I know we are all pro Cummins, but how many of you have owed, operated or serviced Detroit diesels and how do they stack up compaired to other brands?

Good service record?
Good power?
Mileage?
Engine design?

 

I had one of those 6.2L Detroit GM things in a Blazer and I actually thought it was pretty cool, but not too many people like them. I put a turbo on it and stuff and it did good.

 

I think they're 2 cycle diesel engines (as compared to our 4 cycle Cummins) and are equiped with superchargers. They have a sound all their own and are known as capable, POWERFUL & dependable tho maybe not so thrifty with a gallon of fuel as the 4 cycle types. Still, in the right application they could be hard to beat. Owned by Freightliner and IS a subsidary of Daimler/Chrysler even though it was founded in 1938 by GM. Usually when you hear that name one thinks of BIG trucks and HEAVY duty diesels. The Series 60 engine of theirs has been the market share leader since 1992. I'm sure others have some things to say too..... Chuck

 

My brother tells me that because the Detroit Diesel engine is 2 cycle, it will occasionally get running backwards somehow. He said this happened to him and he accidently backed over a car stopped behind him at a light.

Now he badmouths them and says he'll never drive one again.

Any truth to this tale? He's a known BSer.

Edwin

 

Ya the 2 strokes will run backwards. In fact in the marine application running two engines you just have to change the cam in one and it will run backwards to the other. But in a truck or off road application the Detroit 2 strokes are awful. No torgue and very loud. And always a puddle of oil under the blue leakers. Also they have to have a supercharger or they won't run at all. Mack also made a 2stroke they were ok, at least they had some torque. But real diesels are 4 strokes.

 

It's true ..... the 2 cycle Detroit will run backwards but only happens USUALLY on startup or shutdown . Brother must have dumped the clutch I bet !!!! We had them in concrete mixers for awhile but they are oil belching pigs that you had to " drive it like your trying to blow it up " straight from the boss and mechanics mouth !!!

 

I work on detroit 4-71s alot here, they run our generators. leak a lot, don't like them, we have a few air conditioning units that have the V-6 detroits that have a turbo feeding a supercharger

 

The hunting (moose) rig I helped my buddy restore has a Detroit in it. This machine originated in the Kenyan Army....don't have a clue how it got to the U.S. but we put on a new supercharger, alternator, and H2O pump, and a little TLC, roll cage and rifle rack along with a new bench seat, and this thing will pull ANYTHING !!!!...not fast at all but tons of power. Top speed 15mph.
I'll try to get some more recent pics of it up soon....that's my truck behind it for comparison

 

Thats cool!

 

How about the newer 60 series. Seems to be a 4 stroke from what I see on the web site. 4 valve per cyl., inline 6 cyl. I know the displacement is quite large, but how do these stack up?

 

Moose, that's some hunting truck. Is there anything to hunt by the time you get out where your going?? That thing coming through the woods would scare me away!!

I worked on the Series 60 years ago and worked on Cats and Cummins in the big trucks. If I ever drove over the road or bought a rig I'd go with the Series 60. Parts to overhaul if needed were A LOT CHEAPER than anything I saw from Cat or Cummins. We could overhaul one in about 2-3 shifts, somewhere around 20 hours I guess. Valve cover was a snap to get off, remove cam caps and bolt on the front of the engine and out comes the cam. I saw the Cat boys pulling cams and you had to roll the hood forward or take it off, remove radiator, aftercooler,condensor then pull cam out the front. Looked like a major pain in the A@%!! We had several Roadway trucks that had upwards of 900,000 miles, still running and Roadway would just tell us to put in a new engine, new clutch. Nothing ever done to the engine, just go ahead and put a new engine in.

From what I saw working on them they are very reliable, simple and relativly inexpensive to repair in comparison to the other two and last as long as the other two if not longer. Hats off to the engineers who made this one, the only thing I have seen done right in all the stuff I have worked on. I got to where I could do a head gasket in a 10 hour shift, with my 1 hour for lunch, just to show how easy it was. I can't really remember displacement, seemed like they had 11L, 12L and maybe 14L?? Not sure about the last one, but they would run 550hp, 1800ft-lbs and dyno'd a 379 Peterbilt one night with an 18 speed and it put all 550 horses on the ground, that sucker would peg the speedo in 16th!!!

Very good engine, the best one out there in my opinion....well aside from my 5.9 in my truck!!

 

The 60 series is the best engine detroit made. But I will never by one, they still are the king of oil leaks. But the detroit TSB call it road grime cummins and cat don't have that problum. But all in all I can't say to much bad about them.

 

The guys I talk to at Penske prefer working on the detroits. Almost all their lease freighliners run detroits.

 

Each have their own place.
They are known to leak and yes, enough road grimme will actually seal some of thier leaks (kidding).
Anyway, the 2 cycle engines have a very distinctive sound and smell.
Many old busses used this style engine.
EPA killed those engines for road use.
The 60 is not a bad engine and is probably the most widely used Detroit for road applications.

As to your questions, I can only address the engines pre ~1992 (or so) I dont have any 1st hand experience with the ISX, Cats, or newer Detroits.

Service record will probably show a lower mean time between maintanance (in the shop more often) but for some items, the Detroits are cheaper to work on.

Power ratings are usually a bit less than those posted by Cummins and Cat, but still competitive. (Again, pre~ 1992)

Dont know about mileage.

Engine design is still better by either Cat or Cummins (in my opinion)
As I said to start with, each engine has thier place, and Detroits have seen some good use in the OTR market. Given a choice, Id still go Cummins or Cat.

Rich.

 

The reason they are the market share leader is because they are small, lightweight and fuel efficient. They give up a lot of power to CAT and Cummins...but why would the owner of the fleet care, he doesn't drive it.

Most Owner/Operators, and heavy haulers are CAT/Cummins...can't beat the power

My buddy went to a school for Diesel Mechanics. They had two engine dynos, and all the engine software to go with each engine They had a Series 60 on there that made 598HP/1600ft-lbs at 2100RPM...not too bad. Then they put a 3406E CAT on there. Made 530HP/1600ft-lbs at 2000RPM...then they pulled it down Made 635HP/2300ft-lbs at 1200RPM The Detroit would fall on it's face at those levels

Not a bad engine, but it depends on the application too.

Chris

On a side note, those 3406's are TOUGH. He saw one come in that was missing the #5 cylinder. It hydrolocked, broke the rod in half, and shut the engine down...but the driver kept hitting the override button and drove 50 miles home loaded. It hammered the block away at the #5 hole...it almost looked like a factroy 5 cylinder