Perkins 4-107 (Westerbeke 40) Parts
sves...@my-deja.com
Cruising is a series of repairs in exotic places.
Right? Sure enough, after having decided to spend
the summer cruising the NY Canals rather than
dealing with hurricanes, we ended up breaking the
reliable old Westerbeke 40 that serves as the
auxilary on our 45' sailboat. No stick (bridges ya
know), no engine, and they close the canals at
the end of October. Winter in Western NY? No Way!
No problem, just jump on the web and find a new
rod and a bearing kit, a few new gaskets and some
busted knuckles and we'll be on our way. First
discovery...bearings and gaskets, no problem. Rods
and hard parts. Big problem. Production on them
parts stopped about 8 years ago. Wheee... dig a
little deeper, and find Foley Engines. Great, got
rods in stock and even a full rebuild kit for the
107's. Even an 800 number, getting better all the
time.
Now their website says the rods etc are on
special, but limited in quantity and the special
ended around the first of Sept. (Figures don't
it?) So while my buddy's tearing down the engine I
call Foley to see if they got any of those suckers
left, and whats the not special price. Phone's
answered by kindly "Dr Diesel" (really!) who
informs me that while they do in fact have these
rods in stock at a price somewhat in excess of the
special price, they can't sell me one if all I
want to buy is a bearing and gasket kit in
addition to the rod. It is suggested that I should
purchase one of the few remaining rebuild kits
which includes pistons, rings, bearings, seals,
guides, plugs, and all the misc widgets and
twidgets for a full rebuild. I explain to the good
doctor, that I don't need a full rebuild (not to
mention that being on a typical cruisers budget I
can't afford the $1200+ price tag) I just need a
rod, and rod bearings, and a pan gasket to get my
butt out of here before it all freezes over. OK?
Nope, all or nuthin pal...have a nice day. Now I
guess Foley has a right to do business how ever
they see fit, but not with me. Never...never
ever...never ever ever ever.
We did manage to find a great British/American
firm in California that has a good inventory of
107 blocks, cranks, rods, etc. and they were good
enough to offer to sell us just what we needed at
a more than fair price. No more no less. At the
risk of being accused of spamming we won't post
their URL here, but would be happy to pass it
along to anyone out there looking for older
Perkins or Westerbeke diesel parts. Nice folks to
boot.
Good night "Doctor Diesel" who ever you are.
Capt David ONeill
Onboard the SV Escape
Laying Watkins Glen NY
sves...@usa.net
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
sves...@my-deja.com
after our first post. Looks like there are a lot of the old reliables
still out there and looking for some repairs. Anyway, we have decided to
post the contact info for the places we found to get parts (other than
Foley Engines). See our original post (9-25) for the full story. We are
also posting some additional information about the engines in general,
which may or may not help your situation.
The guys who got us what we needed:
British Marine (CA)
http://www.britishmarine-usa.com
Phone 510 534 2757
Website doesn't work very well, but these folks were very understanding
and helpful. Thanks Brian!
These folks email us replies but British Marine had the parts we needed.
Don't know anything about the service, but they have parts. 99% used or
reconditioned.
Other Companies:
cacem...@aol.com
"Todd Ehlers" <to...@marineparts.com>
"Leo Caesar" <lcae...@houston.rr.com> (Sold all their new parts to
Foley)
"TSE Rollo UK Ltd" <tserg...@ukgateway.net>
A few things we learned while having all this fun...Until 1974, all
Westerbeke 40's were built by Perkins. The Perkins 4-107 is the same
engine but with one notable exeption. Perkins was rated at 4000 rpm and
had a 3 ring piston. Westerbeke was rated at 3000 max, and had a 5 ring
piston. Both engines are wet sleeve and rings, bearings, gaskets, and
sleeves are still available. Bearings are available oversize up to .030.
Cranks can be rebuilt, but because they are induction hardened, a
spraycoat system such as Thermex is more reliable than a weldmetal
buildup and remachine.
Also more expensive and harder to find. We went with the welded journal
and remachined to 010 undersize. Hope it works out ok, good machine shop
specializing in diesel cranks should be ok. Best case is a good used
crank. Used rods are available, Westerbeke says they are batched by
weight, and should match within 1 oz. Couldn't find a batch code on our
rods (supposed to be on the big-end journal cap where it's flatted for
the cap-screw. British Marine said some aren't matched, so we will check
the weight of another rod and balance the new/used one as required.
Other than that, it all seems pretty much std stuff. Last bit of
ethiopian engineering. While the dry-sleeve upgrade of the 4-107 (4-108)
is a very different engine, many parts will interchange. Pistons and
rods are available new, and if you remachine the piston crown to the
correct clearance, can be used in the 4-107 (complete sets only, 4 rods,
4 pistons.)
2 more items to consider....
Most of these companies that have the used parts, make a lot more on
selling service and engines than pulling a rod out of an old engine in
the Okie Inventory and sending it to some poor broke down cruiser. Be
patient with them and it would seem to pay off. Expect to pay what the
part cost new, or more...(supply and demand ya know) The companies we
talked to wanted 40%-110% of new list price (if they were available).
Fair enough!
Second item...DON'T RUN THE ENGINE IF YOU LOOSE OIL PRESSURE OR DEVELOP
A "KNOCK" !!!!
Find another way. We were in 600' of water in an inland lake. Night
coming on no way to anchor. Waves building and the spar on deck (bridges
and locks.) Felt we had to motor long enough to make an ancorage. After
finding out that decision made the difference between a $150 bearing job
and a $1000 minor rebuild, we would find another way next time. Ain't
hindsite a wonderful thing. Ah well, the parts from CA should be here on
Monday, and the crank back from the machine shop. If the gods smile, we
will have her back in the boat by next Friday. Then all we have to do is
repair the 3'x4' hole we cut in the cockpit sole to get the engine
out...But that's another story :-)
Regards,
Capt David ONeill
Onboard the SV Escape
Laying Watkins Glen, NY