Beta 38 Installation

T37Chef · **Posted:** 07 Dec 2012 21:55

I thought I would start a thread to document the installation of our new Beta 38. The Westerbeke 50 it’s replacing has been an interesting learning experience (my first diesel). It had several issues that couldn’t seem to be resolved. Anyway, I am very excited get this project going, especially since the boat has been on the hard for two years awaiting an engine.

First, a brief explanation why I chose the Beta 38… Initially in my research I considered Westerbeke, Yanmar, and Nanni...it came down to Nanni & Beta by the time I got to the Annapolis Boat Show. As far as I know, all but the Yanmar are marinized engines, the Yanmar is purpose built. I don’t know how much of a factor this is? I couldn’t find anything other than sales talk why a purpose built was an asset, in fact it could be considered a liability?

http://www.betamarinenc.com/index.php/engines/?next=19

• I found that the marinization of it is well thought out and executed. No more having to remove the entire water pump just to change a impeller or scraping my arms up and spilling oil in the bilge changing a horizontally mounted oil filter. It even has a built in oil change pump.

• It’s based on a Kubota block; therefore those parts are readily available from any Kubota dealer/distributor (Nanni is also a Kubota block). I have been told that Betas international network has grown a lot in the last few years, not really a factor for us since we don’t plan to do any international travels anytime soon, being able to gets parts in Indonesia wasn’t a concern

• With the custom machined feet, I should not need to do any bed modifications. Of course this is yet to be determined. The local Beta rep, Stanley at Beta, and I checked the measurements so I am pretty confident

• The Beta 38 (& Nanni) is a 4 cylinder, the Yanmar is a 3. The Beta should be quieter & less vibration. Beta also uses an enlarged flywheel = smoother/quieter operation.

• I never heard anything bad about Beta, in fact I have to give a nod to forum member and much respected sailing forum contributor “Maine Sail” on his personal recommendation for the brand. This may sound trivial, but if he recommends it, I’m probably going to listen!

• And perhaps more than anything, Stanley at Beta USA, East Coast distributor. He has been very responsive from the first inquiry; he genuinely cares about his customers, and has been exceptional in his after sales assistance. He went out of way (literally) to answer my questions and help with the initial measurements for the custom engine feet.

T37Chef · **Posted:** 07 Dec 2012 23:17

The original plan, Mini Rebuild:

We pulled the boat for storage in the Fall of 2010, winterized the W50 and took it home to do a mini overhaul over the winter. I removed the transmission, starter and a few other thing and got it on the engine stand, wrapped it up and didn't touch it. Finally, last Spring 2012 I started to price parts and contacted some mechanics to help with the overhaul. What I found was the estimated cost of parts and labor was going to be around $6,000 or more! No way was I going to spend that with no guarantee anything done would fix the problems. I had already rebuilt the injectors and injector pump plus new engine bushings, seemed like $$ for nothing.

Looking at another season without the boat, I considered just putting the W50 back, sail a few more years and sell the boat Shocked

Obviously that was just a psychotic misfire! The decision was made to start looking at new.

I started gathering information and pricing, phone calls, emails etc. Beta was the first to respond. In fact, others contacts didn't get back to me sometimes for week or more. Beta had already spec'd everything I would need with line by line pricing and available options. We even discussed their new hybrid engines. (I never did get an actual price quote from the Nanni dealer, I received an email the day after the show and let them know we had made a purchase, they couldn't help but get a final jab in on their competitor Rolling Eyes

Nanni may or may not be a better engine, I don't know, what I do know is they don't know how to sell, certainly didn't make me think after sales service would be any better?)

We placed our order with Stanley at the show and the engine arrived last Friday, she is beautiful...

T37Chef · **Posted:** 07 Dec 2012 23:53

Preparation for install:

The first step was to remove anything that needed to go while the engine was out, the primary item was the water heater, and I’m guessing it may be the original. Here was my first minor mistake. With kids we can blow through water, especially hot water, so I had thought purchasing a 20 gallon vs. a 12 gallon replacement was a great idea. It would fit height wise and was the same diameter as the 12…what I didn’t know or consider was the time it would take to heat the extra 8 gallons and that it may need a pressure tank to compensate for the height of the fittings so that the cooling water circulates properly…I chose to send the 20 back and just went with a direct replacement 12, thanks to another great conversations with Stan at Beta. Ended up just being a shipping cost mistake, ah…what’s another $70 anyway.
With the water heater out, I wanted to paint the platform its sits on and the engine bed. While I was at it, I painted the entire area aft of the engine. The rudder was already out and I removed the pedestal as well to refurbish it and give it a coat of paint. Cleaning was the worst part, the painting went fairly quick
Next, I will be adding some Sundown Sound & Heat insulation on the quarter berth panels, front access panel, and the side by the galley. The insulation is not cheap stuff, I purchased two of the 1” thick product http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?pat ... &id=95982. If there is any left I will glue some above the engine.

The shaft has been sent out to be checked and a new Groco ARG750S Sea Water Strainer will be installed next.

Tortuga's Lie · **Joined:** 27 Oct 2006 10:32 **Posts:** 827

Have you re-installed the pedistal yet? If not, it might be a good idea to rout out the balsa coring and fill with an epoxy putty. I use a 1/4" rabbeting bit that has a 1/2" reach on my plunge router. Just one more project while you're at it!!!
Any thoughts to relocating the battery bank to where the water heater was located? Some have done this to balance out the weight distribution better, especially if you have a large house bank.

T37Chef · **Posted:** 08 Dec 2012 09:35

Tortuga's Lie wrote:

Have you re-installed the pedistal yet? If not, it might be a good idea to rout out the balsa coring and fill with an epoxy putty. I use a 1/4" rabbeting bit that has a 1/2" reach on my plunge router. Just one more project while you're at it!!!
Any thoughts to relocating the battery bank to where the water heater was located? Some have done this to balance out the weight distribution better, especially if you have a large house bank.

Good points, I was planning to epoxy. I had not thought to move the bank there but that a interesting idea, but where does the water heater go? Um

Timshel · **Joined:** 29 Dec 2010 10:24 **Posts:** 191

I moved my 'scattered around' batteries to a box where the water heater was,and put the water heater behind the nav seat, under the quarter berth. Bruce. PS your engine compartment looks good.

Tortuga's Lie · **Joined:** 27 Oct 2006 10:32 **Posts:** 827

Shawn,
"Windchime" relocated their batteries but I don't know where they put the water heater. Maybe they went with one of the rectangular models and mounted in the starboard lazarette?
Here's the link to their website:
http://windchimetimes.us/
There's a contact e-mail on the site, perhaps you could pick their brains a bit.

Tom

Ardea · **Joined:** 19 Mar 2007 16:40 **Posts:** 195

Engine compartment looks great. I wish we could have painted everything during the repower but the boat was engine-less for only 10 minutes. I can't paint that fast. I see you have the new heat exchanger. Also a plastic air cleaner housing (less chance for corrosion). My Beta 38 has a horizontal oil filter. Did they change this to vertical somehow? Let us know how the "custom feet" work out on the engine. It would be great for future T-37 installs if they finally got this figured out. My custom feet were weldments. Are yours actually machined?

You're gonna love this engine.

JDLanglais · **Joined:** 27 Jun 2007 11:23 **Posts:** 40

Hello all;
I am also considering the Beta 38 as a replacement for my aging Westerbeke 40. I was wondering how much clearance do you get for the oil dipstck since it is located on top of the engine.
Can you tell us if this engine have self bleeding injectors; like many other modern diesel engines?
I am very interested by your replacement project; If you can post pictures and more info about it we certainly will appreciate !!!
Thanks and wishes you that all goes smooth with this project !

Jean-Denis
S/V Nemea, Hull 162
Yacht Club de Quebec

Velera · **Joined:** 29 Dec 2006 09:38 **Posts:** 656

Interested in how Beta folks used the old Westerbeke engine bed. I installed a new Yanmar in my T 37 a few years ago (log of that effort in the technical section of this web site) and found that the problem in most T37 repower options was that the Westerbeke's shaft exit was 1.57 (check this) inches below the plane of the feet. All the repower options had shafts that exit at the plane of the feet. I saw the logical alternative was to cut down the top of the bed by 2 inches (to give me room to shim). The feet of the Yanmar still had to be modified, but only extended outward. Seems to me that trying to fit any repower in without modifying the bed is asking someone to do some incredibly difficult (geometry and accuracy) machining to get everything aligned right. Having this perfect is incredibly important to properly aligning the engine and avoiding it shaking itself out of alignment or eventually breaking welds from fatigue. Cutting down the bed was not that difficult and seemed to make the installation of any repower engine a simpler process.
I have about 400 hours on my Yanmar and could not be happier. Found very little difference in final price from other options (Westerbeke was not an option). Yanmar has an installation manual that is so generic you could use it with any brand . Good support from my local dealer. Parts are reasonable compared to Westerbeke. It was a good opportunity to get familiar, paint, and refit all the stuff in there. I think anyone with basic mechanical skills can tackle it.
FWIW

Ray
Velera

Tartan37.com

Beta 38 Installation

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