Thread: Diesel myths
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Old 10-02-2022, 04:24 PM   #15
backinblue
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rslifkin View Post
For any boat engine I generally start it, confirm oil pressure, then bring it up to high idle (carbed gassers get started at high idle). Confirm water flow and start pulling dock lines. Once it's been running for a minute or 2 and I'm down to the last lines, throttle back to idle, confirm a stable idle, then drop the last lines and go.

The worst offenders I see for overly long warm ups are sailors. It seems like many of them don't trust engines and feel like the longer it runs, the more chance it'll stay running. I see plenty that start the engine before any other departure prep and leave it idling (rarely at high idle either) for 15 - 20+ minutes before leaving the slip.
But the point is, for diesels, I don't think you want to bring it up to high idle after start. That was covered in the article.

My routine is to start the engine at lowest throttle position. After about a minute or 2, drop the dock lines and put in gear to get out of slip. Once in the channel gradually increase RPM and load, but low idle with switching in and out of gear is usually enough to get me out of my slip.
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