How long is it safe to leave an engine unused and unattended
- Thread starter CalicoJack
- Start date
Tamar
Well-Known Member
I once had to work on an old trinity House light vessel that a young couple had bought to convert into a home. The gennies had been idle for almost ten years. I just changed the lube oil and hand cranked them over and they fired up.
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lw395
Well-Known Member
Plenty of smoky yacht engines out there.
Premature bore wear?
Plenty of yacht engines getting replaced at low hours compared to generators on shore.
Premature bore wear?
Plenty of yacht engines getting replaced at low hours compared to generators on shore.
PaulRainbow
Well-Known Member
Perhaps. Or perhaps it's due to bore glazing, caused by owners repeatedly running their engines at too low RPM with insufficient load, because they read something on an internet forum.
Shoreside generators are in a state of constant readiness, they haven't been "winterised", had their fresh water systems flushed and been filled with preserving oil.
My engine is 40 years old, circa 3500 hours, i've never winterised it. I'm sitting onboard as i type this, the engine hasn't been started since the end of last season, i have no plans to do so until the lockdown is lifted and i want to use it.
Aardee
Well-Known Member
Winterising engines is a bit like baking bread.
There are those who treat it like a black art, using all sorts of arcane methods and ingredients, with copious warnings for tose who don't treat it with the gravity it deserves, then there are those who grab whatever's at hand and bake it in (or on) whatever they've got with more than satisfactory results.
There are those who treat it like a black art, using all sorts of arcane methods and ingredients, with copious warnings for tose who don't treat it with the gravity it deserves, then there are those who grab whatever's at hand and bake it in (or on) whatever they've got with more than satisfactory results.
FlyingGoose
Well-Known Member
me old perkins 4236 , sitting on the hard for 2 years turned over first time, and has turned over first time every year after winter, she is 5600 hours runs like a three legged donkey 
Refueler
Well-Known Member
I have 4-107 - the predecessor to the 4-108. I have no problem leaving it for months on months ... as long as I have run Antifreeze through the raw water system ... closed the inlets ... keep battery charged ... she's fine.
If I leave for a real extended period - sometimes I have to put a spanner on the crankshaft and turn her slowly over one or two turns instead of making the starter work hard those first turns.
I g'tee my 4-107 has a harder time of it than OP's 4-108 in terms of being left idle !!
300 quid ? OK .. boat fees are not cheap ad they are asking 50 quid a visit .... car service will charge you that just labour per hour or more even. But still ... personally I'd keep money in pocket .....
If I leave for a real extended period - sometimes I have to put a spanner on the crankshaft and turn her slowly over one or two turns instead of making the starter work hard those first turns.
I g'tee my 4-107 has a harder time of it than OP's 4-108 in terms of being left idle !!
300 quid ? OK .. boat fees are not cheap ad they are asking 50 quid a visit .... car service will charge you that just labour per hour or more even. But still ... personally I'd keep money in pocket .....
Refueler
Well-Known Member
Interested - where's the decompression lever on a 4 series Perkins ? My 4-107 hasn't one ... my 4-99 never had one ... workshop manual for the 4 series incl 4-108 doesn't show one ...
lw395
Well-Known Member
As I said, I've never had a Perkins, it's general advice which doesn't help in this case.
Refueler
Well-Known Member
No worries ... I know that Perkins 4 series engines were used in so many applications ... marine was only a small part. It would not surprise me to find a Decomp lever used somewhere .. say on a small tractor or other static engine.
My 4-107 is an ex static engine judging by Perkins when I gave them the Engine Number ... but they then said after the code for use engine was designed for - they had no record of the last number bit !!
crown22
Well-Known Member
Slight drift my Mercury Two stroke was slightly seized after not being used for nine months. Some
oil down the bore and a spanner instead of the pull cord and I turned it over with slight force. It
started and ran OK afterwards. I used to visit my boat once a week and always turned the engine
over a few times using a spanner on the nut holding on the crankshaft pulley which is at the saloon
end on my boat.
oil down the bore and a spanner instead of the pull cord and I turned it over with slight force. It
started and ran OK afterwards. I used to visit my boat once a week and always turned the engine
over a few times using a spanner on the nut holding on the crankshaft pulley which is at the saloon
end on my boat.
Refueler
Well-Known Member
I think you were lucky ...... you run the risk of breaking rings / scoring the bore / even damaging the conrod ...... yes - I've seen conrods snapped forcing an engine to turn.
The old farmers trick for a 'stuck engine' is Diesel ... not oil.
I have a Briggs and Stratton 4str Generator engine that is siezed through lack of use ... (my handyman didn't disconnect the genny from the house when town supply was restored .... melted the coil part of the genny !). One day I will see about getting her to turn again ... spoke to the local workshop about it ... first question he asked "Tried diesel yet"
PaulRainbow
Well-Known Member
2 strokes are a bit different to diesel engines. Would be a good idea to use some fogging spray before leaving it unused.
Tomaret
Well-Known Member
But there’s only one true sourdough recipe - every sourdough book tells you that and every true way is different.
peter gibbs
Well-Known Member
I think we will all be able to get to our boats some time this season in which case you can run it up under load. It is a natural instinct to want to turn it over in the meanwhile but from long experience of wintering ashore for months, an engine with fresh oil and properly winterised will not suffer, and will gain nothing from lobbing £300 at it as you describe. Hold tight.
PWG
Graham376
Well-Known Member
That's easy. Plenty of rogues in every trade who con unsuspecting customers in parting with hard earned cash.
My car gets left for 6-7 months at a stretch, only things I do to it are disconnect the battery and blow the tyres up to 40 psi. Boat gets left once a year for 3 months or so, no need to winterise as no freezing conditions, I just isolate the batteries, turn solar charge voltage down, turn gas off and close sea cocks. Can't understand why people worry so much.
PaulRainbow
Well-Known Member
I do get asked to do some waste of time/money jobs, just like the OP has asked here, my answer to those questions are the same "keep your money". I get offered more work than i can possibly do as it is, without any pointless nonsense.
People might be worrying too much because they aren't sure, some of the comments on here don't help.
Under normal circumstances, most boats will be sitting around doing nothing for a few months out of season. Just like all of the plant and machinery that sits around for who knows how long. With the present lockdown there will be millions upon millions of engines sitting idle. Imagine all of the cars sitting around in auction compounds, garage forecourts, hire centres, company cars sat idle because the business is closed etc. All sorts of plant, machinery, skip lorries, work vans, ice cream vans, catering vans, truck and lorry hire etc etc. No one is going to be going around starting them up and running them under load (or otherwise) and they certainly aren't going to be "Winterised".
These boats that people are worrying about, what are they so far, 2 weeks overdue from their normal launch and use window ?
Poignard
Well-Known Member
.
Below is a link to Owner’s Manual for the BUKH DV36ME marine diesel engine in which is set out the winterising procedure. I offer it as one example. As far as I know, these engines are still in production and they are designed to have a very long service life.
I cannot see anything in there that does not seem like a reasonable precaution to take to protect what is probably the single most expensive single piece of equipment found in the typical cruising yacht.
So, leaving aside our obvious mutual dislike, when it comes to long-term storage of an engine I can see no reason why I should follow your advice and disregard the recommendations of an engine’s manufacturer.
But perhaps you can answer two questions for me:
1. Why would an engine manufacture recommend maintenance work that was not necessary?
2. What justification has an owner have for not doing as the manufacturer recommends, if he can? Especially when, as now, there is no way that he can possibly know how long it will be before he is able to use his boat again
.
vyv_cox
Well-Known Member
I think in most cases the wintering was carried out towards the end of 2019, following the procedure you have linked to. The question as I understand it is what should be done now while the boat cannot be used. I see no reason to do anything at all until we can get back to our boats, whenever that may be.
Graham376
Well-Known Member
If we were approaching winter layup with possible freezing conditions, then it would be a different matter but many boats will still be in layup condition at the moment anyway. If a marina dweller, I would be far more concerned about mooring lines, slow water ingress and props fizzing away if lots have left battery chargers on because they won't be back for a while - that should wind a few more people up.
