Front Housing on a Westerbeke Diesel

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Bob

I have a O'Day 272 with a Westerebeke 10TWO Diesel. Has anybody out there ever replaced the large front housing in the front of the engine? I have a oil leak and I am going to attack the problem myself. I would appreciate any feedback. Thank's
 
B

Bob

I have a O'Day 272 with a Westerebeke 10TWO Diesel. Has anybody out there ever replaced the large front housing in the front of the engine? I have a oil leak and I am going to attack the problem myself. I would appreciate any feedback. Thank's
 
Jun 6, 2006
6,990
currently boatless wishing Harrington Harbor North, MD
never even seen one but....

Before you try re-gasketting it try re-torquing the bolts. It could be that they just loosened up. Also check the front main seal around the crankshaft Most of this is real dumb stuff but you asked; drain the oil and take the filter off drain the coolant remove all the belts and other stuff so you can get good to great access to the panel. This is important during the install as you will have permetex on the new gasket and you need to work quickly and not get it all over or get it dirty. Inspect the gasket and mating surfaces before you scrape off the gasket to see if that really was the source of the leak. You might find it was not and this could save you some time later when the leak magically does not stop. Scrape off the old gasket being careful to not scratch the mating surfaces. I find that a wire brush is good for the stubborn parts. Clean up the panel both inside and out and all around the mating surface on the engine paying special attention to the bottom area where lots of dirt builds up. Goop up the new gasket with permetex on the engine side and install it on the engine. I would not use a silicon sealant on an engine gasket. Silicon is for house windows and bathtubs and while you can get it to work, permetex is much easier to get right. It is a real pain to get off your fingers but fingers are the only quick way to get the stuff applied in an even layer and all around each bolt. Goop up the gasket on the other side after installing it on the engine Install the panel Torque every thing to specs and in the right sequence. This is another important step. Wait about an 1.5 hours and re-torque the bolts. Gaskets can compress quite a bit the first time they are installed and it takes that long to get full compression. Reinstall all the other stuff and refill the coolant and oil/filter. Clean up the bilge space under the former leak and start her up. Good luck
 
Jun 6, 2006
6,990
currently boatless wishing Harrington Harbor North, MD
never even seen one but....

Before you try re-gasketting it try re-torquing the bolts. It could be that they just loosened up. Also check the front main seal around the crankshaft Most of this is real dumb stuff but you asked; drain the oil and take the filter off drain the coolant remove all the belts and other stuff so you can get good to great access to the panel. This is important during the install as you will have permetex on the new gasket and you need to work quickly and not get it all over or get it dirty. Inspect the gasket and mating surfaces before you scrape off the gasket to see if that really was the source of the leak. You might find it was not and this could save you some time later when the leak magically does not stop. Scrape off the old gasket being careful to not scratch the mating surfaces. I find that a wire brush is good for the stubborn parts. Clean up the panel both inside and out and all around the mating surface on the engine paying special attention to the bottom area where lots of dirt builds up. Goop up the new gasket with permetex on the engine side and install it on the engine. I would not use a silicon sealant on an engine gasket. Silicon is for house windows and bathtubs and while you can get it to work, permetex is much easier to get right. It is a real pain to get off your fingers but fingers are the only quick way to get the stuff applied in an even layer and all around each bolt. Goop up the gasket on the other side after installing it on the engine Install the panel Torque every thing to specs and in the right sequence. This is another important step. Wait about an 1.5 hours and re-torque the bolts. Gaskets can compress quite a bit the first time they are installed and it takes that long to get full compression. Reinstall all the other stuff and refill the coolant and oil/filter. Clean up the bilge space under the former leak and start her up. Good luck
 
Jun 6, 2006
6,990
currently boatless wishing Harrington Harbor North, MD
If you have an oops

scraping off the gasket and make a big scratch on the mating surface don't panic. Take a fine mill file and remove any burrs that stick up above the mating surface. Then take 220 sandpaper or emery cloth and roughen up the surface a little. Make sure you get down into the scratch with your sanding. You don't want to sand out the scratch just give the gasket something to grab onto. A quality gasket can cover a pretty big bobo with no problem as long as it has some roughness to hold on to.
 
Jun 6, 2006
6,990
currently boatless wishing Harrington Harbor North, MD
If you have an oops

scraping off the gasket and make a big scratch on the mating surface don't panic. Take a fine mill file and remove any burrs that stick up above the mating surface. Then take 220 sandpaper or emery cloth and roughen up the surface a little. Make sure you get down into the scratch with your sanding. You don't want to sand out the scratch just give the gasket something to grab onto. A quality gasket can cover a pretty big bobo with no problem as long as it has some roughness to hold on to.
 
B

bob

Thank's Bill Roosa

Thank's Bill, I fixed the 1st oil leak out of two a week ago, and I am going to attack the one at the bottm of the front cover. I ordered a shop manual, gasket, seal, fuel injection lines and misc. fuel injection seals. The 1st oil leak was the oil pan gasket which I paid a highly reccomended mechanic to fix it made it worse than ever, and when I called him back............"Guess what". Anyway,I had a tool steel ring made that went around the pan and under the oil pan flange that acted as a nutplate and when tightened, sandwhiched the pan to the bottom of the block. Also used Permatex Super High Tack as a sealant on both sides of the gasket. Works great. After atlking with a "Great Dealer" down here to find out what's iside under the cover I'm pretty comfortable with my task ahead. I will let you know how it goes in a week or two. Thank's again. P.S. if anybody wants to know who not to use down here I have a list.
 
B

bob

Thank's Bill Roosa

Thank's Bill, I fixed the 1st oil leak out of two a week ago, and I am going to attack the one at the bottm of the front cover. I ordered a shop manual, gasket, seal, fuel injection lines and misc. fuel injection seals. The 1st oil leak was the oil pan gasket which I paid a highly reccomended mechanic to fix it made it worse than ever, and when I called him back............"Guess what". Anyway,I had a tool steel ring made that went around the pan and under the oil pan flange that acted as a nutplate and when tightened, sandwhiched the pan to the bottom of the block. Also used Permatex Super High Tack as a sealant on both sides of the gasket. Works great. After atlking with a "Great Dealer" down here to find out what's iside under the cover I'm pretty comfortable with my task ahead. I will let you know how it goes in a week or two. Thank's again. P.S. if anybody wants to know who not to use down here I have a list.
 
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