Detroits in a Hat

[rwappleton]

I am new to diesel power in a boat and I am looking at one with 8V53N's. What is the survey process on these? I actually drive a diesel powered pick up and love it.

Broker says 3300 Total 700 since OH how can you tell? What kind of service life can you expect if they are used and cared for properly?

What is the good ,bad and ugly here?

How about owner maintenance? I do all my own gas motor work,

Thanks in advance

 

[Boatsb]

I have a 1966 41C with 8V53's. they run forever if taken care of. 10,000 hours is not uncommon.

The engines are big, heavy and do not have turbos or inter / after coolers. It's a very reliable engine and should give you years of reliable service.

 

[jetpowered]

If you take care of them, prop them right, change fluids/filters, etc regularly, you shouldn't have any major unexpected problems. These Detroits are made to last. Parts are getting expensive though. I should know, I'm the proud owner of two 1692 Detroits that have given me ten years of problem free service, and I expect to get another ten the same way. Check the ph of your cooling fluids too.

 

[bobk]

What should the pH of coolant be?

Bobk

 

[RT46]

I think the 53s like the 92s are wet liners and require proper DD coolant and PH

The 71s are dry liners and dont have coolant requirments like the wet liners

Im not an expert on DDs, so someone jump in if I am wrong......

 

[Genesis]

Get test strips for the coolant you actually have in the engines. If you don't know what you have then you need to dump it, flush and fill with something known that meets DD specifications so you can tell what's in there and test for it. Different formulations require different test strips.

While wet liner engines require more-stringent specs (specifically, cavitation erosion protection) a good diesel coolant will meet that requirement whether you have wet liners or not. In a "natural" Detroit (no turbos) or where you have cool raw water OR freezing temperatures that's the right thing to run.

In warm (non-freezing) temperatures with turbo engines there is a good argument for running an inhibitor package that has the cavitation and corrosion protection with distilled water instead of coolant, as these are low pressure and relatively low-temperature systems (they run under the boiling point of water all the time under normal conditions) and water has materially more heat-transport capability than does glycol. This is a officially-approved Detroit Diesel option in non-freezing climates and is my preference in places like Florida with high-performance DD engines. Turbocharged Detroits of this era are notoriously close to the ragged edge in heat transfer capability (their heat exchangers are too small for the heat output of the engine) and as such if they're not scrupulously clean all the time in warm water they're prone to overheat. That consideration does not typically apply to non-turbo engines as the OEM heat exchangers on "naturals" were of adequate heat transport capability.

Pay attention to the cooling system on all diesels -- more diesel engines die prematurely due to overheating than any other cause. This is especially true on Detroits which are prone to crack cylinder heads with even relatively "mild" overheating. If you start to see temperature creep on your engines find out why and fix it immediately -- don't put it off.