jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 23,261
Westerbeke 42b coolant questions
- Thread starter Syversens
- Start date
There is a lot of buildup in there with the broken zinc that you will want to remove. over time the tubes will plug and cause overheating. I have needed to remove my 3" HX twice in 25 years to completely clean the innards. Once I had a radiator shop do it for $80. The next time he wanted to charge $180 minimum plus. I did it myself.
Ill definitely start with those. There is no way it slides out without taking out that top wire thing or fuel pump and filer on bottom. I might be overthinking this but I've always found it useful to get some input before starting than after i screw up. this would be a good time for fuel filter change anyways but it's starting to snowball.
Wow 180, yeah since I can't look into the tube from right I'm taking it off. Engine has 650 hours but it's a 99 so who knows what's going on in there. Ill post pricing if i take it to pressure test.
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 23,261
I was shocked as well. That was why I did it myself. Those two clamps that John circled are what hold it in place. My Universal M-25XP is a bit different so I cannot answer directly. I would loosen the clamps, remove the hoses and then see if it can be removed by sliding the HX sideways one way or the other. You can rotate it to get the fittings on the end to miss stuff and pass through the opening in the clamps.
I have a Westerbeake 46 with the HE in just about the same position. The bolts that jssailem circled aren’t the key. There are two other bolts that hold those strap things on to the engine block, which I believe are on the bottom side of the heat exchanger. Once you get those off it’s easy peezy to disconnect the hoses and pull the whole heat exchanger.
this sounds like a new to you boat, if so try and get a the parts manual and technical manual for the engine. You can also go to Westerbeake.com and located your engine. Then they have exploded parts drawings of all the engine systems with part numbers.
also recommended is to descale the cooling system and have theHE cleaned and pressure tested. Mainsail had a great write up on doing this. I made up a little kit and now do this every couple of years when I change coolant.
this sounds like a new to you boat, if so try and get a the parts manual and technical manual for the engine. You can also go to Westerbeake.com and located your engine. Then they have exploded parts drawings of all the engine systems with part numbers.
also recommended is to descale the cooling system and have theHE cleaned and pressure tested. Mainsail had a great write up on doing this. I made up a little kit and now do this every couple of years when I change coolant.
I just posted a schematic of the cooling system for the Westerbeake 42. The nuts under part 31 are the key to removal.
Yup it's a new to us and this has been on hold for a while though I'm hoping to get to it soon. I suspected as much and one of the bolts is seen on left but the other us under the fuel pump so a bit more tricky to get to. Ill report back in when I've started this.
The manuals are not that great for this, i have 3 PDFs for this: parts, operators manual and service manual. How to take out HE is nowhere... The diagram for part helps and i got gasket and oring for when I get it off.
Ok HE is pulled and glad I did it, wow was this a deep dive in hoses and surprises but sort of easier than i thought. Hardest thing was taking crusty hoses off. In case anyone doing this I'd suggest this order:
Drain coolant from HE on bottom, i had a funnel under and dropped it into a container, it was small container so had to plug up and empty it twice. It made a mess but i think i got 95%.
Remove all hoses, losen clamps, apply heat and pull. On reservoir to HE i pulled it off reservoir first as it was more accessible.
Then remove the bolts holding bracket. They are on front, one easy the other behind fuel pump but an extension will get to it. Once that bracket is loose unplug harnesses and fuel pump arrangement will give lots of room.
Water will drain in process i tried to capture with tanks but it definitely didn't get all. I'd say about a cup or two went into engine bilge.
Brought HE home and got end cap off. Zinc has disintegrated and many raw water holes seemed clogged, see pictures.
Another thing came up, a leak was under the intake to the HE which a smart engineer placed directly above starter negative and rusted the crap out of it. I removed the cable and my plan is at first to do some rust cleaner and brush see where that takes me. Replacing nut though.
Next steps:
Remove negative starter
Descale and clean up HE
Check pressure testing of HE
Hoses all seem surprisingly ok but I'll look them over again with fresher eyes. Pictures below might not be instructional but provides some references.
More to come but thanks to all for providing input. Half way done i suppose.
Drain coolant from HE on bottom, i had a funnel under and dropped it into a container, it was small container so had to plug up and empty it twice. It made a mess but i think i got 95%.
Remove all hoses, losen clamps, apply heat and pull. On reservoir to HE i pulled it off reservoir first as it was more accessible.
Then remove the bolts holding bracket. They are on front, one easy the other behind fuel pump but an extension will get to it. Once that bracket is loose unplug harnesses and fuel pump arrangement will give lots of room.
Water will drain in process i tried to capture with tanks but it definitely didn't get all. I'd say about a cup or two went into engine bilge.
Brought HE home and got end cap off. Zinc has disintegrated and many raw water holes seemed clogged, see pictures.
Another thing came up, a leak was under the intake to the HE which a smart engineer placed directly above starter negative and rusted the crap out of it. I removed the cable and my plan is at first to do some rust cleaner and brush see where that takes me. Replacing nut though.
Next steps:
Remove negative starter
Descale and clean up HE
Check pressure testing of HE
Hoses all seem surprisingly ok but I'll look them over again with fresher eyes. Pictures below might not be instructional but provides some references.
More to come but thanks to all for providing input. Half way done i suppose.
Attachments
That is what mine looked like. I dipped it in vinegar and that got out some crud but not much. I then tried phosphoric Acid which is the generic name for Barnicle Buster and that cleaned out all of the salt and aquatic deposits. It did not fully clean all of the tubes because I think some of them were plugged up with zinc debris. I then used a 3/16"ø x 12" long drill bit to hand ream out each tube. I did not mount it in a drill just ran it down the tube and gently twisted it with my fingers. That dug out the rest of the junk in there. I then finished up with another round in the phosphoric Acid and then rinsed with lots of water. Then I painted it with zinc chromate primer and an enamel engine paint.
Doing the same, it's soaking vinegar right now. I opened both ends, I'm pretty sure it's all zinc so next is to open up the ends, i carefully used a brush in there and most holes opened and looking through there are no obstruction.
I only got one seal so need to get one for other side too. What's weird is that it didn't have a oring that's in the part schematic on either side. Ill wait putting on seals until i talk to radiator shop what state pressure testing happens at, my guess is fully assembled.
Did you get the paint at a auto shop? I need to brush off some of the blue stuff, is that rust?
Finishing up this week. Got HE painter, new gasket both ends, now zinc. After soaking raw water tubes for 2 hours in vinegar all crud gone. Radiator shop said 125 for pressure testing and prime paint but I'm skipping that this time and primed/painted myself.
One thing left is i want to see if i can replace the drain plug with a drain petcock with a hose adapter. That will make draining system way easier. If i find one tomorrow.ill take a picture of the painted master piece. The plan is to reinstall this weekend and hopefully no leaks. All hoses seem to be ok.
Thanks to all offering tips and help, cheers!
One thing left is i want to see if i can replace the drain plug with a drain petcock with a hose adapter. That will make draining system way easier. If i find one tomorrow.ill take a picture of the painted master piece. The plan is to reinstall this weekend and hopefully no leaks. All hoses seem to be ok.
Thanks to all offering tips and help, cheers!