OK, this touches a nerve. IH basically used two V8 versions in their tractors. There 800 and 550. The 800 was 798ci, the 550 was 550ci. The 550 was run in 1468(140hp) and 1568(150hp), these tractors were manufactured from 1971-1976. You could get the same exact tractor with a 436ci I6 engine from ’71 thru ‘76; the 1466(130hp) and the 1566(160hp) were those models. In 1977 IH introduced the 86 series tractors and dropped the V8 versions because it was too costly to offer both. We had a 1974 1468 and that was a pulling hoss. We hooked it to an IH 496 disk in 1981 and it pulled it until we sold the tractor in 1992, when we bought a CIH 7130. The 1468 had 17,000hrs on it and never, not one time, did we do any engine work to it. I can’t say that for our 1975 IH 1566 with the I6, after 400hrs we had to do a complete rebuild due to a hole in a Wet Sleeve. Sure go ahead blame it on it being an IH, some people do that. But try this one on for size our CIH 7130, which has a Cummins 8.3 505 in it; had to be gone thru at 3700hrs. By the way, that 1468 was still running the last time I checked about a year ago. And as for the John Deere I6’s, that same disk has been pulled just as deep on a 4840 as it was on the 1468, and on that JD466 we’ve blow numerous head gaskets, not one on the V8 550. But JD466’s have been known to do that when you scorch them, even when compared to an IH466 at the same temp.
The other V8, the 798ci were used in IH 4568 (1975-1976, 230hp), 4586 (1976-1981, 235hp), 4786 (1978-1981, 260hp). I don’t know much about these engines didn’t have one, never drove one. But I will admit that I have heard people tell that those V8’s would fly apart, due to that fact that they were rated at 2600rpms for those HP’s. The Cummins swap was the usual alternative.
With all of that said, let me say that I will take either of those V8’s over an Allis Chalmers 731ci I6 w/ Twin Turbos. This engine was used in the 8550 (1978-1981, 300hp) and the 4W-305 (1982-1985, 305hp). These engines would literally fly apart, and they were I6’s.
So I don’t think that an I6 is so much better than a V8, it just depends on what you get from the factory and the application. Whether it is on a tractor, a semi-truck, or a pickup truck. It comes down to if you get a blessing or a curse. I6’s have less moving parts, make just as much power as a V8, and can do it at a lower RPM. In total I’d venture a guess to say that there are more I6’s no matter which make or model out there in this world than V8’s that are diesel. Logged more miles, and what not. But there are I6’s that weren’t any good too. They just happen not to be in a Dodge. A Navistar/Ford/Powerstroke 365/6.0, or a GM/Isuzu/Duramax 6.6, which to some of you guys you know no other engines besides those and the Cummins 5.9 and maybe a Navistar 7.3 other than that you have no knowledge of diesels. I don’t know them all, but I know I have had dealings with both V8’s and I6’s that were strong. And I couldn’t sit down and say that either one was better than the other. I wouldn’t say that, because I know that they are both good designs. So I wouldn’t buy a V8 because of what an I6 man says or retells unless they’ve experienced it themselves and the same goes that I wouldn’t buy an I6 because of what a V8 man says. Buy what you like best, everything on this earth will break, if they don’t then you’ve never used it. You’re not working (or for some of you playing) if you don’t break something.

 

A long read with a lot of truth and yes I have done a few IH 6's with holes in the sleeves , a very common occurrence . Around here the IH V8's have just not held up as good , I don't know why . We always switched them over to 6's , mainly because they were more available I guess . With proper maintenance the 6's always held up better (change filter and antifreeze) and for us it has been a better engine .
To say all 8's are junk and all 6 are great would be a long reach , I have seen good in both but if I had to pick I like the inline 6 .
I have a friend that has shirt that reads I would rather push a Chevy then drive Ford and I think when it comes to engines I hate to say it I just prefer one over the other in much the same way .

 

Ahh, but it was, right up untill about 1998.4

 

Oh really. The LB7s over heated and melt those poor little aluminuim heads? The only real issue with the early Dmax was the injectors. The over heating and melt down was and is a internet myth. Some 2004.5 LLY Dmax's had a casting flaw that caused some over heating issues. Not real common. The funny thing about my LB7 is it does not get hot heck in the winter months it hardly ever gets above 185ect. I have to run a front cover and I raised my idle to 1000 to keep it from cooling off to much.

6.5td was a Detroit Diesel design. Not going to argue with you about it. I agree it was for the most part Junk! Who owns Detroit Deisel now? DC that is who. The CTD is a great engine. It is what converted me from a hard gashole to to diesel freak. I like my truck it has served me well. Works hard, Plays hard, and Dead reliable.

 

That's funny!

 

Close to Perfect? Maybe to the blindly loyal ones, They have had there share of problems over the years just as any other engine brand. The 5.9L Cummins is a very good engine, but it was not perfected overnight. (As some would like to believe)

And before you repeat stories you have read on the net, you should look in to them a little. The first Duramax engines had NO overheating issues.

 

The first duramax's Isuzu had a big problem with over heating and many that I know who drove them traded them in because the dealer could not fix them .
I am talking about trucks I have seen not anything I have read . I did not make this up and if it is written on the net some were it does not surprise me much because it was a problem . I do not spend my time surfing the net looking for dirt on Chevy diesels , it is a lot easier to find along the road , I know many Chevy guy's and the dirt I have seen . On a side note everyone of the guys I know who had this problem went right out a purchased another Isuzu Chevy , talk about blind loyalty . Many would rather push then switch and some do just that . I will let the guys I know that thier is no over heating problems on the trucks they had with over heating problems that should make them happy .
The first Cummins were very good engines with little to no problems , like I said almost perfect . There have been some small problems over the years and I will say I wish some were handled better but they were low in number and nothing even close to what Chevy and Ford consider normal business .

 

Well, around here, farmers, ranchers and oil field guys all drive either a cummins or powerstroke. We have tried out cummins and duramax's out in the oil patch, but the powerstrokes seemed to be the only truck that will stand up to the beating of those *nice* lease roads...

 

Let me sum it up in one great quote Hoss. Buck Spruill owns a 2002 2500 silver and is attemping to drive the duramax into the 10s on the drag. He stated "Could I ever be competitive with the Dodges? No. But it ain't like I ain't gonna try." (October 2006 ,Diesel Power)

If your goal is to finish second . . . go ahead get the P.O.S. (piece of chevy)

 

our entire town is oilfield.. i used to work in the bush. muskeg owns us. the powerstroke has a strong front end but there not greasable and tend to wear out just as quick now-adays. there trannys are the first to go and you laughing if you don't have injector trouble, turbo problems or high pressure oil pump problems. and if you care to doubt me i could go in tomarrow and take pics of two truck i got sitting on hoists cause of this. there all gonna EDIT break down in the end. i'd just rather do a few ball joints rather than have my motor go down every couple weeks. (and don't get me started on teh brake sliders jamming on the ford and dodges on the rear inside and wearing out the pads in less than 35,000km's)

sorry end rant...

 

Check out "Work Supplied" in my sig. No further comment required.

 

Intake - you might want to edit the profanity before the admins catch it...

 

That must have been old information, because he is well into the 10's now, and infact I believe he ran a 10.53.

As for the first Duramax' having overheating problems, This thread is the only place I have read about it. Now the early LLY's had some of those O H issues. But not the LB7's (Which were the first Duramax')

It always seams like the owners of other brands see problems from the other guy, yet his seam to be perfect. (It doesn't matter what brand you own, it's always the best ) My yogo can out pull you Military 5 ton

 

What board are you on??? I will have to get some links from my good friend on the Dieselpage... It was a problem with some, not all units. They do get warm as should any engine working out 300hp. To say the needle never moves would be a mis-leading point as I have seen for myself an 02 DM stock, getting well over 110°C where mine is under that pulling the same load.. Cooling systems are the week link on many of the Diesels, even the 89 - 91.4 CTD's had cooling problems, but no intercooler will do that.

 

Go to this URL: http://dieselplace.com/forum/ and read about the LLY OH problems and from what I read a while back it was more than just a few that did this. Yet GM said the LLY (2004.5 to 2005) does not OH and if so you must be towing to much weight. Don't know why GM thinks a CAI X box will stop it from over heating. Oh well I'm sure glad I don't own a POJ like that at a cost of over $35,000.00.

I still don't know why someone asked about a GMC/Chevy Maxipad in a Dodge Forum!

JMHO