Oil for Sailing Yacht Engines

[MX26]

Hi All,

I've been browsing this forum for about a week. Folks - I have to hand it to you, there are some seriously knowledgeable people on this board. Thanks for offering your knowledge up so generously. I'm currently reading the Motor Oil University write-up and I'm seriously impressed.

In the yachting world, a lot of us run small, diesel engines that are essentially and old school agriculture/industrial engine that has been marinized with a fresh/raw water heat exchanger and (sometimes) a raw-water oil cooler. Sometimes they are turbocharged and intercooled in larger boats, but most engines are NA.

Our engines are used much less frequently than a typical marine engine since they are an auxiliary engine. We get from Point A to Point B as much as we can under sail. Sometimes we motor sail, which is essentially reducing the engine to half speed and allowing the sails and engine to work together (usually in a situation where there's minimal wind).

There is a lot of concern in the yachting world about "over-specifying" synthetic oils and high TBN numbers in our little diesels. In our manuals, manufacturers will usually point to some completely outdated/obsolete/retired API spec such as CD - 15W-40 or straight 30W. I believe that's where most of the confusion comes from. A lot of folks point to this article when talking about over-specifying oil. It's kind of a smash hit on forums when talking about oil in the sailing community.

I'm wondering if you guys can shed a little light on what's appropriate to run in our diesels and if the article I linked above has merit.

Thanks.

 

[eljefino]

Are you running ultra low sulfur fuel or do you still get garbage from sketchy suppliers?

About 25 years ago I was up in a popular tourist harbor and they had a floating fuel barge on a mooring. Who regulated them? The marinas hated the competition.

 

[MX26]

Are you running ultra low sulfur fuel or do you still get garbage from sketchy suppliers?

About 25 years ago I was up in a popular tourist harbor and they had a floating fuel barge on a mooring. Who regulated them? The marinas hated the competition.

In general, folks in the US are running quality ULSD. That's a good point though. Some folks cruising in remote corners of the world could be getting some sketchy fuel with mixed sulphur content. How does that change the equation?

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Hi All,

I've been browsing this forum for about a week. Folks - I have to hand it to you, there are some seriously knowledgeable people on this board. Thanks for offering your knowledge up so generously. I'm currently reading the Motor Oil University write-up and I'm seriously impressed.

In the yachting world, a lot of us run small, diesel engines that are essentially and old school agriculture/industrial engine that has been marinized with a fresh/raw water heat exchanger and (sometimes) a raw-water oil cooler. Sometimes they are turbocharged and intercooled in larger boats, but most engines are NA.

Our engines are used much less frequently than a typical marine engine since they are an auxiliary engine. We get from Point A to Point B as much as we can under sail. Sometimes we motor sail, which is essentially reducing the engine to half speed and allowing the sails and engine to work together (usually in a situation where there's minimal wind).

There is a lot of concern in the yachting world about "over-specifying" synthetic oils and high TBN numbers in our little diesels. In our manuals, manufacturers will usually point to some completely outdated/obsolete/retired API spec such as CD - 15W-40 or straight 30W. I believe that's where most of the confusion comes from. A lot of folks point to this article when talking about over-specifying oil. It's kind of a smash hit on forums when talking about oil in the sailing community.
http://coxeng.co.uk/engine/oil-for-yacht-engines/

I'm wondering if you guys can shed a little light on what's appropriate to run in our diesels and if the article I linked above has merit.

Thanks.

For years Marine diesel did not have to be ULSD (Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel) so a HDEO with slightly more robust additive package was typically required to neutralize the acidic combustion by-products. Over the last 10-15 years Sulphur levels for diesel sold at marinas has been regulated to lower levels but obviously not all countries are doing it at the same time.

Personally I would just run a HDEO in a grade that matches as close to what's recommended in the manual. If you're heading to an other country I would look up what they require and if they don't use ULSD then perhaps there's a vendor who can point you in the right direction. I think Ravenol sells a Marine oil.

Sailing is fun and ocean sailing is a blast.

 

[4WD]

As someone who approves multi million $ fill ups - I can tell you the days of junk MGO are closing. A number of ships can run the poor quality MGO until xx miles from zz shore - then must switch to LS fuel …
We just buy LS fuel to be safe and responsible - and support the fact it will take the track of synthetic oil and power windows
(Become an economic norm) …

 

[BLND1]

Sketchy diesel in a lot of places around the world. I’d run a premium HDEO in whatever grade is recommended. CK-4 probably a good place to start.

If you are sipping champagne you can probably afford to just run premium stuff as well.

 

[pocketchange]

I used to have a 40' Hans that had a 4/109" Perkins. Biggest problem was getting it to turn at proper temp. Finally got a 190 degree stat and it seemed to putt with enough heat to clear up the exhaust smoke @ 2000 rpm (oh! happy day). pc

 

[Foxtrot08]

My sister always uses 15w40.

Her last was a Jeanneau 49 with a yanmar.

We decked it out with redline last time around. But before that we were just using Kendall Super D-Xa 15w40. That was in Lake Erie.

Down in the Bahamas we had a 54 foot Bali Catamaran. Again with a Yanmar engines. The only thing we could get down there for it was Rotella T4 15w40 or At that time, it was Triple protection 30w.

I wouldn’t over think the motors in these. Very simple, last forever and never see real cold temps for the most part.

My sister is still big into the sail - yacht community / racing. I see a lot of engine oil and transmission fluid samples. The majority of it is simply water contamination. Especially when you’re not using it for long stretches.