Myles said: "I couldn't agree with Paul more on this one."
I'm not sure exactly what it is that we agree on, but it is always good to know that we agree on something. :-)
You make a good point that it pays to buy a good engine, but then all the name brand ones are good. The choice between a Perkins, a Cat, a Detroit, a Cummins, a Mack, or any of the other main ones is really not much. They are all very excellent, and they will all last well, assuming reasonable maintenance and care in operation.
The point that I was making is that when someone says his automobile engine lasted 60,000 or 100,000, or even 250,000 miles with a certain treatment, I am not impressed in the least. A 100K on an engine should be a very small percentage of its life, and it should last that long with even the most minimum care. In fact, you can get a half million miles out of any decent diesel with a minimum amount of maintenance. I do not begin to get impressed until about the million mile mark without an overhaul.
You say that you are getting tired of all these oil threads. Well, that is just as well. Most recreational boat users never put enough hours on their engines to wear them out anyway, even with the bare minimum amount of maintenance. It therefore really does not justify a whole lot of effort to extend the engine life, since engine life was never really a constraint to them in the first place. If you have a good diesel in your trawler, and if you will never put 5,000 hours on it, then you should feel free to do whatever you like with your engine oil. As long as you do not completely abuse your engine, it should last that long. It won't take much more to reach the 10K mark. Beyond that, however; you will have to start being very concerned about your oil; or else just resign yourself to paying for in-frame overhauls about that often.
You are also right that other things are more likely to cause a breakdown at sea than engine oil, and you have named some of the big ones. These certainly deserve the lion's share of your maintenance resources. I also would be very happy to see some discussion on these other items.
Paul Kruse
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From: chud
Sent: Friday, October 09, 1998 6:36 PM
To: trawler-world-list@samurai.com
Subject: RE: Diesel magic bullet & free lunch? (Hammerdown)
I couldn't agree with Paul more on this one. [snip]
The whole oil change and oil additive posts are starting to bore me.
Don't hurt me to bad, just my opinions, Myles!!!
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