A good word for Westerbeke
I currently have a Westerbeke genset in my '97 h40.5 and I installed it at the outset. I have had issues with the electrical end of the generator, but the engine has run flawlessly. I have over 1600 hours on the machine now. Regarding my electrical issues, the northeast dealer from whom I bought the genset was nearly useless in their support. HOWEVER, the Westerbeke factory support was outstanding. I had an intermittent short in the 12V winding from he beginning and it finally went to a solid failure about the 3 year mark. The factory helped me trouble-shoot the problem, shipped me an empty crate to return the genset to the factory, replaced the entire electrical end, performed my 500 hour PM, and returned the genset to me. All at no cost. Since I had a paper trail of the problem from the beginning they waived the $200 user deductible for years 2-5 and they paid the yard bill for the lift-out and lift-in. I agreed that I would R&R the genset myself (my preference), but they offered to send a tech to do that work as well. Bottom line- Westerbeke makes a fine engine and stands behind their products. I also have a friend who had a 30hp 4-cyl Westerbeke engine in his 30' sailboat and he ran it for 15+ years with only normal maintenance issues. If there is any downside, it may be the parts cost. I think the replacement parts are expensive, but nobody's parts are cheap. For example, I paid $400 for a complete raw water pump this year for my genset. I think that is outrageous, but maybe everyone else is just as high? Seven years ago I paid $250 for a complete Volvo raw water pump, but that was a while ago. My Westerbeke raw water impellers were $18 three years ago and now they are $34. Hope this helps you.
