Carver Owners Forum

Hi

I have a 1999 350 Mariner. On this haul out, decided it was time to replace the old Kohler 6.5 (never ran right or for very long) with a Westerbeke. n may search, seems gas generators or no longer being manufactured.

Looking f0r comments or suggestion on how to proceed further. Don't really want to pour more money into an old genset, but then again if buying new, take the chance on parts in the future

Thanks

Don

Welcome abord.

Sure enough I checked both Westerbeke and Kohler and it does look like Kohler gas generators are history and Westerbeke has discontinued their carb version of gas generators . Looks like the only option is efi units from Westerbeke? Regardless, once out of the boat I would have the unit rebuilt entirely as opposed to buying a new one. I do know new units were ridiculously priced and made little sense to purchase privately new.

Someone else with more info will surly chime in.

Welcome aboard Don.

Ya Kohler was done with generators a few years ago but Westerbeke is still manufacturing them. New Kohlers are still out there though, you just have to find a dealer that has old inventory still. New marine generators are pretty expensive so be prepared for that. Whether it's worth repairing the old unit or not really depends on its condition and what's wrong with it. Have you ever had a generator tech look at it? Could be something simple.

I was having trouble with my Kohler. Turned out to be the anti-siphon valve in the fuel line. Simple, cheap fix.

KeithS is pretty knowledgeable with generators so he may be able to help if you post the exact model info and what the symptoms are.

I'm guessing the major symptom is that it is really old! Difficult to justify putting a lot of money into an old generator, I have done it and usually regretted it. Kohler has been out of the gas marine generator business since 2017. I have seen dealers advertising some but keep in mind they are old stock so verify warranty. Kohler lost a patent lawsuit to Westerbeke and combine that with all the problems meeting newer EPA standards decided to just quit. Westerbeke is the only game in town and their pricing reflects that. It is a good product, smooth and quiet 1800 rpm but not cheap. Kohler and several others offer ignition protected diesel models for less money than a gas unit. Of course that means 2 sources of fuel and the extra cost and worry about that. Difficult decision on an older boat, a lot of money.

Thanks to all. Yes local agent to a crack at it, twice. Replaced control board and in process managed to break the carburetor butterfly. That left me scrounging old parts back in USA to replace

Will give repair one more try. Thought about replacing the oil sensors as I hear this could also be a culprit. Fuel draws from main tanks and is selectable,

If it's hooked up to proper generator pickups on the fuel tanks, make sure you have at least over a 1/4 tank of fuel in each tank as the pickup doesn't go all the way to the bottom like engine pickups do. Will it run at all or does it just run poorly?

Runs then shuts down after a while. But the interesting thing is you can’t turn it off. Hitting the off switch it stalls, almost shuts down then picks right back up. Checked the needle seat shutdown couldn’t find any issue.