Abstract. The paper analyzes the possibility to use the electronic type indicators in the diagnosis of marine engines. It has been shown that in-depth analysis of indicator diagrams would be useful -calculation of heat release characteristics. To make this possible, measuring indicated systems should meet a number of important requirements in or-der to ensure that they can be used for the diagnostic purposes. These includes: high precision sensors for the measurement of cylinder pressure, high speed and accuracy of measuring and recording of measured values. These also includes reliable determination of the top dead center piston (TDC). In order to demonstrate the impact of positional error TDC, simulation study was conducted in which indicated diagrams were used, obtained on a medium-speed four-stroke marine diesel engine type A25/30 and the low-speed two-stroke marine diesel engine type RTA76, Sulzer company.