Troubleshooting Westerbeke Safeties Circuit

[nickruocco]

Hello Everyone, I have a Westerbeke Diesel 15KW BTDB. I had it running a week ago for a brief period (10 min.) for the first time this summer.

I went to check the coolant and oil then mistakenly put a little coolant in the oil fill....I realized the mistake and gave it time to settle and fully drained the oil. To do this I decided to try out my onboard oil change system that I have never used. I pump out the oil with the top cap off and dipstick out to allow to breath. I feel like it was too little oil in the bucket so I put the cap on and my finger over the dipstick hole to create more of a vacuum...it gets quite a bit more oil out this time and I put fresh oil in. The engine stops now as soon as I let go of the pre-heat switch. Do you believe I damaged one of the safeties creating a vacuum? I replaced the Oil Pressure switch with no luck. I "test" the safeties with my multi meter for continuity but I'm not sure if they are "normally open" or "normally closed". Maybe you could give me a little guidance on where to go from here? Thanks so much for your time.

 

[doozie]

Are you starting it from the switches inside the boat or from the engine?

 

[nickruocco]

Are you starting it from the switches inside the boat or from the engine?

From the switch inside the boat. Thank you

 

[bahamabreisus]

Make sure your oil level is perfect, not close. They have a level sensor that will shut them down also. I assume you are having proper water flow ?. We just replaced the heat exchanger on ours, it would run 5 minutes to 3 hours and shut down due to restricted water flow. It always looked like plenty of flow, but not.

 

[nickruocco]

Make sure your oil level is perfect, not close. They have a level sensor that will shut them down also. I assume you are having proper water flow ?. We just replaced the heat exchanger on ours, it would run 5 minutes to 3 hours and shut down due to restricted water flow. It always looked like plenty of flow, but not.

I really have been thinking I did not fill it right as well! The onboard oil system is a little tricky since I don’t know how much I’ve put in. It always seems to settle much lower than it reads. It pumps up the dip stick a lot. Then I have to wait for it to settle. What would happen if I over fill?

 

[doozie]

There should be 3 sensors, one for engine temp, one for oil pressure, one for exhaust temp. I think the oil is normally open, the temp sensors are normally closed. The preheat switch bypasses all of these to start. You can bypass each one at a time to check them. make sure you check the terminations, pull on each wire make sure they are tight. If they all check out there are two relays in the box on the top of the generator, one for start, one for run, might be one on those. If it's one of the relays they are typical automotive relays and can be bought at any auto part store. Goof Luck

 

[bahamabreisus]

I really have been thinking I did not fill it right as well! The onboard oil system is a little tricky since I don’t know how much I’ve put in. It always seems to settle much lower than it reads. It pumps up the dip stick a lot. Then I have to wait for it to settle. What would happen if I over fill?

It really needs to be on the line. I always refill one quart at a time thru the valve cover, not oil change system

 

[nickruocco]

Thank you both, I’m working on it as we speak. I checked the oil level again and it was super low. I fill again using the system and it oozes out the dip stick. Every time I check the level after I fill, it reads full on the top line. Here is what I found out. The oil dip stick has a curve where the fill lines are on the side with the marks. It curves out hitting the side of the dipstick hole gathering oil and collecting perfectly between the lines.... the other side give a proper reading. See the pictures. Also, it pumps in oil WAY slower then it pumps out. That’s how I was trying to calculate. Time out TO. Time in. Thanks you all for the help, I am back up and running!!!

last question. Is the green light suppose to be on?