390x
Member
I got tired of dealing with points, condensers, dwell, etc on my Westerbeke, and I also got tired of Westerbeke oddball parts so I added electronic ignition to my 6.5BCG. Here's the parts I purchased for the project:
1 Pertronix 1632 igniter. This kit is not specifically supposed to be for this generator, but it is made for a 3 cylinder Nippondenso distributor, which this genny has. It fits like a glove.
1 Pertronix flame thrower coil--using this coil eliminates the need for a ballast resistor
1 MSD coil holder
Here's the process:
My ballast resistor had a purple wire, and an orange wire on the positive side. These will go to the positive side of the new coil. There was a red wire that went from the negative side of the ballast resistor to a prong on the coil. Discard this wire. There was also a black wire with a grey stripe going from the coil to the distributor. This wire can be discarded as well. There was also a yellow wire connected to the coil. This wire can be cut/capped off. It will not be used. There was also another black wire with a grey stripe going to the distributor. This wire will be connected to the negative side of the new coil. There are also two wires, a black and a red coming out of the new ignition. They will be connected to the positive and negative posts on the new coil, respectively. Here's the summary of the connections:
Positive post of new coil: Purple, orange, red. Negative post: black with grey stripe, black. It runs like a swiss watch, and now I can buy off the shelf parts to service it if I need to. I have no idea what the oddball Westerbeke coil would have cost, but I'm sure it would have been expensive. I would guess that a 4 cylinder Pertronix igniton for a 4 cylinder Denso distributor would work on a 4 cylinder Westerbeke as well, but I can't be sure. Let me know if you have any questions.
1 Pertronix 1632 igniter. This kit is not specifically supposed to be for this generator, but it is made for a 3 cylinder Nippondenso distributor, which this genny has. It fits like a glove.
1 Pertronix flame thrower coil--using this coil eliminates the need for a ballast resistor
1 MSD coil holder
Here's the process:
My ballast resistor had a purple wire, and an orange wire on the positive side. These will go to the positive side of the new coil. There was a red wire that went from the negative side of the ballast resistor to a prong on the coil. Discard this wire. There was also a black wire with a grey stripe going from the coil to the distributor. This wire can be discarded as well. There was also a yellow wire connected to the coil. This wire can be cut/capped off. It will not be used. There was also another black wire with a grey stripe going to the distributor. This wire will be connected to the negative side of the new coil. There are also two wires, a black and a red coming out of the new ignition. They will be connected to the positive and negative posts on the new coil, respectively. Here's the summary of the connections:
Positive post of new coil: Purple, orange, red. Negative post: black with grey stripe, black. It runs like a swiss watch, and now I can buy off the shelf parts to service it if I need to. I have no idea what the oddball Westerbeke coil would have cost, but I'm sure it would have been expensive. I would guess that a 4 cylinder Pertronix igniton for a 4 cylinder Denso distributor would work on a 4 cylinder Westerbeke as well, but I can't be sure. Let me know if you have any questions.