A cruel joke on the fat fingered.
While technically the replacement of the impeller to start a new season is straightforward, access to it is not. I’m starting to believe the rumours that Westie engines are red to hide the gallons of knuckle blood that coats them over time.
For those of you with a 26C, you know this view. Accessed though an impossibly small opening in the port quarter-berth. You get a teasing view of the pump seated facing what I think is the starter 1" away. This juxtaposition of course thwarts the position of any tool to loosen those simple slot head screws.
For the learned ones who have tackled this before. Whats the right approach?
Remove the hose clamps and water pipes to get in there?
Is there a special tool?
Please tell me I can use a large sledgehammer and blow torch (I need payback for my bandaged fingers)
I have a W33 but my access isn’t much better. I decided to remove the screws and replace them with loctited in studs (actually just long screws with the heads cut off at the appropriate length). The advantages are:
you are now dealing with nuts instead of slot head screws
you can easily locate the socket or wrench on the nut
you can do it all with one hand
after replacing the impeller you can slip a new paper gasket on with one hand and it will stay there while you go back for the cover
it’s easier to locate the nuts on the studs than find the screw holes, especially the first one
it’s easier to tighten them with a socket or wrench
Other than that it’s about the same.
Alas, you’re likely to be better off removing the whole water pump, and working on it in the open.
You still have to survive the trials that go with removing the pump, i.e. removing the 4 nuts and washers isn’t easy. Spray those nuts liberally with penetrant to make it less likely you twist out their studs from the block, too. But, you should be able to screw such a stud back in.
BTW, disconnect batteries beforehand, since it’s extremely easy to short out to the starter with any metal tool you are using!!!
Best of luck. Take heart in the fact that if a job can’t go on forever, it will end.
Great photos, this poor location explained why my previous owner allowed
most of the impeller to clog the heat exchanger. I have subsequently had
the heat exchanger rebuilt and installed a new raw water pump. They were
amazed that I never had an overheat experience.
At my age, it is now one of the increasing # of "yard jobs" which I have
resigned myself to reducing the amount of money available for Scotch.
Good suggestions, Paul about the screws. I would remove the hoses by cutting them off (they’re probably original anyway), then the pipes and then the pump. As a retired mechanic, I’ve found that it’s sometimes easier in the long run to remove more pieces for access then struggle with too little room to work.
Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
O.K.,
I’m going to strip off all of those hose clamps and pipes to create a temporary scrap heap in the cockpit.
Then go after the "simple screws"with a “low profile” 90 degree screw driver.
I’ll shield the starter with a place-mat to avoid the 4th of July fireworks with the starter.
I’ll conservatively anoint the screw heads with WD-40 if I can get it in there.
I’d like to replace the screws with knurled headed thumbscrews. Does anyone know the thread and depth before I try and order them ahead of time?
If I can migrate to a “tool-less” solution, I might be encouraged to engage in this as an annual event.
Any other useful tips like, " Oh yeah, you may want to shut off the sea-cock before it becomes the “Poseidon Adventure”?
WTF were they thinking? This is supposed to be done with the same regularity as an oil filter change…
The starter (actually the solenoid) should not have power to it with the battery switches off. I’d still consider removing the pump and as those nuts should come off easy with a 1/4” drive set with a flex head 1/2’ socket on an extension. if you do, buy a seal kit and replace the seals.
Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
I have the old speed seal cover and it works well and would be easy to replicate. All it is a 1/4 bronze plate with 2 holes and two slots. Replace the screws with thumb screws ( macmaster carr). When you remove the cover leave the lower two thumb screws loose in place , remove the upper ones. Place the slotted end in then install the upper thumb screws.
I need to remove the intake hose and turn off the power to replace the impeller. The original pump with the half mooon key and circlip was a bear t do.
I’d remove the pump, but one of the 4 bolts is a hard to access.
I had the original Speedseal that I had to replace because the interior of the cover had gotten scored making the pump hard to prime.
Unfortunately (in hindsight) I replaced it with a Speedseal Life version that was designed to protect the impeller if it ran dry but used two disposable “anti friction washers” inside. Now those parts are no longer available.
I still have my original, worn out, Speedseal. I’d love to get a new copy machined if that was feasible and legal.
I found the packing slip and instructions for a Speedseal on Sandpiper shortly after I bought her and spent more than considerable time(s) searching for any trace of it without success before I modified the pump with the studs. It’s now a fairly easy one handed operation but I’d still like to see someone resume production of the Speedseal.
Screw/Bolt sizes: new info: The Westerbeke manual may say #10 20 3/8".
I have found it to be a 32 thread…so #10 32 3/8" for the OEM screw.
With the thicker speedseal cover, that becomes #10 32 1/2".
This proves that you must not make any assumptions about any of these engines.
On the weekend I checked and the screws are definitely 10-24 on my original W13 pump.
Looking at the photo you attached at the very start of this thread , and comparing to the Westerbeke parts diagrams, your pump housing looks a little different. It’s also not red which means it’s not the original pump.
OTOH I have been looking for 10-24 thumb screws or thumb nuts and could only find 10-32 so far.
Once you get that pump out, I can’t see why you can’t just cut some slots in the existing cover to two of the existing screw holes and using the new thumb screws, make your own “speedseal” cover plate. Removing this pump looks like a real pain.
My problem this weekend was a leaky pump. My impeller has now lasted two seasons, going on the third, I think because over the winter I remove it from the pump. Steeping for 6 months in pink anitfreeze may not be good for rubber. The vanes didn’t break off after two years and it looks in perfect condition. But the little paper gasket dried up and without that the pump leaks. I made a gasket drawing attached here, it must be printed with “Actual Size” selected not the usual default “fit”. And if you have some, on slightly heavier paper than standard printer paper.
Tom
28C #28 North Star
Penetanguishene, ON , Canada
FWIW this is what mine looked like the other day when I checked the impeller (which was fine …. again). You can see the two studs on the left. The other picture shows an extra stud that I decided I didn’t need and the Allen screws I replaced the originals with. It’s pretty easy now but I’m looking at using a thicker cover plate and two less screws.
Seen worse. The race boat at KYC (“orange peel” they called it because of horrible paint job) had its impeller replaced by a caring person at the end of one summer. Zero blades. None. And, nobody complained of overheating… and nobody knew how long it was in that condition. Looked like a boiled cob of corn, badly eaten.
Obviously, in our colder waters, we need less water through the exchanger than in the tropics, AND I think we tend to not use our engines at max speed for long hours on end. Not that I’m saying that only vane-stubs should be the way we run them…
I have an Aqualarm Model No. 210-206-200 installed after the raw water strainer. It senses water flow and sounds an alarm if the water flow is too low. It goes off long before the engine overheats. With two impeller blades missing it did not sound when the engine was running at higher speeds but at idle speed it was sending a warning.
The impeller should be replaced annually. The Westerbeke 13 and the Beta 20 have the raw water pump at the front of the engine facing forward so they are easy to access. The Westerbeke 21 as installed in the 26 is brutal. Whoever came up with the design should be forced to change the impeller as punishment.
