The Detroit Diesel 2 Stroke Lubrication Debate

[userfriendly]

Ha! So basically you're saying they leak  everywhere.

The short list is where they don't leak.

2-stroke EMDs are the same, oil everywhere.

 

[PiperOne]

... I ran the dyno for a couple years....

Dyno'ing Detroits all day, dream job.

 

[Opelman]

Ha! So basically you're saying they leak  everywhere.

Pretty much although I was able to keep ours fairly dry. Remember that these motors were introduced in 1938. It wasn't even an all new design but an update of an earlier motor from Winton. They had a good run.

 

[nthach]

I just retired from 34 years in the school bus industry as a mechanic. 71 series laying sideways under the floor in the middle of the bus and rear engined 6V92 units. Always use straight 40 unless it is well below freezing. We were a little below freezing in the coldest part of winter and the Detroits would always start with a flick of the switch, no questions asked. The Cummins and Cats on the other hand were a bit grumpy in the cold even on multi vis. Never had a lubrication related failure. Oil consumption was far higher if someone screwed up and put the 15 40 in a Detroit. Detroits only leak oil from two places...





Pipe plugs and machined surfaces.

When the 6V-92TA ruled the streets here in transit buses(school buses here were mainly Navistar or CAT in Ford or Amtran/Wayne flavors or GM for the short bus), all the service trucks had cases of Delo 15W-40 on them. But this was the 1990s and the Detroit S50/Cummins M11 took over in the late 1990s for city transit, and Laidlaw was almost all Navistar(Ford PSD 7.3 short/T444E big bus). AFAIK, GM/Detroit didn’t want multigrade oils used use to deposit formation on the airbox ports when the VIIs sheared down?

Nothing like the sound of a 6V-92TA bolted to an Allison HT748B.

 

[jake wells]

Remember the U.S. Navy working with standard oil of california to extend the range of the oil in these engines. RPM Delo came to be.

 

[bithebay87]

sae40 is what detroits need all climates
sae30 in artic conditions
never use a multi=wieght oil, trust me...
If there isnt oil under her there isnt oil in her...


-hobo harvey

 

[Exhaustgases]

Agree with a slight modification.
SAE 30w Artic conditions
SAE 40w All other conditions

I worked on Detroit's for almost 30 years. When 15w-40 came out 15w-40 was tried on the Detroit's and they all consumed oil. My son, presently, works on 71 series Detroit's for the Government. When a new contractor took over his company they changed to 15w-40 and my son told them it was a bad idea. Result, higher oil consumption. He wrote a letter to corporate and they finally went back to SAE 40w.

Due to the fact they are two cycle and have a unique cylinder liner design (air box in the block with oil drain holes), They naturally consume (leak) oil. But marginally more with multi grades.

Serious? For the government?
They are the ones that forced the 2 strokes out of production, because of emissions.
What are they used for?

 

[PiperOne]

Govt's follow the 'do as I say not as I do' rule. Military stuff for example doesn't have all the emissions crap bolted to it, they need absolute reliability (or as close as they can get to it). Caltrans has tons of road maintenance equipment that's barely tier 2 emissions compliant, including a lot of 2 strokes in things like snow blowers.