OK Gents, the old lurker here, with lots of Detroit experience, in the Navy an at ARMCO Steel s round house in Houston,, those old 2 cycle GMs Detroits, an Gray Marine engines have seen their day, designed for 20 cent or less fuel costs, but good engines for their day.
The Gray Marine was to let ya know, I am almost 70 years old, with 50 years making my living pulling wrenches on more than 500 models of Diesels, Atlas, to ALCO to Peters an Saab,,,throw in some Coopers, John Deer an Cummins,,, thus my 300 SD an current daily driver a '81 300D, 191K on the odometer now,, best of the best.
I know about ultra low sulfur fuels, but also know the problems created by the sulfur, beside keeping the EPA in paychecks, talking engine problems here too.
Aboard Navy submarines we used DelaVal an Sharpless purifiers, IE centrifuges of sorts, to clean the fuel an also same way with lube oils, most of what we cleaned from the fuel was sulfur, chunks of it, looked like dirt.
But,, lets go back to the 92 series Detroits, if I remember right, that was the engine being talked about,, well those are good engines, main problems were Navy boat crews who would not take the time to let the engines warm up anywhere close to normal operating temps.
When I took over the job of Chief of the Boat Line, for Navy combat patrol boats, using V Detroits, both 6s an 8s,,with jet pumps, Jacuzzi brand, they had those engines red lined at 2600 RPM, which is way far too fast for Detroits, that alone caused piston an liner problems, but with cold engines ran that fast, we were only getting maybe 3 or 4 hundred hours before piston an liner failures, bent rods an such, cam bearing bores wallowed out too.
I put out an order for boats not to be ran above an idle, or leave the pier, until 130 degrees F, an marked the tachs for normal temps, before any speed above 1,000 RPMs, with a threat of courts marshal. Boat crews who lost engines, had to pull their own engines an do most of the overhaul an repairs under supervision of one of my Enginemen.
Our time between overhauls tripled almost overnight, a we had more than 30 engines running in River Patrol boats at anyone time, sometimes about 50 of them, 71 an 92 series engines. Boat service is the most severe for any engines.
During the 6 years I have been driving my two MB Diesels we do not drive above a fast idle until 80 degrees C is reached on the temp gauge, normally we start the engines about 10 minutes before driving away, let them idle, an finish getting dressed or what ever, an run straight Diesel fuels, with Lucas additive once a month. I buy Chevron or Conoco fuels only, maybe Exxon if in a emergency.
BTW, the Coast Guard has some Search an Rescue boats, with twin 903 Cummins V 8s, that still have the original early 1980s engines in them with thousands of hours of run time, they never use any additives, none that I know off back to about 1975,, an test the fuel at the fuel dock before buying any. Also use block heaters, electric, plugged in when engines are not running.
Ultra low sulfur or not, I use 15 w 40 Delo lube oil, change it an filter every 3,000 miles, an expect my cherry MB 300D to outlast me, except for the transmission an timing chain, pumps, belts etc. NO Rust car from San Diego, Ca.
For Greg in Del Rio, I remember when locals there bought the Olds converted, light duty Diesel engines in Chevy PU trucks with dual tanks, went across the border an bought cheap Mex Diesel fuel, an had lots of wax, paraffin problems, until the learned about fuel preheating. A Cousin, Staffen there, a mechanic for the beer distributor, Coors an such, lots of Diesel experience too.
Diesel fuel in Baytown, TX, East of Houston is now $3.79, but still a bargain for me, it will go down soon, but not much tho. That Diesel fuel is a hell of a lot better than the poor quality gasoline we get now days, my poor lawn mower does not like it even.
Removing the Sulfur is a large part of the fuel costs for Diesel. There is a mountain of it piled up in Pasadena, an Galveston, cannot give it away.
Doug Traylor Master Engineman Ret. In Texas, US Navy Chief Engineman
former GM training center engine instructor
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