Diesel engine max RPM's?

[McIntoshUSA]

I am a newbie to a sailboat with a diesel engine. I sailed as a child over 30 yrs ago. We just retired and purchased a 1987 Newport 30 MKIII. It has a 16 hp Universal engine. The engine currently has about 550 hrs on it. It takes us approximately 1 hr to get through the canals and out to Charlotte Harbor.
I have had some neighbors advise that I can run the diesel engine wide open and it will not hurt it. I have Never ran any engine wide open. I have read on the internet that recommends runing it at 3/4 throttle which is what I am doing.
Does anyone have any experience with diesel engines lifespan/RPM's/recommendations?

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

Does anyone have any experience with diesel engines lifespan/RPM's/recommendations?

You're right about running at 75% and occassionally opening it to 100% for a few minutes to blow out any soot and clean the valves.

Your engine is not yet broken in at only 550 hours. Original hour meter for sure ? ? ?

Clean oil and clean air and you probably won't get much more than 10,000 hours out of it.

There is a library of material on this site about the care and feeding of your diesel engine. Do a search for "diesel engine" then stand well back back.

For even greater depth, pick up a copy of Nigel Caulder's "Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual". To really knock yourself out, pick up a copy of SELOC "Yanmar Inboards" and the Yanmar shop manual.

Expensive books but they'll pay for themselves many times over if you do the work yourself rather than calling in a mechanic.

 

[ODAAT]

I am a newbie to a sailboat with a diesel engine. I sailed as a child over 30 yrs ago. We just retired and purchased a 1987 Newport 30 MKIII. It has a 16 hp Universal engine. The engine currently has about 550 hrs on it.
***That engine is barely broken in - like new. It is a Kubota engine marinized by Universal?Westerbeke. Most internal parts are available from your local Kubota tractor dealer, eg. water circulating pump is $330 from Universal vs. $130 from Kubota.


It takes us approximately 1 hr to get through the canals and out to Charlotte Harbor.
***Regardless of power, you are a displacement hull whose speed is determined by your boat's waterline length. 1.34 X square root of the waterline length = your maximum theoretical hull speed.


I have had some neighbors advise that I can run the diesel engine wide open and it will not hurt it.
***I beg to differ with your neighbors. Run it wide open for a long time and you will destroy the engine. In marine diesel school some 40+ years ago, I learned 75% to 85% max RPM's is appropriate.

I have Never ran any engine wide open. I have read on the internet that recommends runing it at 3/4 throttle which is what I am doing.
Does anyone have any experience with diesel engines lifespan/RPM's/recommendations?

See my replies above marked ***
My business partner and I rebuild sailboat diesel engines, particularly Perkins 4.108 that have not been built since the late 1970's. We have yet to get a Perkins that was worn from excessive use, mostly damaged by misuse like overheating, water ingestion, dirty or fouled lube oil or just setting and rusting away. I replaced my Perkins 4.236 in my Cal 46 in 1987 because it had 11,000 hours, but was using oil. My "New" Perkins 4.236 has only 3,600 hours.

Do not expect those kind of hours on newer high revving engines. Contact me off the forum for names, as I have been threatened with lawsuits for saying "Green Grief".

 

[McIntoshUSA]

Thank You all for the information. I thought I was correct, just wanted to be sure.

Thanks