Hello all,
Decided to do an analysis on the genset for my workboat. Its a Northern Lights M673L3 6KW powered by a Shibaura 3 cylinder mechanical injection diesel, heat exchanger cooled. The manufactuer recommends a 200hr oil service interval which has been followed since new. Unit has a little over 1000hrs on it currently and has used 15w-40 its whole life, either Rotella or Delo. I cut open the filter every oil change and have found nothing to cause alarm. It is usually loaded to 25% of capacity most of the time. Every 50 or so hours I load it up 90% capacity and run it for two or three hours as a semi load test. Overall, we have had zero issues with it and expect it to run a long time. However, the elevated iron and aluminum concern me a bit. I am pretty positive the head and block are both iron and pistons are aluminum. But, why would all that aluminum be coming from the pistons?
Decided to do an analysis on the genset for my workboat. Its a Northern Lights M673L3 6KW powered by a Shibaura 3 cylinder mechanical injection diesel, heat exchanger cooled. The manufactuer recommends a 200hr oil service interval which has been followed since new. Unit has a little over 1000hrs on it currently and has used 15w-40 its whole life, either Rotella or Delo. I cut open the filter every oil change and have found nothing to cause alarm. It is usually loaded to 25% of capacity most of the time. Every 50 or so hours I load it up 90% capacity and run it for two or three hours as a semi load test. Overall, we have had zero issues with it and expect it to run a long time. However, the elevated iron and aluminum concern me a bit. I am pretty positive the head and block are both iron and pistons are aluminum. But, why would all that aluminum be coming from the pistons?
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