Greetings friends. This past weekend I got more comfortable with the Westerbeke 21. I installed a new SpeedSeal cover and replaced the impeller. I unbolted the alternator (without disconnecting electrical) to access the pump. Wasn’t so bad, until…
When I re-bolted the alternator (Balmar 70 AMP) and tested the engine it wasn’t registering a voltage increase and the tach wasn’t working.
The tach has been functioning sporadically for few months. It would stop working one day then a week later come back.
For the past month the ignition alarm would randomly stop working. It IS working as of today, but no tach.
Now the alternator doesn’t seem to be working at all.
The external regulator (ARS 5) doesn’t seem to be getting power. The old-school LED numbers no longer light up.
A mystery in this setup is that I have a manual switch to toggle between “BACKUP VOLT REG” and “ALWAYS DOWN” (see photo). I’m not sure how this works exactly, but the system doesn’t register a voltage increase regardless of the position of that switch.
I hope this is a loose or corroded wire (I haven’t traced any yet), and not a faulty alternator/regulator. But I’m a little stumped on where to start.
Heat exchanger / coolant
Separately, my hx has a lot of salt/surface corrosion that I wasn’t super worried about until someone told me that the “rustish” color of my coolant might be a sign of seawater mixing with the coolant inside the hx. (Also attached photos).
Should I trying replacing the end-cap gasket which seems to be leaking, or is this hx ready for a full inspection? It was most likely last serviced in 2008 based on the records I’ve found. I’m going to try taking a little telescopic camera inside the hx to see if anything looks alarming.
Is that coolant cause for alarm and I should do this sooner rather than later? The engine hovers around ~170 F
The temp should be closer to 190… I would remove the HE and take it to Caterpillar and ask they check it out. The zinc usage seems high. There is a end cap gasket AND an O ring on the bolt. Often the O ring is forgotten. The coolant does not look good… I use Cat ELC premix coolant.
If you have two regulators if would be odd that both are broken… so I would be looking for a wire issue first and if the Balmar one does not light up when the ignition system is energized I suspect it is not getting power, sounds like you blew the regulator fuse. Also switching regulators implies one is not working and before doing that the cause of the failure need to be determined or you could fry the other one.
Wire connecting to alternators are subject to a good deal of vibration so connections should be carefully examined and tested. Power needs to be disconnected at the battery when removing the alternator and great care taken when testing a live 12 system.
You seem to have a Balmar so I attached the manual that explains how to test it. Also the regulator should not be located in the engine compartment. These electronic regulators will fail due to the higher heat levels unlike the old mechanical ones. I moved mine to the inside of the sailing instrument box.
I can’t comment on the alternator but I literally just serviced my cooling system and heat exchanger today. I’ll offer a little of what I learned:
I agree with Thor that that coolant does not look good at all. It should be green or bright orange (if you’re unfortunate like me to have Dex Cool running through it) but that looks like it’s water from where I’m at on the nasty Mississippi Sound. When was the last time the coolant was changed?
I change my HX zinc about every three months and it is usually about half worn when I do. I waited longer a few times and the zinc broke loose and the end cap had to come off to clean out the bits. From my research the gaskets and O rings for the bolts should never be reused. The gaskets take the shape of the HX openings over time and when you reuse it after removing the end cap it won’t shape the same. The O rings are almost always squished and gashed when I remove them. I get my gaskets and O rings from Catalina Direct. I usually order 5-10 of each to have some on hand. They’re relatively cheap. They also carry the end caps pretty cheap too if you want new ones.
I would definitely pull the heat exchanger, put it on a bench and clean it up and repaint. Of course looking inside should definitely happen. Mine was scaled up pretty bad a few months ago. After exhaustive research on the best way to clean it I decided to build a flush bucker with a bilge pump and get some barnacle buster and flushed it for about two hours, then I flushed clean, fresh water through for about 30 minutes. That was the wrong choice. When it was pulled the other day to remove my transmission the mechanic told me the water that came out was very cloudy looking. So I opened it back up. It was scaled up worse than before I did the flush. I think it was my mistake though. When I flushed it last time I left the zinc in and the barnacle buster dissolved it and it looks like the zinc was coating the inside of the tubes. Everything was grey. Probably explains all the steam I’ve recently had started coming from my exhaust. I was just about to bite the bullet and order a new one but decided to do the one thing that gets lots of mixed reviews: Flush with Muriatic Acid. Figured if I ruined the HX I would go ahead and replace but if not I would save 400 plus bucks. I flushed it for 5 minutes with a 10:1 Water/ Muriatic Acid mix, neutralized with Baking Soda then flushed fresh water through it. When I took the end caps off I was shocked to realize just how clean it was! I won’t say like new but better than I’ve ever seen it. I wouldn’t recommend doing it often but I am now a fan of this method. If you do do it, don’t keep the acid solution in longer than 5 minutes. Once the scaling is gone the only thing the acid has to eat is the metal. I have read that the solder that is used inside the exchanger could be dissolved if you’re not careful.
With all that said, I tend to agree with what you were told. It looks like sea water is seeping in and coolant is seeping out. A radiator shop could do a pressure test to confirm but I’m betting your HX is toast. Keep in mind I am wrong about a lot of things though so take that opinion for what it was, free advice from a stranger.
Good luck getting it sorted all out. I always tell my wife it drives me nuts working on the boat but secretly I always have a blast getting to know Adagio better every time.
I’ll call around to some local radiator shops once I get it off. Any key advice for removing the hx on these engines? I see what looks like 2 drains/plugs at the bottom. I assume if I turn off the raw water seacock one will drain the sea water and one will drain the coolant? Given the limited access back there I suppose I should find some kind of rugged plastic bag to collect the coolant, since I’m not really sure I can get a bucket in or out without turning it sideways.
Regarding the alternator I’ll check the fuses first. Now that you mention it I actually remember I caused a spark somehow when I was working on the engine and honestly was dumbfounded what circuit it was. I think I have a larger investigation around ground faults or short circuits near the engine. That would potentially explain a lot of this intermittent behavior. Gonna have to re-read the Don Casey chapter on tracing electrical faults
It’s pretty straight forward removing it but you are right about the coolant and seawater. Just make sure the seacock is closed. Whenever I remove mine I usually just pull the lower hose on the coolant side (mine doesn’t have drain plugs) and let it drain into the bilge. I use my shop vac to suck it all out and then fill my bilge with freshwater and suck it out again (make sure bilge pump is off. It’s illegal to pump overboard), If that doesn’t get it all I’ll do that one more time. It actually seems to break up the grime in the bilge. So, yeah, heat exchanger removal means an excuse to clean the bilge and change the coolant too. I take all that coolant to my local yard and dispose of it in their disposal bins.
The beast for me always is the getting the hoses loose. They could have been on there for one week or one year but they ALWAYS require a generous amount of heat from the heat gun to come off. Just be patient, apply heat and twist. They’ll eventually come loose. Some boat yoga and exotic cussing may be required.
In regards to hoses, I normally just cut them off and replace them anytime I’m removing something in the cooling system. It’s a convenient time to do it.
Joe Valinoti
S/V IL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
Joe is right… change the hoses and check that the clamps are still serviceable, I have never been able to get an old heater hose back on that does not leak…
Hi, I suggest you look at the site compass marine How to. The very capable man who runs that site has a great article " Westerbeke Heat exchanger Autopsy ’
Your heat exchanger was most likely manufactured by Seakamp Engineering in Bellingham, WA. You can find contact information on their website http://www.seakamp.com. There’s not much helpful info on their site but a call to them may lead to some helpful advice. I purchased a Seakamp heat exchanger for the W27 Westerbeke in my NS30 and I am quite sure they are the OEM for Westerbeke. The heat exchanger matched the original exactly but cost a few hundred dollars less. Since you are both in the same state shipping should be relatively inexpensive.
Hope this helps you out.
Jamie Morrison
Dexterity II
30U 225
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Rob,
Great article. In the article Maine Compass mentions a class action against GM for Dex-Cool antifreeze. If you google dex-cool you will find a great deal of advertisement for the product. If you Google dex-cool class action you will find that GM settled the case and make payments. Seems it was producing rust coloured sludge and caused gaskets to fail.
Thanks Rob, I’ll check out the article. I’m buying a replacement HX today. Is there a reasonable way to find out what type of coolant is in there now, based on that photo I attached? Wondering what type of coolant I should buy when I replace it.
You should flush the whole thing out… the drain on the engine is just back of the oil filter, plus the one on the heat exchanger… drain it all into the bilge … then fill the system with a rad cleaner and water as directed, run for the prescribed time… be prepared to add water as the system fills… drain it again and add the anti freeze. Run till the system is at operating temp of 190 and the plastic reservoir is half full…
If you flush the fresh water (as opposed to raw water) system, beware of the need to bleed that system when refilling. Particularly if you have a engine driven water heater.
Joe Valinoti
S/V IL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
Matt be sure to use coolant specified for diesel engines. Conventional coolant for a gas engine can lead to cavitation in the wet sleeves and over time holes through the cylinder walls.
Joe could you describe the bleeding process that works well for you? I can’t find details in the manual. I don’t have a water heater.
Thor, as long as I flush like you mention it sounds like I’ll be fine replacing it with any brand of coolant then? Any recommendations for the flush product, or are they all about the same?
Joe V would have better advice on flushing… I use coolant I buy from the local Caterpillar dealer. I use the pre mixed stuff . It takes 5 qts approximately. It will take an hour or more of running to get all the air out of the system after it gets up to operating temperature of 190F
If you don’t have a water heater, it will probably bleed itself - eventually. Due to my water heater being lower then the engine, I’ve installed bleeder valves at the highest point (003) and lowest point (006) of the system.
Joe Valinoti
S/V IL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
