I am looking at a CD32 with almost 2800 hours on a Westerbeke 21A. I prviously owned a CD 30 with a Volvo MD7 but don't know anything about a Westerbeke. Is this engine young, middle aged or ancient. Is it reaching the end of it's usefull life? The boat was made in 1986.
djhill@earthlink.net
Westerbeke 21 A engine hours
Moderator: Jim Walsh
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Boyd
Re: Westerbeke 21 A engine hours
Hi...
I have the same engine in Tern. I had to do a complete rebuild of mine at less than 800 hours due to the lack of maintenace by the P.O.
Hours dont tell much. At 2800 hrs you have a pretty old engine by most standards but she may have a while to go.
What kills these engines is the deadly trio.
1. Lack of oil changes
2. Overheating due to poor maint.
3. Sea water getting back into the head from the exhaust. (poor Maint)
High hours may just mean the engine has been run a lot and got good care. They will run about 2000 hrs. per the Westerbeke dealer here before internal work is done. Yours may have already been rebuilt once. High hours are not by themselves that scarry.
I would suggest the following tests to determine the health of that engine.
1. compression test... you are looking for bad rings and valves.
2. full load max rpm test.. you are looking for a slow overheat contition
3. oil analysis... you are looking for bearing wear and contaminents in the oil... water/glycol etc.
4. look at the exhaust when it is started cold. Black smoke means bad injectors. Oil on the water means oil bypass on the rings or bad injectors. Blue smoke... burning oil. White smoke... water in the cylinders. Healthy diesel exhaust is almost colorless.
Nothing beats a good survey by a compentent mechanic.
Boyd
boyd@wbta.cc
I have the same engine in Tern. I had to do a complete rebuild of mine at less than 800 hours due to the lack of maintenace by the P.O.
Hours dont tell much. At 2800 hrs you have a pretty old engine by most standards but she may have a while to go.
What kills these engines is the deadly trio.
1. Lack of oil changes
2. Overheating due to poor maint.
3. Sea water getting back into the head from the exhaust. (poor Maint)
High hours may just mean the engine has been run a lot and got good care. They will run about 2000 hrs. per the Westerbeke dealer here before internal work is done. Yours may have already been rebuilt once. High hours are not by themselves that scarry.
I would suggest the following tests to determine the health of that engine.
1. compression test... you are looking for bad rings and valves.
2. full load max rpm test.. you are looking for a slow overheat contition
3. oil analysis... you are looking for bearing wear and contaminents in the oil... water/glycol etc.
4. look at the exhaust when it is started cold. Black smoke means bad injectors. Oil on the water means oil bypass on the rings or bad injectors. Blue smoke... burning oil. White smoke... water in the cylinders. Healthy diesel exhaust is almost colorless.
Nothing beats a good survey by a compentent mechanic.
Boyd
Doug Hill wrote: I am looking at a CD32 with almost 2800 hours on a Westerbeke 21A. I prviously owned a CD 30 with a Volvo MD7 but don't know anything about a Westerbeke. Is this engine young, middle aged or ancient. Is it reaching the end of it's usefull life? The boat was made in 1986.
boyd@wbta.cc