Recommended minimum frequency of running a BMC 1.5 engine

[Bloomsberry]

I use my boat as a floating holiday home and don't take it out much.

When I bought the boat I was advised to give the engine a good run at least once a month to keep the engine coated in oil and stop condensation forming.

However I have now been told that this is not a good idea and should run it at least weekly and need to run it up to temperature while in gear and not just idling.

However, I changed the oil ( SAE 30) in my BMC 1.5 in early November using a pela extractor and to clear the tube of oil I've hung it up. This is to let gravity pull the remaining oil residue out of the tube with the oil collecting on a newspaper. 3 months later and there is still oil seeping out which seems to indicate that the oil stays on surfaces for much longer than 1 week.

From this it seems that weekly running is a bit of overkill ?

What do the experts recommend for the minimum engine running frequency ?

[Theo]

Theodora has a BMC 1.5. I have been putting her to bed November and not waking her up for a couple of months. She always starts easily. Perhaps I am not ding it right, though. I am not an engineer though and have only had the boat since 2006.

 

N

[RLWP]

I would worry more about your batteries than your engine.

 

Personally, I'd rather take the boat out for a trip once a month. We are not managing this at the moment, so I suspect our batteries are suffering badly

 

Richard

[alan_fincher]

When I was seriously ill a few years ago, our boat was neglected, (in fact I thin not visited at all), for over a year.

 

I would seriously not recommend doing that (!), but we thought that after than time there is no way in the world there would be charge in the batteries to start the engine.

 

It was admiiedly a bit borderline, but it started. (Although if you read up the rate at which a lead acid battery is normally supposed to self-discharge, logic says it probably should not have done!)

 

Engine is a BMC.

I wouldn't worry unduly about engine running, for the health of the engine, but if batteries are not being charged any other way, then I wouldn't leave it too many weeks between running it, for the reasons Richard gives.

 

On recent experience though, you can't beat an air-cooled Lister, if you want instant starting to be more or less guaranteed how ever long you leave the boat. I thought Sickle's only battery was more or less a goner when we bought her nearly 3 years ago, but the engine starts so readily, that I still haven't bothered to change it. (.....Famous last words!....)

[Grace and Favour]

I use my boat as a floating holiday home and don't take it out much.

 

When I bought the boat I was advised to give the engine a good run at least once a month to keep the engine coated in oil and stop condensation forming.

 

However I have now been told that this is not a good idea and should run it at least weekly and need to run it up to temperature while in gear and not just idling.

 

However, I changed the oil ( SAE 30) in my BMC 1.5 in early November using a pela extractor and to clear the tube of oil I've hung it up. This is to let gravity pull the remaining oil residue out of the tube with the oil collecting on a newspaper. 3 months later and there is still oil seeping out which seems to indicate that the oil stays on surfaces for much longer than 1 week.

 

From this it seems that weekly running is a bit of overkill ?

 

What do the experts recommend for the minimum engine running frequency ?

 

 

 

Once a month really should be absolutely fine - - and, please don't run it in gear unless you are cruising . . for running it in gear whilst moored degrades the bank/canal/marina - and serves no useful purpose (and it's against CRT regs)

 

Modern oils have excellent adhesion properties, particularly if the oil is still in reasonable condition (and not been in the engine for many years/been hammered without replacement

[Alan Saunders]

When I had a leisure/weekend/holiday boat on an offside mooring with little supervision we used it at least one weekend per month throughout the winter. For my own peace of mind I preferred not to leave it unattended for more than two weeks. On one occasion the 'Aqua Filta' had frozen, burst and left a damp mess in the cupboard under the kitchen sink.

 

I would check the mooring ropes and springs, the bilges for water, the stern gland, the battery voltage etc. and maybe do a bit of fettling, cleaning and polishing, chat to my neighbours and, if the weather was 'clement', I could not resist a short cruise to the nearest winding hole or, maybe, one more lock, and another.

 

Running an engine in a laid-up car is an old-fashioned (WWII, 1940s) idea. For a long lay-up, remove heater-plugs or injectors, add 5ml (teaspoon) of oil, turn engine over by hand, replace plugs. Fully charged batteries should be OK for three months; partially charged batteries may freeze.

 

Alan

[Burgiesburnin]

Running it for ten minutes once a month should be fine.

[Arthur Brown]

With a modern oil in the sump and reasonably fresh, a 6 month layup shouldn't harm an engine. However after six weeks the battery will be fading so a solar panel sized to maintain the battery would be a good plan.

 

With an old knackered oil that's like yoghurt a week is too long.

[jelunga]

In the days when we had one, the Army used to run all in service plant and vehicles once a month. Stuff in store was properly preserved and sealed.

[David Schweizer]

I normally try to visit our boat and run the BMC 1.5 engine (for a couple of hours) every four to six weeks in the winter. If it is very cold the engine does need some coaxing to start but runs well once started. As for batteries, I have never had a problem with them, i guess that up to a point it depends on how big they are and what condition they are in.

 

Oh and thanks Alan (S) for the recollection about the Aquafilter, i forgot to remove and empty ours when i winterized, fortunately we have not had much frost yet, but it will coming off when i nextvisit the boat.

[Bloomsberry]

Thanks for the replies. The guy giving the advice was an ex-car salesman so Alan's reply made a lot of sense.

I change the engine oil regularly despite the lack of movement so feel a lot happier about my situation.

[Paul C]

I'd say every couple of weeks, ideally.

[Geoff Taylor]

How often an engine is run is not that important but when you do run it up make sure the operating temperature is reached or run it for at least an hour. Running for a few minutes will cause lots of condensation and premature wear on the internals.

 

At work I recently ran up around 12 Ford Dover engined Lincoln welder sets that had not been used for 15 - 20 years and the only pre start preps were to make sure the Simms Minimec injector pump racks were not seized and an oil change and filters. They all started on the old diesel and ran as if they had been used the day before (the brushes were stuck in some of the starter motors).

 

As Richard states,it is the bits around it that suffer most (batteries,alternators,belts etc).