heat exchanger's

[steven f.]

Looking for advise in regards to the heat exchanger on my Westerbeke 21. It is a 1985 engine with 1300 hours on it. Though I am the third owner it has been very well maintained. My engine has been overheating this winter and I noticed the exaust isn't spitting out as much water is it should. I checked the sea strainer, replaced the raw water impeller and its still overheating (and not spitting out enough water through the exaust). I started checking to see where the breakdown was and found that water is getting to the heat exchanger (all the lines are clear and water flows freely to it with the engine off). With the engine running there isn't enough water going from the exchanger to the exaust pipe(it doesn't seem to be as much as it should). Are my worst fears true, do I need to replace the heat exchanger or is there a way to clean them out. What about rebuilt heat exchangers, is there such a thing and if so are they worth it? Any and all advise welcome on this chapter in my book of boating adventure.

 

[Carl]

Radiator shop

A few years ago I took mine(sen-dure) to a radiator shop and had then boil it out and pressure check it. That did the trick for a few year but replaced it with a new one this year.

 

[Rip Edmundson]

Cleaning heat exchangers

On Yanmars, we just take a 22 rifle cleaning brush to the heat exchanger cooling tubes. Fixes it right up. Have you opened it up? Might have some junk in it.

 

[Allan Hadad]

Be Carefull with Radiator Shops!

This is in reference more to Yanmar heat exchangers than to Westerbekes. A friend of mine took his heat exchanger to a radiator shop and they boiled it out for about an hour. When they pulled it out of the tank there was no more outer shell! It completely dissolved in the alkaline solution. Turns out it was made of aluminum. The tubes and end pieces were bronze. They were OK. After getting a quote for $800 for a new one we decided to try and fix it ourselves. We went to a metal salvage yard and bought a piece of thin walled aluminum tubing. After drilling the two water passage holes in it, we slit it down the middle and spread it over the tubes. We then took it to a machine shop and they welded the seam back together good as new. Total cost was $75. Not bad since the radiator shop guy felt bad and gave my friend $350 towards a new one. My friend gave me $100 for helping him fix it which was even better since it was my idea in the first place to go to the radiator shop! When I cleaned mine out later I used a long piece of 1/4" aluminum rod to route out each tube. My overheating problems dissappeared. Its just one of those maintenance things that has to be done every few years.Allan

 

[Les]

Exchanger?

Steven,I don't know much about a Westerbeke but are you sure that the constriction is in the exchanger? You might want to disconnect the hose that goes from the exchanger to the exhaust manafold and see how much water is able to come out of the exchanger. If there is little flow then the problem must be the exchanger. If there is sufficient flow the problem might be where the water from the exchanger goes into teh exhaust pipe. There should be some kind of a metal fitting before it turns into the flexable pipe. That metal fitting can get clogged and keep the water from getting to the exhaust. It is a common problem on Yanmars but perhaps is not relevant to your Westerbeke. Good luckLes Andersen