The fuel efficiency of a modern diesel engine has decreased due to the recent revisions to emission standards. For an engine fuel economy, the engine speed is to be optimum for an exact throttle opening (TO) position. This work presents an analysis of throttle opening variation impact on a multi-cylinder, direct injection diesel engine with the aid of Second Law of thermodynamics. For this purpose, the engine is run for different throttle openings with several load and speed variations. At a steady engine loading condition, variation in the throttle openings has resulted in different engine speeds. The Second Law analysis, also called 'Exergy' analysis, is performed for these different engine speeds at their throttle positions. The Second Law analysis includes brake work, coolant heat transfer, exhaust losses, exergy efficiency, and air-fuel ratio. The availability analysis is performed for 70%, 80%, and 90% loads of engine maximum power condition with 50%, 75%, and 100% TO variations. The data are recorded using a computerized engine test unit. Results indicate that the optimum engine operating conditions for 70%, 80% and 90% engine loads are 2000 rpm at 50% TO, 2300 rpm at 75% TO and 3250 rpm at 100% TO respectively. Copyright © 2009 by ASME.