edy

Do not start them with brake clean tried that worked for a while till all the sudden it went to w.o.t. and blew oil allover my truck for about 5 seconds then it dies they are really crappy to start.

PistolWhipt

How much are you spraying in ?? Don't you have access to regular starting fluid ? Are you using any kind of pre-heater (glow plugs etc... )??

I don't like having a diesel runaway ... Detroits run at high RPMs to begin with but adding that shot of "juice" tends to make things interesting ... as you have found out.
Best of luck cleaning up the oil... sounds like fun

PISTOL

edy

The motor is junk anyway it is in a 1973 dodge 900 it has over 800,000 miles the truck is a rag to.just trying to get it running and get it to a junk yard

JD730

Someone once told me that the detroit diesel was general motor's answer to the self lubricating truck. The oil is probably normal for a worn out 671.

And detriots don't run any faster than a 4 stroke engine, they sound like they're running twice as fast because its a 2 stroke.

I would prefer to use ether, I don't think brake clean is volitile enough. It probably got built up in the air cleaner, the engine probably started running on it and then sucked in the built up stuff and did the run away thing. Which btw detriots are infamous for anyway, most had emergancy air flaps in the blower incase something like that happened and you could close the air off and shut it down.

roadranger

They are only crappy to start when they are all worn out and can't whip up enough compression heat on a starter...

Way back in the Dark Ages I drove a truck with a 238hp 6-71 that would outrun the 235hp Mack Maxidynes in the fleet.
Plus, the sound of that 6-71 skinning up and down thru the gears was music to my ears! You can't listen to that music out on the highways any more...

DetroitDiesel71

Yea , just look at my advatar.. I am a detroit for life guy, yea I love my cummins, but I grew up on the detroits. When I was about 8 yrs old after my dad and I had finished a 12V71-TI rebuild, my job during the trial was my home made air shut downs for the blower screens, because the air flaps were off until test run was done and intercoolers put on...those were the days. My dad is the only detroit guy left on the gulf pretty much that is repitable, and has parts

Willy91

We run Detroits in our trenching equipment, I can't remeber the numbers off hand, but the trencher has a 4 cylinder two stroke and the backfiller has a three cylinder two stroke, they both sound awsome for being non-turbocharged.

Racer9

Man (sniffle) I miss the days of the ol' Screamin' Jimmies. Fill up the oil, and check the fuel. My dad used to say "the first thing you do when you get in is, slam the door on your hand! These trucks run better if you drive 'em like you're mad". I only blew one up, a 318. Ran a 6-71 for 2 years, and was the only driver in that truck who never twisted a driveshaft off. I got a buddy who's putting a 12V71 into a Western Star glider. Can't wait 'til it's finished. Also ran a couple Euclid hi-lifts and end dumps. You really needed ear plugs around me!!

RCW

Low compression is your problem, a Detroit 2 cycle in a truck is pretty much done for at 300,000 miles, so that one you have is a bit beyond its life.

The Detroit 2 cycle engines are actually pretty good. Yes, they are a bit noisy, and create a lot of smoke, but they will work and work for little cost. The EPA killed them off, and there a thousands still working very well. You can also rebuild one for a couple hundred dollars a hole, and do it in your driveway. The Detroit 2 cycle engine is completely modular and easy to work on.

I still have a Terex crawler with a 12V71TA and Allison transmission, and it will outwork any Caterpillar ever made. It uses a lot of fuel, but when it is time to do the really dirty work that old girl comes out of the shop and gets it done when the new stuff just grunts and groans.

induchman

Almost all of my used boats had Detroit's in them. From the smallest sailboat with a 271 to the large shrimper with 12V71's. For my money they were the best, but they used oil by the buckets. Never changed the oil, just kept adding it. Even tho we replaced with them with Cummins B3.9, B5.9 and N14's, we continued to use them as gensets. On the farm I've got five or six of them still working 20 years after they were pulled.

90dodge

my favorite truck back on the ranch was a old dodge 900 truck. we had 6 trucks we used to haul MINT tubs from the field to the still. this old dodge was was the ugliest truck ever, with no A/C. so no one else liked running it. i loved it. one of my mechanic mentors new the ins and outs of that 6-71. and he turned that thing up real good. theres somthing about a 14 year old boy doing 89 mph in a truck, blowin black smoke, pullin a mint tub down the highway that will make a state trooper speachless. i told him the trucks speedo was broke. witch it was. and that i had to get the tub to the still. hes like what the heck is in this thing. i told him it was a detroit! he said holly poop. and told me to slow down. then called my uncle! i didnt get to drive any more mint trucks till i was 16. that old green dodge was my truck, and every one around new it was me when they seen it coming. i wanted to buy that truck when we sold it at a farm auction. sold for $3K. but my uncle and aunt took my number, and said he isnt bidding . they said i needed to spend my money else where. so i pist them off and bought a 69 mustang with a 400 hp 351W. that didnt go over well.

Bob

EClancy

Theres a guy in town with an older mack (mid eighties or so) that has a detroit and he hauls a lowboy with it. You sure know when that thing is coming into town, especially loaded

59FORD

You guys got me all misty eyed talkin like this.

Yeah I miss my Twin Six's from yesteryear but I don't miss the 3 miles per gallon.
All that with a double over 13 speed...............sniff...................sniff

(as tear trickles down the right cheek)

RickG

Talk about a runaway ! Ever hear a Detroit close to a broken natural gas line ? Be careful out there .
My first OTR truck ( long before CDL's were heard of ) was a '71 Transtar cabover with a 318 and a 13 speed . I hauled boxed meat from Monfort ( who remembers what the " Monfort Lane " was? ) to Buffalo , NY .

Willy91

We install farm drainage tile, so we are rarley next to any gas or water lines, unless the outlet is by a road. The only gas lines that I can remember ever crossing was the Texas eatern lines, and you can't use the trencher while crossing those. Have to use the backhoe with a bar welded across the teeth and a lot of hand shoveling.