You should get them to warm the engine up then use one of those oil changing pumps you put in the dipstick tube to get an oil sample and send it to be analyzed . http://www.trucksaleguide.com/detroit-diesel-oil.htm

 

A 40 mph average seems very reasonable and means it hasn't been idled a great deal.

My Ram has an average of around 44 MPH if I recall so I would say that is right inline for a motorhome and would indicate mostly highway travel.

 

They sit and do nothing for months at a time. Condensation, bad diesel fuel(from sitting), the list can go on and on. Plus most of the RV pushers have a diesel generator with the kubota d722 tucked inside the chassis, wrapped in sound proofing and heat shields, Bet you can't guess why they don't last either. If you are ready for the biggest money pit of your life, getcha one, been their and done it.

 

Its abuse, just not the kind you would think.

The months on end of sitting and never even being started, condensation in the crankcase, bad fuel, fuel gelling, water in fuel, oil that hardly gets changed because it's 10 years old but the manual says "change every 7500 miles" and it's not even hit 3,000 yet.

There is a huge list of things you're not supposed to do, but this is what ends up happening because of the old phrase "out of sight, out of mind".



Kris

 

A friend of mine has a motorhome with 80/90,000 miles with a cat engine. This thing is big not sure how long 35' i'm guessing. On his first trip he said the engine compartment was so hot when he went to check the oil at one fuel stop it took his breath away. He took it back to the dealer and they removed some of the lower enclosure panels and it helped tremendously but still too hot for his liking. I helped him install 3 16'' fans that blew down towards the ground and it cooled the compartment way down. He has since added oil temp, trans temp, rearend temp, and a temp gauge in the engine compartment to monitor it all. He had the oil tested before he had the panels removed and it was breaking down. Now it shows no sign of breaking down. Knowing what he went thru i'd say heat is the major cause of failure. He and I are both ole truck drivers and have idled trucks many many hours laying over and never really had a problem with idle time wearing out an engine. So heat is probably the cause. I think if you buy one try to figure out a way to alleviate the heat and put gauges on it to monitor all the major components.

 

how often does a 92 need overhaul.......thats a question that doesn't have a concrete answer. diesels that are put to work everyday, and have a good preventative maintenance schedule last 100s of thousands of miles.


heres some kits that are 10 years old. I don't know why these particular onese came out of service but. you can have a look at some gear. was more than likely a transit 6v92. but not sure.

you can see some scuffing, nothing major though.

 

All DIESEL Eng needs is a little loving care and MAINTENANCE. They need to be starter and ran till they get to operating temp. Every 2 weeks.

 

I agree with the above I would also add in a diesel pusher motorhome the engine is a long way from a historicly inexperienced driver that is towing a Hummer H1 without any gauges or preventitive maintainance.
Jim O

 

It seems that almost every motorhome or bus conversion advertised for sale with a Detroit two stroke engine lists a recent rebuild.

Folks have found out the hard way that the claim of a rebuild was totally untrue, or the "rebuild" was replacing one broken part and putting it back together.