Oil for Detroits

[td25c]

Makes me wonder what happens if they idle past the 90 seconds ?
Something bad ?

I have to admit I was an idle Nazi around Detroits. If they didn't need to be running, they weren't.[/QUOTE]
I really don't worry about it much RZ . Some jobs they idle allot & some full throttle depending on the situation .

This is a General Motors two cycle diesel engine built for all tasks & conditions .

If these engines are really that temperamental about the oil type & RPM's they are sure standing the test of time .
If anything I would consider them one of the most "easy going " engines ever built .
Happy as long as they got oil & fuel in them

 

[old-iron-habit]

Makes me wonder what happens if they idle past the 90 seconds ?
Something bad ?

I was fueling machines at the end of the day and forgot to turn off a 4-53 in my tree shear with a full tank of fuel in the woods a few years ago. Two plus days later when it would not start I discovered it was out of fuel. While looking things over I noted the engine was still warm to the touch. Added 45 gallons of fuel, filled the filters, started it up and went to work. It's still going today. I use straight 30 weight year around and preheat below zero F.

 

[mog5858]

hey OIH your are alive out there. well i had to go back and re read some things. the s7 manual said 5 min's not 90's i don't where i got that from. from what i found aroud hear is
SINGLE GRADE BXHD DIESEL ENGINE OIL 40W witch is a Boss lubricant. the ash is 1%. thanks for the help

 

[kshansen]

This is a General Motors two cycle diesel engine built for all tasks & conditions .

If these engines are really that temperamental about the oil type & RPM's they are sure standing the test of time .

I have to agree to a point on this. The Detroits do seem to be able to live under all kinds of conditions, some that I would consider outright abuse!

For many years we ran 8-71's in IR Drill rigs and when started they would go from cold stopped right up to 1,800 rpm in a mater of a couple seconds. There was a hand control that the operator "could" use to manually hold the governor in the low idle position, but as these drill rigs often were up on leveling jacks climbing up to reach the control was too much effort for the operator so 0 to 1,800 was what they did. I would say that 90% of the problems we had with those engines were from eating the dust that was around them all day.

The sickest looking 3-53 we had was a genset that was put in an application way to light for it. Should have been a small Honda 750 watt genset but they used this 3-53 because they had it sitting there. It would sit there running at virtually 0 load for 12 to 16 hours every night and all weekend for months at a time. Despite looking like someone dumped dirty motor oil over it every night it would be ready to go to work the next night. Black mess was from the dripping un-burnt fuel mixed with the exhaust carbon.

Then there was the 12V-71 we had in the last Terex haul truck, that was run on 15W-40 oil for several years and was still running the day it was loaded on the truck after it was sold at auction. I'm sure it had several stuck rings as it did not burn very clean and was down on power, but with good set of batteries it would fire right up on its own anything above 60ºF. It did burn your eyes to drive that truck!

To make a long tail longer, those old Detroits were and still are tough engines but treating them right does do wonders for the way they run! If I had to have an engine I depended on out in the back woods I would take an old Detroit over any "Modern" engine built in the last ten years! The newer ones are better for the environment I'm sure and may use a bit less fuel but one bad wire or sensor and they are dead in the water.

 

[RZucker]

The big save on those 1800 RPM starts is the cast iron pistons Detroit used. They expand at the same rate as the rest of the engine. Actually I think the thin dry liners in a 71 series would expand to the block bore first giving the pistons time to catch up. Anyhow that's my theory and I'm sticking to it. But try that with aluminum pistons and see what happens. Another reason 2 strokers were good in fire trucks.

 

[kshansen]

The big save on those 1800 RPM starts is the cast iron pistons Detroit used. They expand at the same rate as the rest of the engine. Actually I think the thin dry liners in a 71 series would expand to the block bore first giving the pistons time to catch up. Anyhow that's my theory and I'm sticking to it. But try that with aluminum pistons and see what happens. Another reason 2 strokers were good in fire trucks.

A bit off topic but while taking about cold starts with aluminum piston engines. For close to 20 years I rode a XS650 Yamaha back and forth to work at least 11 months out of the year. At home it sat in a 40ºF garage but at work it sat outside sometimes into the single digits. give it a couple kicks drop it into 1st gear and crank open the throttles and go. Total commute distance one way was right around a mile and I did it in short order every time.

Never understand why that engine kept running! I probably changed the oil or whatever that stuff was that came out the drain plug hole every couple years or so. I should tear that one down someday just for kicks to see what it looks like inside!

 

[RBMcCloskey]

I suggest D-A Lube's Reliant Monograde Diesel Engine Oil, I use it in my 3-53's and 4-53's works great.
http://www.dalube.com/pdfs/Reliant monogrades.pdf

 

[Former Wrench]

It will also glaze the rings and liners.

 

[alskdjfhg]

Detroit are really odd ducks, that's for sure.

One of these days I'd really like to find a semi with a 12v92..... When your stuck at the intersection next the idiot playing the radio too loud with an annoying a fartcan exhaust, just idle wide open.....

 

[kshansen]

Detroit are really odd ducks, that's for sure.

One of these days I'd really like to find a semi with a 12v92..... When your stuck at the intersection next the idiot playing the radio too loud with an annoying a fartcan exhaust, just idle wide open.....

Just need to make up a set of cut-outs for the exhaust like the hotroders use. Filp the switch to open them up then crank of that V12! Even better if you can find a non-turbo version the turbo acts too much like a muffler!

For that matter even a non-turbo 855 Cummins with the pump pressure set on the high side would be good too. We had an old IH with the slant six version of the 855 in it with straight exhaust, that would bark pretty good under load and at night push a nice blue flame out the stack on a hard pull.

 

[Truck Shop]

Detroit are really odd ducks, that's for sure.

One of these days I'd really like to find a semi with a 12v92..... When your stuck at the intersection next the idiot playing the radio too loud with an annoying a fartcan exhaust, just idle wide open.....

Well unfortunately there are no semis with 12V92's factory but the 12V71 was pretty common years ago.
30 years ago or so I was working construction driving a Ford LN 9000 with a V92. One afternoon and setting in the left lane at a stop light I look in the mirror and see a convertible
on my right second car inline top down. He was all spiffed up setting there with his girlfriend. My truck had twin weed burners with a 90* turned straight out. Light turned I stepped
into it real hard with a third gear start. You can guess what happened. I was feeling a little ornery that day.

Truck Shop

 

[RZucker]

Well unfortunately there are no semis with 12V92's factory but the 12V71 was pretty common years ago.
30 years ago or so I was working construction driving a Ford LN 9000 with a V92. One afternoon and setting in the left lane at a stop light I look in the mirror and see a convertible
on my right second car inline top down. He was all spiffed up setting there with his girlfriend. My truck had twin weed burners with a 90* turned straight out. Light turned I stepped
into it real hard with a third gear start. You can guess what happened. I was feeling a little ornery that day.

Truck Shop

You can do the same thing with a 12 valve Dodge Cummins with the aneroid screwed in a turn or so. Had a stupid pedestrian try to cross in front of me against a light so I screeched to a stop before I squashed him. he stepped back on the curb and yelled at me that this was my fault... Huh?. Anyways I was hauling a 12K excavator on the trailer and just inched forward and then buried his dumbazz in coal smoke.

 

[Brodiesel]

Speaking of oil for Detroits somebody please explain this...came from a 6V92 I saw a couple days ago...

 

[mog5858]

RBMcCloskey thanks for your info about your oil. but i could not help but see that the Ash levels are out of spec. by 27% more. Brodiesel that is a bad looking oil pan was there some kind of engine fail or just a rebuild? thanks for your help guys.

 

[OFF]

not trying to go down another rabbit hole but i did read in my manual that they should only idle for 90 seconds?

I was always told that it was because the oil pressure on a Jimmy is so low at an idle. Normally at an idle they drop right off to 10 psi or less. When leaving one idle we always reved it up to about 1200 rpm or so, enough so the oil pressure came up to about 20 psi.

 

[RZucker]

Speaking of oil for Detroits somebody please explain this...came from a 6V92 I saw a couple days ago...

Internal coolant leak. Chocolate Mousse.

 

[RBMcCloskey]

RBMcCloskey thanks for your info about your oil. but i could not help but see that the Ash levels are out of spec. by 27% more. Brodiesel that is a bad looking oil pan was there some kind of engine fail or just a rebuild? thanks for your help guys.

I have used D-A for 40+ years and have never had a problem with any of their products.
The Ash levels have not been a issue in my Detroit Diesels since the 1980's, they are still running great.