Does anyone have experience replacing injectors on a Westerbeke W27?

[Jamie Morrison]

I’m pretty sure the time has arrived to replace the injectors in my Westerbeke 27. I was originally going to have them rebuilt but the local firm that was going to do them for me stopped rebuilding and now only replace injectors. They can’t supply Westerbeke injectors. I know I can buy new Westerbeke injectors but there is always talk of the engine being a Mitsubishi tractor engine and I should be able to purchase injectors from a tractor dealer at a much lower price than from my friends at Westerbeke. Does anyone have experience with this? I have been told by a mechanic that the tractor injectors may be calibrated differently than the one’s from Westerbeke. 

If anyone can help me out with this project I would very much appreciate hearing from you.

Jamie Morrison
Dexterity II
30U 225
Halifax, Nova Scotia

[Reg Coombs]

Jamie is your engine smoking black smoke? Does she give a puff of black smoke when you give her throttle? If the answer is no then most likely it's not your injectors.

Reg Coombs

N26C #171

Summerwind

St Jones Within, NL

Canada 

Sent from my Samsung device over Bell's LTE network.

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[Cedric Guthrie]

Hi Jamie,

 

Maybe Kenny Knickle can help you out – he is the South Shore Phone Book and does a lot of engines including Westerbekes

 

Sand Safely and then sail safe as well

Cheers

 

Cedric – Single Malt Chester 26C 207

 

From: Jamie Morrison

Sent: Friday, April 22, 2016 2:21 PM

To: INA-Nonsuch-Di...@googlegroups.com

Subject: Does anyone have experience replacing injectors on a Westerbeke W27?

 

[Jamie Morrison]

I’m getting some black smoke when I start it up which makes some sense to me as there would be excess fuel in the cylinders. Last summer when running around 2500 rpm I started to notice a very light black smoke coming from the exhaust. My understanding is that the smoke is caused by too much fuel being injected into the cylinders. Cause should be injectors, fuel pump or blocked air cleaner. The injectors seemed to me to be the first place to look.

My engine has about 2700 hours on it and I must admit I am a bit of a nut about maintenance. My latest plan is to first check the air intake for some sort of blockage. As there is no filter I suspect this is not the problem. Secondly, I will pull one injector and see how dirty it is. There is a chance that a good cleaning may help and if so I only have to replace the compression washers when i put them back in (as far as I know).

Last year I ran fuel additives thinking that may help. Or it may be the fuel additives are causing the thin black smoke? 

Thanks for the help,

[Terence McAdams]

Hi Jamie,

You may not remember us, but we're Yanks you have a summer home in Mahone Bay.  We live in New Hampshire the rest of the year. We were considering a Nonsuch, but settled on a Cape Dory 31 which we moor in MB harbor.

 We recently purchased many spare parts for our Universal M25 at the local Kubota Dealer (two minutes from our home). Markdowns from the Westerbeke prices where in the 50-80% range for the same parts.

Many marine diesels are Kubota blocks.  Maybe check with other owners who have the same engine to see if they have ascertained which Japanese tractor block your engine is based on.

If it is Kubota, I can get you new injectors, but I would need the block model (e.g. D850 or D950) the year (approximate) and the block serial number (see the Westerbeke manual for your block on-line to see where the ser. # appears). If you can get these numbers, I can get you a quote on three new injectors, and you can pick them up when we arrive in Mahone Bay on or about May 3.

There are also some Kubota dealers in NS, but not near the South Shore.

If your engine block is a Mitsubishi, we can't help you, for the closest dealer is two hours south of us.

The advice to check with Kenny Knickle is sound.  He's done some work for us and we were happy with the results. Kenny should return from Florida sometime in May. His email is:  nkkn...@gmail.com.  He gets very busy in the spring, but he not longer does commercial boats, so he's a bit easier to book than some years back.

Good luck

Jenn and Terry McAdams

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Jennifer and Terry McAdams

Kearsarge, New Hampshire (HomeAway/VRBO listing # 3534990)

HomeAway/VRBO owners since 2004

Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia (Cottages in Canada Listing # GL 10996, HomeAway listing # 415233)

Cottages in Canada owners since 2006

Floating Home: Cape Dory 31 "Glissade"

1-856-235-0738 (Cell)

1-603-733-5204

jen172...@gmail.com

[Terence McAdams]

Hello again.

Maybe look on utube for "how-to" videos on cleaning injectors.  It's not all that hard.

Terry

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[Jack Dokter]

Jamie,

I have experienced to joy of injector replacement.

Before you jump into the task, there are some conditions to consider that maybe the reasoning for your black exhaust. And not in this order......

1. Insufficient /restrictive air

2. Engine running too cold

3. Low compression ratio

4. Overloaded engine

5. Too much fuel

6. Bad/ old diesel fuel

6. Etc. etc.

I struggled with the so called "Westerbeke Mustache" for years and managed to reduce the blackened emissions, but have not eliminated them.

The best health check to preform on your engine is a compression test.   You need at least 325 lbs compression in each cylinder to provide enough "heat" to burn the fuel.  Anything less, your looking at cold burns and best to spend your time on rebuilding the head and/or new rings for the pistons.

I replaced the injectors in our Westerbeke 21 (aka Mitsubishi K3D).  You need some mechanical knowledge to do this yourself or best to have a knowledgeable diesel mechanic do the work for you.  I sourced out the injectors and found they are Denzo.   You can replace the entire nozzle and needle package for a mere $30 each.  Part# 093400-0010.  (from Huron Fuel Injection, Clinton, Ontario  1-800-320-0666) 

You have to extract the injector body from the head, after removing the fuel rail and return lines.  Then remove the injector holder; remove the injector assembly; using a 22mm and 17mm wrench to unscrew the injector body.  Remove and clean all components.  There's only a few spacers (maybe), a spring, and the nozzle tip inside.

If you replace the nozzles, they need to be "lapped" to seal with the inside of injector body as there are no sealing compression washers inside.

The next very important step is have the nozzle checked for pop-off of 1250 psi.  (This is where the washers are required inside)  Anything significantly less pop-off pressure will "over supply" fuel, or leak at rest; if too high, you will have a lean burn condition.  Too lean sounds like a fuel saver but it ends up burning out pistons and valves.

Again...this is where its best to get somebody that knows how to rebuild these mechanical injectors.

Once your injector is rebuilt, you need to replace the 17mm copper compression seal at the base of the injector, and replace both 8mm compression washers for the pressurized fuel supply.   

I maybe scaring you off as you read this, but its not as bad of a job as you think.

Remember to keep in mind that these Westerbeke engines are equipped with mechanical injectors, mechanical fuel injector pump, with a mechanical flywheel to regulate fuel pressure.  There's a bit of delay for fuel delivery response as compared to today's computer controlled injection systems.  With this system,you will naturally see some smoke as you forcefully or rapidly "throttle up". 

(hate using those words "throttle up" if you recall the Shuttle era)

Again, start with a compression test.  That,s the best starting point for any diesel engine.

Jack Dokter

Nine Lives, 26C W21 099

Penetanguishene, On

 

Jack Dokter

Nine Lives 1983 26C W21 #099

Penetanguishene, Ont

[jen172...@gmail.com]

Just curious why the Westerbekes don't have electronic fuel pumps.  I have one one my Univ. M25 and love it. 

New one is about $70 if you shop around. You may need a different starter switch, not sure. Saves bleeding the fuel line.

Sent from my iPad

[Jack Dokter]

The Westerbeke do have an electric driven fuel pump, but it's called a lift pump to supply fuel from the tank, and lift it to the mechanical injection pump.  Only the injector pump device can squeeze fuel at 1200psi to the mechanical injectors.   The electric pump simply supplies fuel at something around 50 psi to feed the injector pump.

Jack Dokter
Nine Lives

[Joe Valinoti]

Jack is correct in that the Westerbeke engine has an electric, not electronic fuel pump called a lift pump.  However, the fuel pressure from those pumps is under 10 PSI.  They are not even necessary if all the stored fuel is located higher then the engines fuel injection pump.  They too are available from your local auto parts store for under $70.00 US.

 

Joe Valinoti
S/V IL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA

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