The variation of the crankshaft speed in a multi-cylinder engine is determined by the resultant gas pressure torque and the torsional deformation of the crankshaft. Under steady state operation, the crankshaft speed has a quasi-periodic variation. For the diagnosis the engine instantaneous speed versus crankshaft angle is utilized. This paper describes a simple measurement method of the engine instantaneous speed versus crankshaft angle using the teeth on the flywheel of the crankshaft. Two non-contacting magnetic pickup combinations detect the crank angle and TDC position for the data acquisition. The results from experiments on a 6 cylinder marine diesel engine demonstrate that the crankshaft speed variation are detected with good resolution. And the crankshaft speed variation is investigated according to the operation conditions. Also, it is confirmed that the engine output measured by EMS can be evaluated larger than the actual value due to TDC position error caused by instantaneous speed variation.