Westerbeke Shutting Down After 5 Minutes

I have a `99 Searay 340 with a Westerbeke generator. It starts right up and runs great for about five minutes and then dies. It`ll start right back up, but dies again after a few seconds. I started it again for the third time but this time when it started to die I pushed the preheat switch and it came back to operating RPM`s. As long as I held the switch in it would run but would try to die when I let off.
Any Ideas as to what might be causing this would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks,
Tom

The switch you call "preheat" suggests the generator is diesel but my guess is it is a gas generator in which case the swith you refer to is the "start" switch. The start switch is there to bypass the oil pressure shut down switch until the generator starts and builds up enough oil pressure to close the switch and provide power to the ingition system or electric fuel pump. First you should check the oil level. Next connect a jumper wire across the 2 terminals of the oil pressure switch. If it continues to run the switch is most likely bad, either that or you have a low oil pressure issue. Hope for the switch.

Yes, it is a gas generator. I was told to hold down the heat switch while pushing the start switch. I just assumed it was some type of choke. I`ll check the oil level this weekend and try your other suggestions. Thank you.

I couldn't figure the problem out on my own so I had to call the mechanic. He had it fixed in short order. Turns out it was just a sensor so I got out pretty cheap.