Detroit Diesel engines are most typically seen in Freightliner and Western Star trucks, which is unsurprising. After all, Daimler Trucks North America LLC, the parent firm of all three companies, owns them all. Detroit Diesel is a manufacturer of six different engine models that was founded in 1938 in Detroit, Michigan. The numbering system for the engine family is based on the number of liters that the cylinders may displace.
Is the Detroit Diesel engine a good one?
In the diesel community, this engine is well-known and well-liked. According to Diesel Power Magazine’s “Finest Diesel Engine Ever” list, Detroit Diesel’s Series 60 is the second best diesel engine ever. Since 1992, it has been the most widely used heavy-duty diesel engine in North America. That’s quite a compliment!
What is the difference between a Duramax and a Detroit Diesel?
LB7 Duramax The Duramax engine was created to address the gap left by the Detroit Diesel engine when compared to engines available in Dodge and Ford trucks. The first-generation 6.6 liter Duramax turbo diesel engine, the LB7, was released in 200.
Which Detroit engine is the best?
Ah, the coveted diesel engine: raw horsepower, strength, and the ability to get the job done. You can’t go wrong with diesel, and in this author’s opinion, if you choose diesel over a gas engine, you’re already way ahead of the game. Okay, we understand. Diesel is fantastic, but which diesel truck engine is the absolute best? Cummins guys would argue until their last breath that the Cummins 5.9 is undoubtedly the best diesel engine ever produced, while CAT or PowerStroke guys will stare in bewilderment at their buddies’ verbal diarrhea. The debate dates back to Rudolf Diesel’s time. So it’s a good thing I’m not “The Decider”… That kind of pressure isn’t necessary for me. It’s a good thing someone else is willing to take my place. Capital Reman has put up its best effort to rank the Top 10 Best and Worst Diesel Engines of All Time. What they came up with is the subject of this article. What are your thoughts on this? Did they nail it, or did they utterly miss the mark on this one?
Honorable Mention: The Cummins B-Series
Why We Like It: This Cummins engine wasn’t the first to give the medium-duty diesel engine market some respectability, but it certainly polished it. The torque rating capabilities of the 4BT, 6BT, and ISB 5.9L engines was incredible. If you need to tow something, these engines can handle it. Honorable mention on the list of the best diesel engines of all time isn’t bad.
International DT-466
What We Enjoy About It: What is there not to like about this engine?! You’ve undoubtedly seen 47 trucks with DT-466 engines if you’ve ever driven on a public roadway. This engine, baby, hauls America’s freight every day and serves as the backbone of medium-duty fleets across the country. It’s a fleet manager’s choice since it lasts a long time, has a high torque-to-power ratio, and can be rebuilt right in the truck’s frame. For the sheer amount of units remaining on the road, number 5 seems appropriate for the best diesel engine.
VT-265, VT-265, VT-335, VT-365 Series: Worst International Engine (Became PowerStroke 6.0L)
Why We Hate It: The International Light Duty vehicles, in particular the VT-265 and VT-335, were released in 2003. The Powerstroke was officially adopted by Ford in 2003, but it had been in production since 1994. The predecessors had six cylinders, but an International bean counter felt it would be a good idea to remove two of them, resulting in a four-cylinder engine. This was not well received, and the VT-265 and VT-335 were severely underpowered. What is the best diesel engine? I don’t believe so.
Mack E-7
What We Like About It: Ruff ruff ruff ruff ruff ruff ruff ruff r Grrrr… That’s a fine young man! What is it about the Mack Bulldog that you don’t like? Mack truck engines have been around since 1893, when the Mack Brothers purchased the Brooklyn-based Fallsen & Berry Wagon Company. Mack has long been considered as a workhorse who moves slowly and steadily. In 1909, it developed its first hook and ladder fire engine, and during WWI, it produced over 6,000 vehicles for the US and British military, as well as assisting in the construction of the Hoover Dam. The crankshaft to wheel torque ratio of its engines is well-known. These are the engines that propelled the United States of America forward. The Mack E-7 was introduced in 1988 and remained in production until the early twenty-first century. They’re really easy to overhaul and rebuild, and they do precisely what you need. They won’t win any races, but they’re highly dependable. You can’t forget about the bulldog when it comes to the greatest diesel engine. Mack, you’ve done a fantastic job!
Mack Engines are Awesome! Worst Mack Engine: None… Macks are Awesome! In addition, there are only about 5 models. E-6, E-7, E-Tech, MP8, MP11, and so on… they’re all fairly good.
CAT 3406E
Why We Like It: Being The King is a great feeling! It’s incredible how many individuals bleed yellow, and rightly so in the majority of situations. There have been a few catastrophic Caterpillar engine failures, but the 3406E is not one of them. The CAT 3406 engine is available in A, B, C, and E versions, and it later evolved into the CAT C15 and eventually the CAT C15 Acert. This was a very successful engine for CAT because it was the first well evolved electronic engine. The Caterpillar 3406E engine was so good that it was used in the most majority of Peterbuilt trucks in the mid-to-late 1990s and early 2000s. The ECM design was simple to work with, and it quickly gained a following of programmers who could create a wide range of software for the engine. This “open source” concept with the ECM allows end users to “hot rod” the engine by changing the injectors, camshaft, or valve timing to increase horsepower and torque. The CAT 3406E is still in use in millions of on-road and off-road applications around the world in 2016. Overall, Caterpillar is the undisputed king of diesel engines, deserving of third position on our list of the greatest diesel engines.
Why We Hate It: It’s not that we despise the CAT 3116; it’s that we despise how difficult it is to deal with. The fuel system is exceedingly difficult to time, and working on the CAT 3116, like working on a VW in the automotive world, necessitates unique tooling that can only be purchased from Caterpillar. Working on the 3116 can cost up to $5000 in tooling costs. Another reason we dislike the 3116 is that it is much underpowered when compared to a Cummins 5.9 or 6BT. The CAT 3116 was designed to be thrown away. Despite the fact that the 3116 was employed in a wide range of applications, including several naval ones, the CAT 3126 and eventually the CAT C7 were probably superior models. To summarize, the CAT 3116 isn’t a bad engine, but it’s near the bottom of the list of the finest diesel engines.
Cummins 855 Big Cam
Why We Love It: With a name like that, how could you not fall in love with this engine right away? Doesn’t that have a nice ring to it? The Cummins 855 Big Cam was the company’s last mass-produced true mechanical variable-timing engine in 1976. The Big Cam engine, which succeeded the small cam 855, was Cummins’ first to comply with the Clean Air Act and noise requirements of the period. The Cummins Big Cam 855 engine was produced in four generations and was replaced by the N14 in 1985. The 855 Big Cam is a favorite of ours due of its raw horsepower and dependability. A Cummins 855 Big Cam can easily operate 700,000 miles before needing to be overhauled. The Cummins 855 Big Cam was the company’s first engine to use demand-flow cooling, which cools the engine only when it needs it. The saved horsepower at the crankshaft is then used to provide extra horsepower into the project at hand. By incorporating pulse manifolds into the engines, the Strong Cam II considerably improved performance; these were a big selling point for these engines at the time. The overall horsepower of this engine was the key reason it outsold the small cam variants. The Cummins 855 Big Cam had top-stop injectors and one of the largest camshaft diameters on the market at the time. Any old school truck driver from the 1970s can tell you stories about how the Cummins 855 series was the king of the road. It’s difficult to leave these engines off any list of the top diesel engines of all time. The 855 had various flaws, particularly when it came to starting the engine in cooler climes. To power the injectors and varied timing requirements, oil/water pump, and valve spring pressures, the 855 utilises a lower pressure fuel injection system at 2,200 psi. That being said, a glow plug or an injection of ether should suffice to resolve this minor issue, as this engine is otherwise excellent.
Why We Hate It: The Cummins ISX engine was introduced in 2001 to replace the long-running N14 engine from the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was meant to be the best diesel engine Cummins had ever created, and it was supposed to be the Caddalic. That, however, did not turn out to be the case. The ISX had a dual overhead cam arrangement, with one cam accessing the valve train and the other operating the injectors. The Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) system was added to the ISXCM870 in 2002, and it takes exhaust gas and recirculates it back into the engine’s intake. This reduces the temperature of the combustion chamber, minimizing the generation of NOx. Although the concept was appealing, the system had numerous flaws that resulted in numerous engine failures. The twin overhead cam design, which overcomplicated things and generated several snowball effect issues in the engine, is the main source of failure. Finally, early ISX models experienced a slew of troubles with the ECM, leaving a sour taste in the mouths of many Cummins owners. Cummins redesigned the ISX in 2010 with a single overhead design to make things easier, but the harm had already been done. Cummins’ entry into the electronic world was planned to be this, but it was far too sophisticated for its own benefit. It certainly belongs on the list of the greatest diesel engines; it’s a letdown.
Detroit Diesel Series 60
Why We Love It: The Detroit Diesel Series 60 is without a doubt the greatest diesel engine ever made for the class 8 market. The Detroit Diesel Series 60 was primarily created by John Deere, though the extent to which Deere had an influence is controversial. John Deere Engine Company cast the Detroit Diesel Series 50 cylinder heads. In the early 1970s, GM’s Detroit Diesel had a market share of around 41% of all diesel engines sold in the United States. By the early 1980s, that figure had dropped to around 4% of the market. GM saw that the firm was in trouble and sought assistance from John Deere engineers in order to restore the company’s reputation. Although a proposed joint venture between the two businesses fell through, JD engineers are said to have devised the ring system, which fixed many of the Series 60’s oil leakage concerns, as well as the cylinder head design. The introduction of the first electronically controlled engine with the patented technology was the Series 60’s principal flaw “DDEC stands for Detroit Diesel Engine Control. The proposed company’s name was to be “DEDEC” stands for “Deere Engine Company, Detroit Engines.” The combined venture, however, never materialized, but the engine control technology did.
Consumers loved the original diesel ECM because it was simple to operate and provided real-time updates to the driver. Engine diagnostics, shutdown timers, progressive shift functions, fault history and record keeping, speed limiting governors, cruise control, and automated stall prevention were all integrated in the DDEC system. The cruise control technology was particularly popular with fleet managers due to its fuel-saving function, but most significantly, the DDEC system allowed the operator to download engine management reports, offer a record of over-speeding, excessive idle time, hard breaking, and other factors. Dealers could adjust the horsepower settings using the DDEC, and proprietary software could be inserted into the computer in some situations. The system was simple to use, and diagnostic codes were displayed to the driver in real time: red indication lights indicated a critical problem, while yellow lights indicated a minor one. Detroit Diesel did not pioneer the modern ECM; instead, it modified GM’s ECM technology from the early 1980s for use in diesel engines. BMW developed the first ECM in 1939 for the Kommandogerat plane during WWII. The DDEC craze ushered in the electronic age of diesel engines.
From 1987 until 2007, Detroit Diesel produced the DDEC I, DDEC II, DDEC III, DDEC IV, and 14L/DDEC V hybrid engines, which became the company’s most popular selling diesel engines. The Series 60 was the first significant diesel engine to use a larger bore and open the lead cam. The DDEC IV engine produced up to 575 horsepower before being superseded in 2007 by the 14.0 L engine. Millions of Detroit Diesel Series 60 engines are still on the road today, and due to its open source design, remanufacturing Detroit Diesel Series 60 engines is incredibly simple. Freightliner and Penske trucks have had exclusive contracts to use Series 60 engines in their trucks for the past 20 years. All hail the king of diesel, and may it continue to be remembered as the world’s best diesel engine.
All ancient two-stroke Series 50, V-71, or V-92 technology is the worst Detroit engine. Good stuff, however these antique engines have been outclassed by technology. The ancient two-stroke technology is simple to repair, but it’s well past its prime.
So there you have it: the all-time best diesel engines… followed by the all-time worst diesel engines. Whatever diesel engine you have in your big truck or skid loader, it’s most likely not too bad. With a diesel, you can’t go wrong. Let’s get this conversation started!
Is it true that Detroit produces Volvo engines?
The Mack MP10 engine and the Volvo D16 engine are both being phased out, according to Volvo and Mack spokespersons. Both enterprises are subsidiaries of Volvo Group, located in Gothenburg, Sweden, and are based in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The move leaves Detroit Diesel Corp., a Daimler Trucks North America subsidiary, as the sole manufacturer of the massive power plants.
“Effective immediately, Volvo Trucks has stopped producing the 16-liter Volvo D16 engine in North America,” said spokesperson Brandon Borgna on Jan. 26.
“The decision was made due to a lack of market demand for this engine displacement and the long-term expenditure required to maintain the D16 for the North American market’s particular operating requirements. “We’re also seeing a general shift among our highway clients toward the lighter, more fuel-efficient Volvo D13 engine, which is the most popular engine displacement in North America,” added Borgna.
“Mack has discontinued the Titan by Mack model and its engine, the Mack MP10, because “many of the applications that the Titan served can now be handled by Mack Pinnacle and Granite models equipped with the newer, higher horsepower and torque outputs of the Mack MP8 13-liter engine,” according to Christopher Heffner of Mack.
“Customers who currently own a Titan model will continue to receive full aftermarket servicing and support,” Heffner stated.
Titan owners, according to Mack, utilize the truck for logging, oilfield operations, and oversize haulage.
The D16, according to Volvo, was designed for extreme applications such as long combination vehicles and heavy-specialized transport.
Engine manufacturers have been able to boost combustion efficiency and generate more power density, or horsepower per liter of displacement, as they upgraded their products to fulfill federal fuel-efficiency rules and suit customer demands. The majority of original equipment manufacturers are urging fleets to adopt smaller engines than they previously utilized.
“The Detroit DD16 engine is a key component of the company’s powertrain lineup. “We are committed to offering this engine to clients who require extreme-duty and heavy hauling that requires 16-liter power,” said Kary Schaefer, general manager of marketing and strategy at DTNA, which manufactures the Freightliner and Western Star brands in Portland, Oregon. It is a division of Daimler AG, which is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany.
“We will continue to serve this essential area of our industry,” Schaefer stressed.
The DD16 has a maximum torque of 2,050 pound-feet and a horsepower of 600 horsepower, and is available in two Freightliner truck models and three Western Star truck models.
Even at 15 liters, Cummins Inc. and the Detroit DD15 are the only options.
Cummins’ new X15 is equivalent to a 16-liter model, with maximum torque of 2,050 pound-feet and horsepower of 605.
According to Mario Sanchez-Lara, a spokesman for Cummins, management sees an opportunity to increase sales. “Yes, the incremental opportunity with Volvo Trucks excites us,” Sanchez-Lara added.
The downfall of the big-bore engine has been anticipated since at least 2005, according to Sanchez-Lara, but “On both sides of the Atlantic, engines larger than 13 liters are still accessible and in high demand.”
“For a long time, we’ve met these demands with larger-displacement engines that can deliver acceptable power at lower, resulting in improved fuel efficiency, reliability, and longevity,” Sanchez-Lara added.
The Volvo D16 engine was offered in the VNL and VNX versions, with the latter making its premiere at the Mid-America Trucking Show in the spring of 2013.
The VNL will continue to be offered with Volvo’s D11 and D13 engines, as well as the Cummins X15, according to Borgna. In terms of VNX, he stated that the model “will remain in our product catalog, and we’re looking into ways to make it available in the future. In the meanwhile, we plan to provide an X-package for the VNL model, which will include the D13 or Cummins X15 engines.
Paccar Inc., a big Cummins customer, manufactures 11- and 13-liter MX engines for its Kenworth Trucks and Peterbilt Motors trucks.
Mack and Volvo will continue to produce engines with displacements of 11 and 13 liters. MP7 and MP8, respectively, are the Mack model numbers.
Navistar Inc. produces its own 13-liter engine and relies heavily on Cummins engines.
Is it possible to obtain a Detroit in a Peterbilt?
The 12.7 liter Detroit 60 Series is now available for installation in all of our kits: 389 Peterbilt 386 Peterbilt 579 Peterbilt 389 Peterbilt 386 Peterbilt 579 Peterbilt 389 Peterbilt 386 Peterbilt 579 Peterbilt
What kind of engine does a Kenworth W900 have?
THE POWER OF THE W900 MATCHES ITS COMMANDING PRESENCE. The W900 is designed to be a force to be reckoned with. With up to 1,850 lb-ft of torque and 500 horsepower, the industry-leading PACCAR MX-13 engine guarantees that your vehicle performs to its full capacity on every drive.
Is Detroit still producing 60-series cars?
Despite the fact that the Detroit Diesel Series 60 was retired in 2011, it remains one of the most popular engines for Class 8 trucks. Some people may be unaware of the rich history of these engines. In 1938, at the start of WWII, General Motors established the GM Diesel Division to provide engines that would aid in the war effort. During WWII, their first engine, the Series 71 2-stroke engine, was employed in tanks, generators, and construction equipment. Following WWII, Detroit continued to produce the Series 71, as well as the new Series 53 for on-highway use. In the early 1970s, Detroit engines were so popular that they had over 40% market share. Unfortunately for Detroit, the 855 Big Cam, a more technically sophisticated 4 stroke diesel engine, was introduced by Cummins in 1976. The Big Cam was also the first engine to meet the requirements for noise and pollution at the time. The old Series 71, which dates back to the 1930s, was a noisy, smoky, and fuel-guzzling machine. To compete, Detroit understood they needed to create a world-class engine, especially since their market share had shrunk to fewer than 5%. They began building the Series 60 in the 1980s with the goal of making a vehicle that was fuel efficient, reliable, and clean enough to fulfill emissions standards. The Series 60, which debuted in 1987, was a completely new design that used the most cutting-edge technology available at the time. It was also the world’s first computer-controlled diesel engine. This Detroit Diesel Engine is a high-performance diesel engine that produces a lot of power
Why are Detroit Diesels fleeing?
Working in or near hazardous environments, such as those found in the Oil & Gas business, exposes you to dangers and risks on a daily basis. Between 2013 and 2017, 489 oil and gas extraction employees were murdered on the job in the United States alone, according to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (source: https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/oilgaswelldrilling/). The dangerous occurrence known as diesel engine runaway is one of the lesser-known yet lethal threats. Engine runaway is explained in this video from AMOT’s Ask the Expert series.
To comprehend runaway, you must first comprehend the operation of a diesel engine and how it varies from that of a gasoline engine. Spark plugs ignite the fuel and air mixture within the cylinders of a gasoline engine. Combustion in a diesel engine, on the other hand, takes place in a very different way. Clean air is drawn into a combustion chamber by a diesel engine’s intake. The air and fuel mixture in the chamber is squeezed to such a degree that it produces high heat and ignites.
The fuel delivered into the combustion chamber is regulated by a governor, which also controls the engine’s speed. The governor controls how much fuel is allowed into the engine. The more fuel allowed in, the faster the engine will run. A diesel engine can only be turned off by withdrawing the fuel supply or cutting off the air supply.
When a diesel engine ingests a hydrocarbon vapor, or flammable vapor, through the air intake system and uses it as an external fuel source, it is known as a diesel engine runaway. As the engine runs on these vapors, the governor releases less diesel fuel until the vapors are the engine’s sole fuel supply.
It can cause the engine to overspeed, the valves to bounce, and flames to pass through the manifold if not halted promptly. These flames can create catastrophic accidents and casualties by igniting the combustible gases present. The Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010, is a well-known example of this type of mishap.
Even low concentration levels of gas pushed into the engine intake can cause runaway in 3-12 seconds, giving little time to react. A person’s first instinct when an engine starts to runaway is to turn the key off and stop the engine. Unfortunately, because the engine is now running on combustible fumes entering through the intake, this will not solve the problem. The engine will continue to run wildly, and cutting off the air supply is the only possible alternative at this time.
Thankfully, diesel engine runaway can be avoided. Devices that identify overspeed and shut off the air supply can be put on an engine’s air intake pipe to safely and quickly shut down a diesel engine.