Removing W 21A from Cape Dory 30 MK II

[Steve O]

Good morning,
Our new to us 1989 Cape Dory MK II has a Westerbeke 21A with 2800 hours. Visually the engine presents well with little corrosion visible with little rust. When we launched and started the engine it seemed underpowered and there was white smoke underway. Hansen marine evaluated the engine and determined low compression the #3 cylinder was low 250 psi 1 and 2 were at 400 psi They were surprised to see the original exhaust manifold still on the engine because it was recalled in the 90’s due to dissimilar metals that caused issues allowing antifreeze to leak into the engine They recommend pulling the engine to determine the cause of the low compression. A quote for a rebuild was @ 12k. A new Yanmar Ym30 is @ 22 -25k installed. Has anyone gone electric? Where the engine is 34 years old it does not seem to make sense to put a lot of money into it
All advice on this is appreciated. Thank you

Steve
1989 Cape Dory 30 MK II #24
Marblehead, MA

[Steve O]

The engine hour meter reading is @800 not 2800

[tjr818]

I would not trust the hour meter, does 800 hours sound reasonable for 34 seasons?

[Steve O]

A friend who lived in the same area as the PO told me the boat never left the slip

[Jim Walsh]

Good morning,
Our new to us 1989 Cape Dory MK II has a Westerbeke 21A with 2800 hours. Visually the engine presents well with little corrosion visible with little rust. When we launched and started the engine it seemed underpowered and there was white smoke underway. Hansen marine evaluated the engine and determined low compression the #3 cylinder was low 250 psi 1 and 2 were at 400 psi They were surprised to see the original exhaust manifold still on the engine because it was recalled in the 90’s due to dissimilar metals that caused issues allowing antifreeze to leak into the engine They recommend pulling the engine to determine the cause of the low compression. A quote for a rebuild was @ 12k. A new Yanmar Ym30 is @ 22 -25k installed. Has anyone gone electric? Where the engine is 34 years old it does not seem to make sense to put a lot of money into it
All advice on this is appreciated. Thank you

Steve
1989 Cape Dory 30 MK II #24
Marblehead, MA

Here is a link to a frequent contributor who converted to electric. Perhaps a PM would provide some answers regarding his experience.

http://capedory.org/board/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=38833

I bought a new Universal M-25XPB from Hanson in the fall of 2006 for about eight grand. Prices seem reasonable today taking into account the rapid inflation. Were I in your shoes I would consider a Beta.

[Skipd]

I would also look into a Beta. Hanson is a Nanni dealer too and might provide a competitive quote. Dion’s in Salem is a Beta dealer.
A few years ago I installed a Beta in an Albin and found dealing with Beta U.S a very positive experience. The engine was top notch in design and performance.

Good luck with this potential project!

[gonesail]

the user Khaos13 here is working on his 21A .. in the boat .. removing the pistons and putting in new rings. there is more at the cruisers forum on it. sounds like you may need a new head gasket and not total rebuild. worth considering.

[Khaos13]

The head has been redone and the injection pump and injectors are rebuilt. The low compression on my engine was caused by stuck rings. The cylinders were a bit rusted but cleaned up OK. I believe the hours meter because this bought sat for 13 years because the owner died and his son just kept it. The rod bearings look brand new. A new engine for 8 grand may sound good but having it towed to a boat yard, hauled out, the old engine removed, the new engine installed etc. would cost another $5,000. I paid $2,500 for this boat. It's docked 30 feet from my back door and I pay $25 a month to keep it there. I've spent about $1,500 so far and that includes all of the work mentioned before plus new rings, a gasket set and a hone. If I can make this engine run, the boat's gotta be worth 10 grand. A new engine in this old boat would still make it worth 10 grand. Besides, I had no idea how easy it was gonna be to drop the oil pan and get the honing done in place. Thanks for all the advice but I'm old and broke and love working on engines!

[John Stone]

I recently installed a new beta 25 in my CD 36. This was not a drop in replacement as I had sailed the boat for six years without an engine. So I had to install a stern tube, fuel tank, engine bed, etc etc. total cost was about $12K. The savings was all labor. But here is the thing, you already have those systems. You could probably drop in the beta with minimal work and little additional cost.

I researched going electric. Unless you plan to recharge at the dock, electric propulsion's limited range is a huge liability. And the cost for an electric motor with about half the HP of the beta was more than the cost of my complete install.

https://youtu.be/JcwbQ2jAyNM

I wrote a three part series for Practical Sailor (Apr-Jun 2023) on what an engine install requires plus the pro/cons of going electric as it relates to my requirements. Perhaps the info will be useful to you.

Or you can take a look at my website where I documented in detail the entire project in a four part series. https://farreachvoyages.net/2020/01/08/ ... #more-2593

Good luck!

[Steve O]

Good morning,
Thank you all very much for taking the time to reply. I am waiting on a quote from Dions for a Beta.
I appreciate the thoughts on not needing a total rebuild but am told the-engine needs to come out to accurately diagnose the problem and once the engine is out might as well rebuild or replace as labor to pull out and put back in is over 5k. If only they had replaced the recalled exhaust manifold… I will post updates with what I find out. Again, thank you all very much for your replies and links to other sources, access to a resource like this board makes the journey so much more easy to navigate

Steve O

[Khaos13]

PM sent.

[Khaos13]

Hey Stevo, what will you do with the old W21A? I'd be interested in buying it. I've got a cousin in Boston who could pick it up. I sent you a PM a few days ago. Please let us know how everything's going with the new engine. Enjoy your weekend!