

 

[Time To Relax]

That is your sea water pump and if water is coming from there is is your pump shaft seal that is leaking. It may stop on its own or get worse. Give it a few days and see what happens.

 

[gator1]

That is your sea water pump and if water is coming from there is is your pump shaft seal that is leaking. It may stop on its own or get worse. Give it a few days and see what happens.

If it gets worse does the whole pump need replacing or can just the seal be replaced? Also, is this something that can just be left since the drips are only when the generator is running or will this have an impact on the performance?

 

[PlayDate]

How many hours do you have on the generator?

In general if it is leaking it will only get worse. If it gets worse....more water in your bilge and less water to cool the heat exchanger.

The oil hose you reference is the oil drain hose. Yours appears to be secured to the generator platform which would explain why it leaks oil if the cap is not tight.

John

 

[src]

If it gets worse does the whole pump need replacing or can just the seal be replaced? Also, is this something that can just be left since the drips are only when the generator is running or will this have an impact on the performance?

They sell rebuild kits for the pumps, which contain new seals/etc. Not cheap, but a lot cheaper than a new pump. Mine is doing the same thing, and I plan on putting a new pump on then rebuilding the old one as a spare.

When looking for Westerbeke parts, keep in mind that they use sales regions to lock down territories for their retailers. It's not easy to price shop, even though prices do vary greatly.

 

[gator1]

Its got 3900 hours on it. Correct, the hose is the oil drain plug. The picture is deceiving, it isn't bolted down in the boat. I have not run it since attempting to tighten the cap due to time restraint but plan on checking it tomorrow when I get up there. I guess I will monitor it and replace it at the end of the season.

 

[kevin27]

Your seawater pump is tired. Ship it to Depco and they will rebuild it for you if it's possible. They do all my pumps and are honest. Also if it is not rebuildable they will have the replacement in stock to ship out to keep down time short. http://www.depcopump.com/

 

[AAK]

gator1,
You are on borrowed time with the pump. I'm assuming you dont know when the impeller was last changed? You should be taking it apart to put a new impeller in it at a minimum since there are small rubber blades that are probably coming apart and pretty soon it will stop flowing water. If the blades have come apart, you need to find them all in the cooling system so that they don't block the water flow. I went through the rebuilt of my pump last year for the same reason, it started dripping through the shaft seal. Pay attention to the condition of the front pulley when you take it off and put it back on the pump. When my pulley was put back on it must have had a hair line crack in it that you could not see. It ran a few hours and then moved on the shaft and destroyed the belt. I had to get a new belt and pulley, they cost about $110 bucks. The Westerbeake parts are very pricey. When you order your pump parts you ought to order a spare impeller since they should be changed about every other year. While you are working on the generator you might also want to look at the condition of all of the metal fuel lines. Mine had an excessive amount of corrosion on them and I felt they need to be replaced. You might want to get the stbd engine muffler and exhaust hoses off and out of the way to give you some work room. It really is a little tight to get to everything and you will be there for awhile. Good luck with the repair!!!!!
Al

 

[PlayDate]

Its got 3900 hours on it. Correct, the hose is the oil drain plug. The picture is deceiving, it isn't bolted down in the boat. I have not run it since attempting to tighten the cap due to time restraint but plan on checking it tomorrow when I get up there. I guess I will monitor it and replace it at the end of the season.

I was not clear in my last post. The hose is normally secured in an upright position on an engine bracket. That keeps the oil level in the hose below the cap. When it lies on the generator platform the hose is filled with oil and eventually the cap will leak.

In regards to the water pump, the previous posts provide great advice. Congrats on getting 3900 hours on the Westerbeke.

-John

 

[aquadancer]

wow, 3900 hrs on a gas generator! I just hit 1000 hrs on my 7.6BTD and I also have a leaky raw water pump. Don't ignore it, it will only get worse and you'll deal with less cooling water flow, wet bilge, and rusting parts. It may not be the case with your belt driven pump, but in my case (gear driven pump) there is also risk of internal engine damage from water leaking past the seals.

 

[Xplicitlnck]

My local westerbeke dealer has an entire pump rebuild kit for 55 $ impeller gaskets shaft seals and all yhe liyyle parts inside. I just did mine last weekend . Not hard at all just lay everythong in order as u take it apart.

 

[Stromeister]

I just rebuilt my 4.5 KW raw water pump yesterday and installed back on the boat today will no issues (had the same seeping issue you described). The price I paid for the rebuild kit was $240 but that's a lot easier to swallow than the $350 they wanted for the replacement pump which would have required me to replace brackets, pulleys, serpentine belts and such.