My Westerbeke 46 has 2000 hours on it on my 1987 NS36. It’s got a good bit of corrosion that needs to be addressed, and I’m sure the wiring harness needs to be replaced based on what I’ve seen on the rest of the boat. I’m thinking about having it pulled and cleaned up.
I came across Hansen Marine in Marblehead, MA and they seem impressive. Anyone have experience with them? Other recommendations for a Westerbeke service in the Providence, RI area?
They quoted me about $5k to do a routine overhaul, strip and repaint. Depending on what it needs obviously.
Thanks
Bob Gehrman
NS36 #52 “Fortunate”
Greenwich Bay, RI
Bob
Years ago I took a diesel maintenance course at their facility taught the late boat maintenance guru Chuck Husick. They are a major Westerbeke parts supplier so they should have any parts that are needed for your motors refurbishing and should very familiar with your Westerbeke engine.
Hi Bob,
Personally I would look at in situ cleanup of the flaky bits and replacement of the end caps and gaskets on the heat exchanger. 2000 hrs is not much on a good diesel. I used to rebuild ours on our little ferries every 5000 hrs until I started using full synthetic oil after which there was no wear after 5000 hrs. If it isn’t running well, doesn’t sound right, smokes excessively, or some has other objective failure, sure , have it looked at but most of what I see is cosmetic and can be cleaned up and painted in place.
As for the wiring harness, it’s pretty easy to re-wire from scratch if you look at it as just a group of simple separate circuits. The wiring diagrams are very good. Looks like you already have an aftermarket solenoid on there (probably glow plugs?)
Removing and reinstalling is a big expensive job. Think of all the toys you could buy for her with the saved money.
Hi Bob,
If I were to consider investing 5K in a makeover cleanup I might consider going all the way to a re-power with a Beta. I understand that the V-drive you have can be bolted to the new motor. I know one fellow sailer that did that and he is very happy with the results. You probably have already explored that option but if not why not look into it?
Happy Holidays
Bob, I am with Paul Miller on this. If it is not broken don’t fix it. I would get an oil sample tested and see what that indicates. If it comes back showing a healthy engine some scrubbing and red high temp paint will go a long way. I would pull the heat exchanger and have the core cleaned, do the end caps and repaint it. I would also ask Hansen what is included and what is excluded in a routine rebuild.
Remove the heat exchange, hoses, alternator and all wiring, Get the heat exchanger serviced Use a good degreaser and some stiff brushes ( cheap "Harbor Freight chip brushes with the bristles shortened work well ) clean and paint with “Header Paint”. Replace the wiring, hoses and reinstall the heat exchanger and alternator, New hoses and belt. . You’ll get change back from $500. Use the rest on a new sail
Bob-
Since most of our 80’s vintage engines have at least 2000 hours and that’s not much for a diesel I’m guessing you just indicated that as a point of reference. Certainly one with that few hours is likely to be worth the cost of an overhaul, even adding in the cost to pull/install and re-align the engine. If peace of mind is more of a concern for the next year than funds, go for it. But if it has been running well… unless you have a lot of leaking oil seals or bad smoke colors (I assume you’d have mentioned those), you might consider doing the cleanup as Paul suggests and get some data: oil analysis, compression check. That’d inform your next move after another season. The caps on the heat exchanger are notorious for weeping. Since most of the wiring on a diesel is for instruments/alarms/charging, you could just re-wire the glow plugs and starter relay so you’re assured of starting and wait a year on the rest. Do inspect the riser elbow if that wasn’t done already.
Dan Weinstein
Look Farther, 30C #205
East Greenwich RI
