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Run the engines or not ?


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I've been given conflicting advice regarding engines over the winter period.

If you leave your boat in the water over winter, should you periodicly start the engines and leave them running for half hour or so ?

Some people say that you should just leave them as diesel engines like to be put under load, and others say its good to run the engine to make sure everything is moving etc ?

So, what's the official line, if there is one ?

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Good question Luke.

Personally I reckon to just leave them. Most boat engines get winterised over the cold period anyway, which means they can't be run without opening seacocks etc and then re-winterising afterwards. I winterised mine, by managing to rig an adaptor to pump some antifreeze via the weed trap into the heat exchanger so I'll be leaving mine until a week or two before easter, when we intend to have a bit of a blast over Breydon just to shake everything down before the salty bottom jolly.

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Differing lines of thought Luke, given that apparently something like 80% of engine wear happens in the first 10 minutes of running from cold, then maybe it is not such a good idea. It may not be a bad idea to turn the engine half a turn though just so that impellers are not left to set in the same position for to long, I suppose you could always just leave your engine stop pulled out and turn it over a few times if you wanted to give the oil a stir.

For me I prefer to start the engine if I go up, my mind says the longer it is since it last started the less likely it is to start, plus if it doesn't start I want to know about it before the next time I want to use it :Stinky:Stinky

Edit to agree with Mark if the engines have been winterised but then you should have taken your impellers out anyway.

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Hi all...

Bling is in the water unwinterised as we use her most weekends, though not necessarily out and about.

I cant remember where I read it, or what the specific reason was, but I was advised to fire the engines up every couple of weeks or so if not in regular use.

The Kad32's dont seem to like cold starts after being left too long (whereas the ad31's on jupes never seemed to mind).

Hopefully going up Breydon for a post bashing on saturday two guns if anyone would like to join in let me know.

adam...aka LB :pirate:naughty: :pirate

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Volvo official line is run them every two weeks unless properly winterised, oil drain down can be a problem when left for lengthy periods according to them. I run ours fairly frequently and make sure working temperature is reached for a while. I nail it to the pontoon well and run at about 1200 in gear which also circulates oil around the gearbox and makes sure the cutlass bearing and Volvo type shaft seal doesn’t get sticky.

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