BoatBanter.com - View Single Post - Came across a genuinely bristol older boat........

On 20 Feb 2006 07:21:46 -0800, wrote:

I wish I could recall where to find it, but there has been a study
conducted and a theory advanced that there's a direct relationship
between the amount of fuel a diesel engine consumes and its life
expectancy. The theory bases life expectancy on gallons consumed,
rather than on hours operated.

Fuel consumed relates directly to horsepower generated times hours of
operation, and is more or less meaningless as a durability indicator
except between comparable engines. What are very definite indicators
however are horsepower per pound and horsepower per cubic inch. The
Yanmars rate poorly on both counts since they are light weight, highly
stressed, turbo charged engines putting out a lot of power for their
weight, actually weighing less than the 350 hp gas engines that they
replaced. All turbo charged diesels are high maintenance relative to
their naturally aspirated brethren but some are more conservatively
engineered than others.