Unhappy With Coolant Hose Replacement

We had some sunny days this past weekend so it was a great time to climb into the port lazarette and replace the leaking coolant hose. I did get the hose replaced. It is not leaking anymore! But I’m not happy with my repair.

I purchased two different hoses with offset elbows from Westerbeke: part numbers 024304 and 024305. In the exploded view of the cooling system for the Westerbeke W13 engine, it shows both hoses. I couldn’t quite tell how they fit from the diagram so, thinking that I needed one of them, I ordered both of them. It turned out that I needed one and used both, but more on that in a moment.

To access the engine room (which I’ll call the engine space because it’s too small to call it a room!) I entered via “the hole”: the port lazarette. Doing so required contortions my body wasn’t used to. Two days later, I am still sore. It is a tight fit.

Once I got into the engine space, I found myself sitting almost on top of the dripless seal, with my right knee wedged up against the wet exhaust box and my neck bent to avoid the sole of the cockpit above me. I had both lazarettes open for light and air, plus the stairs were removed so that Jan could help me as I worked on the problem.

Once I got down into the engine space, I loosened the clamps on the failing hose. It was so tightly wedded to the metal tube it was mated to that I couldn’t get it loose. Out came the pocket knife so that I could cut it loose the engine. I caught most of the coolant in a two-quart container and used rags to capture the drips that missed the container.

Unfortunately, the clamps on the other end of the failed hose weren’t accessible. They were wedged tightly against the wrapped exhaust. As I looked at it, I realized I could simple remove the entire tube. That entailed cutting off the fitting on the other end of the tube. I ended up with a metal tube with no hoses attached, and two new Westerbeke hoses, one of which was correct for the configuration.

Since both of the Westerbeke hoses were offset elbows, I figured I could use them both, and I did. However, it is not a good solution. The offsets conflict, causing the elbows to be contorted. I really needed two of the same hose so that the offsets would be aligned. As it is, they are not, so there is a lot of bend on one of the elbows. If one elbow was a simple 90-degree elbow, it would work better.

Even though it doesn’t leak, I’m not happy with my repair. It feels like a matter of time before it fails. Even though I double clamped the connections, I think it’s safest to be prepared for a failure. Accordingly, I’ve ordered up a couple more hoses and some more clamps.

I also have a few gallons of pre-mixed coolant on board, just in case. I also left a clean white rag in the engine space below the replaced hose elbow so that I can more easily monitor for drips.

I learned one other thing: it’s good to have an assistant! Jan was able to pass me the tools I had prepared, and she retrieved a couple I had forgotten to have available. There were a few moments where I thought I might get a bit stuck so having her available to help me was very welcome!