Forums Announcements overheating Westerbeke w 58

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    • #225252
      Rock Richardson
      Participant

      I have a problem I can’t figure out…
      I took off the heat exchanger and cleaned it with barnacle buster. tested if
      it for pressure leaks and it passed with flying colors. the impeller has about 30 hours on it and is relativity new. put in and tested a new thermostat. I flushed out old antifreeze with garden hose, then with distilled water twice. first time with a flushing agent. after the second time I added quality antifreeze to the system.

      it started over heating.
      thinking must have air lock, I loosened the thermostat housing to let some air out, didn’t work, then I unscrewed the temperature sender from the engine, nothing came out, keep loosing it until the whole thing came out with the engine running, hoping to bleed air out of the system, but nothing came out only steam. shouldn’t cooling fluid be coming from the sender if its out ? I am lost as to what to do next

      ps. plenty of water is coming from the exhaust.

      please help
      rock

    • #225253
      Discoverie
      Participant

      Had a similar problem with a different engine. I think that if you have good raw water flow and the heat exchanger is in good shape then the problem is on the coolant side. Air lock is one possibly—when you open the coolant cap do you see coolant? If you remove the sender and pour water into the coolant area, does water/coolant come out (and that stuff is toxic to pets and wildlife so be careful). When my engine had air lock I had to fill then run the engine for 30 seconds and repeat five times before I got all the air out.

      Given that you recently removed and replace the heat exchanger, my guess is air lock. The only remaining possibility is that the thermostat is failing to open.

    • #225254
      Discoverie
      Participant

      Dup removed

    • #225256
      Rock Richardson
      Participant

      Got it to around 180-200, filled again, the started and stop a few times, it seems to work ok
      thanks
      rock

    • #225266
      Rock Richardson
      Participant

      Wrong !!! I took it out and it overheated and blew the head gasket, guess I didn’t fix it after all. A mechanic is looking at it and will come up with a price to fix it, should I fix it or get a remanufactured engine or buy a new one. Bummed

    • #225601
      Chris Warren
      Participant

      Did the mechanic ever identify why the engine overheated? We are having a similar problem? What is the optimum operating temperature for westerbeke 58?

    • #225602
      unabated
      Participant

      The w58 has or should have a small Petcock at the top end of the heat exchanger. That’s so you can bleed the air bubble out.
      Because of the tilt of the engine that’s where the air bubble goes.
      First of all you can run a diesel all day at idle and it won’t get up to temperature. It needs to be under load. My school bus is the same way.
      That’s why it seems ok until you take the boat away from the dock and it overheats. It has be under load.
      To test your repair. Tighten up your dock lines and put it in gear 1500 rpm or better. The temp should stabilize at 180-190.
      The exploded parts diagram should show the Petcock. Run the engine and carefully open the petcock up. Some steam should come out. It’s HOT. Keep doing that until just antifreeze comes out. Done.
      I learned this hard way.
      Alan
      Unabated 140

    • #225603
      typhoontye
      Participant

      I had consistent problems with overheating of my 58, no matter what I did. One issue to look for is the plumbing for the HW heater. Some of these installs have the HW heater in series with the rest of the fresh water cooling system. This limits the water available to cool the motor because the HW heater constricts the flow, in my opinion. I re-plumbed mine to work in parallel, vice series. Unfortunately the problem persisted.

      Ultimately, I decided to change out the engine due to oil leaks, and the fact my friend offered me a rebuilt W58 he had hanging around his shop for the past 2 years. Turned out to not be such a bargain, but that’s another story. But anyway, the ‘new’ motor was configured differently and the raw water pump wouldn’t fit the engine bed without some mod. In this case, I installed a smaller pulley (the driven pulley) on the raw water pump than the one that came originally with the W58. Did the math and determined that I wasn’t overspeeding the pump, though in fact I think I was. More on that later. But the long and short of it is that the pump spun faster than it did with the original pulley, and this motor never had any overheating problems since my install. I’ve run this motor off and on, mostly on, from the panhandle of Florida, through the keys, and up the intracoastal to Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and back. No problems, even in very warm waters.

      About the impeller. Seemed I was going through them a bit too rapidly. I’d heard about the Globe impellers, blue in color, that are supposed to be exceptionally robust. So I purchased one and installed while transiting Miami, enroute North to New England. No problems since that install, even with hundreds of hours of motoring.

      So, if you are having overheat problems with this motor, and assuming the head gasket, etc, is healthy, a smaller drive pulley on the raw water pump may help. And I recommend the Globe impeller to anyone.

      David
      Blue Moon, #189

    • #225604
      Chris Warren
      Participant

      What engine did you replace with and can you inbox me the price and install price?

    • #225605
      typhoontye
      Participant

      I installed the W58 with another W58. But configured differently. For instance, the extruded exhaust manifold exhausts at the front of the engine instead of the rear.

      Cost of the motor? I shot a Fiji 47 hull with Awlcraft. Came out nice. Installation was performed by myself… Only cost was aggravation

      David

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