Engine Cutoff

[Robert]

I am buying a '83 Hunter 34 that has a Westerbeke 21. I don't see any engine kill knob. The way the owner told me to turn off the engine is to just idle all the way down and thats how you kill the engine. The throttle is very tight. So I'm not sure if there is a notch that I should feel when going to idle so that the engine won't turn off. Right now I have to guess where to move the throttle so that it will idle and not turn off. If I move it too far to idle the engine stalls. Is this the normal way to turn off the Westerbeke in a '83 Hunter 34?

 

[Daryl]

H34 Shutdown

There is no notch. Pull the throttle back and the old girl will stop. Let it go and it will idle. My Westerbeke 21 provided excellent service for ten years and about a thousand hours with only routine maintenance. These will outperform newer vessels that have the Yanmar

 

[Daryl]

Additional Followup

You'll find other advantages in the Westerbeke 21. The entire fuel system is self bleeding. You can remove all the fuel filters, empty the fuel system and when you later add fuel all you have to do is turn the key to make it run. Westerbeke took diesel engines from several companies and converted them for marine use. They did a better job of marinization to the Perkins motor tham Perkins did. Your engine is based on a Mitsibushi block. Parts are readily available (but they ain't cheap).