westerbeke L25 bearing

[bluwateronly]

Hello all, I was able to go out sailing on Sunday and the winds on San Francisco were heavy and lots of chop however, with one reef in, my Bombay Clipper did great. My motor did not die and nothing broke When I got back to the slip I was checking out the motor and noticed I still had some fuel leaks, just drips, but the smell of diesel is really starting to get to me I did what I could to slow down the leaks. The leaks are all coming from the high injector pump from at least 2 of the bolts and I tried snugging them up but they were tight. Do these need gaskets? The bigger issue was I noticed my alternator belt was loose so I adjusted it a couple of things happened-1)my tach starting working 2}My fresh water pump starting squelling. Now I have known that the pulley was loose before but thought it was normal, I don't think so know because I removed the belt and the pully is flopping around quite a bit so, I assume the bearing is bad no problem install new bearing, looked up the part in the manual and checked the only place I know that sells parts for the Westerbeke L25, Torresen Marine, Part #21213 and get this 855.14 ea for a Bearing, Freah water pump! Holly s##t is that for real. Is it possible its not the bearing, just hoping, can I get the other fixed at a machine shop, any ideas you gods of helping the poor sailor. I attached a pic of the part I think I need, number 56 take a look and hope I get some ideas because 855.14 would take along time for me to save up and I would rather put that cash into canvass and such. I know this is rather long winded sorry wanted to give you the whole story

[tommays]

I thought you were talking Alt BUT if your talking water pump they do have a way of making them special because it tends to dammage the shaft

[bluwateronly]

Originally Posted by tommays

I thought you were talking Alt BUT if your talking water pump they do have a way of making them special because it tends to dammage the shaft

Yep, water pump. Do you mean making them special damages the shaft?

[bluwateronly]

Hope this helps explain the part

[bluwateronly]

I dont know what to do at this point maybe you guys can help me decide. The only problem I think I have with this motor is the fresh water pump is working but the pulley is really loose. Some small fuel leaks on high injection pump that I think I can fix with gaskets or sealer. Should I be looking into getting a new motor seems like the motor runs strong and only has 513 hrs on it. The waterpump looks like it's going to be about 800.00 to fix I just spent 600.00 getting the starter rebuilt. To bad I can't find the parts I need used but I can't seem to find any. Repowering is going to be really out of my price range right now but just thinking down the line.

[Trekka]

You might try looking in the U.K for parts as the engine is actually a Watermota Sea Panther. Westerbeke rebranded it the L25 here in the US but they never really supported it, so it got a bad rep among many mechanics. But I think it is a great engine! 4 cylinders so smooth running, FWC. Had one on my Westerly. * Come to think of it, you might look on the Westerly Owners yahoo group and ask there. I have a hunch even with the dollar in the toilet you might get better prices from the country of origin.

I did a search for parts and supplies a few years ago and saved the links, but on an old pc I haven't fired up in a long time. If you don't find anything using the proper engine name when searching I'll drag it down from the attic and get them.

*And unlike the Perkins 4-108 I have now it was simple to get to the thermostat - and had a larger heat exchanger than the Perk which supposedly has twice the HP... (but that's a grumble for another thread)

[bluwateronly]

Thank you very much Trekka. I will check it out. Blu

[Rockter]

Blu...

This is the sort of utter rip-off you get from these apalling price-gougers. That's worse than Volvo, and man but they are bad.

Being rather pro-American, and on your American behalf, I called the UK dealer Stephenson Marine about 5 minutes ago...

Stephenson Marine - The Watermota Sea Panther

...and your infamous item number 56 is available for £65.39.... close to about $100. That's about 8 times cheaper.

The dealer recommended buying the "water pump kit" which has the bearing assy, impeller and a few other bits that will reclaim your leaky pump. It will take the wobble out of your pump situation, I am reminded. That assy costs £108.53, or close to about $180. Still far better than you have been quoted.

You can now tell Torresen Marine to ram their item number 56 up their expensive rear. Perhaps they should be working on Wall Street.

Don't tell them why they should ram it up their rear, but do tell them where to ram it.
I say again, don't tell them why.

It's best not to discuss price differences with Stephenson Marine either.

This sort of chicanery makes me livid. I see it with telescopes all the time. We can get round it.

If you have difficulty, or the price is not as I was just told (0820 hrs UK time this very day, Wednesday), send me a PM.

Be good....

Rockter.

[Trekka]

OMG

I expected it to be cheaper - but not that huge a difference.
No wonder American mechanics hated the engine. Westerbeke made it hard to get parts and gouged them, to boot.

I recognize the name Stephenson Marine. I got a shop manual from them, too.
Here's the link to their main page: Stephenson Marine home page
Hope you get the engine repaired. It is a good iron genny.

Fine job, Rockter!

[Rockter]

Effective competition kills this price gouging. We have the internet, and I am thankful for that. Volvo try this on all the time, and they must get away with it often enough for it to be worthwhile.

Guys, even if you cannot get it cheaper elsewhere, read off the bearing and seal sizes that have failed. You will see it written on the side of them. The engine manufacturer rarely (if ever) makes roller bearings, or ball bearings, and very rarely makes seals. They are all out-sourced, as making them is very specialised. All you need is the size of them. Sometimes the ident codes are turned inward toward a face so you cannot see them. If that happens, measure them up first!!!, then grind (or pull) them off and try to read the codes. A seal, typically has three numbers on it... say... 120x100x15. They are the OD, ID, thickness, often mm (that's quite a big seal). There are other codes on it that define the seal type... double lip, single lip, and so on.

Bearing idents are very similar. Even Russky Bike bearings are easy to identify. I have had to do that one, and put some excellent British-sourced bearings in there. Swedish stuff is good too... they have a long history of making good bearings.


I liked the look of the Kubota series motors. They cannot easily do this gouging, as their engines are in fork-lifts, cement mixers, and elsewhere.

I have no formal or latent interest in Kobota motors.