Diesel Truck Engines

[snowboard]

I know this isnt really much of a truck site but does anyone know why everyone says diesels last for ever? and what would be considered high KM's on a diesel engine? i know they have less moving parts then a regular gasoline, but im just wondering what everyone thinks would be considered high km's?

[syeve]

IMO our diesel trucks are high when they break 350k. We have a few over that, but they still run fine.

EDIT: all dodge cummins

[D. Dub]

Diesels are built extra heavier and stronger to deal with the high compression they have.

Diesel fuel is also a lubricant so it lubes the cylinders as it runs as opposed to gasoline which is more of a solvent.

Diesels are also simpler than a gasoline engine in their basic design.

[nismodrifter]

Diesels don't have less moving parts.

They run at lower RPMs too.

[marko polo]

high would be around a million. ive seen highway driven diesels ( all dodge cummins) near or over a million kms. if u think about it, the cummins is just a shrinked down semi motor put into a truck.

[Zero102]

Lots of semis get 3,000,000 or 4,000,000km before they finally wear out. For a personal truck, the cummins engines last a very long time, and I wouldn't worry about one with 300,000km or 400,000km on it. The powerstrokes don't seem to hold up as well, and the duramax I don't know anything about.

[tommy_W201]

I know they have less moving parts then a regular gasoline, but i'm just wondering what everyone thinks would be considered high km's?

This does not apply to the modern direct injection diesels. They are not as reliable as the old models.

If you are looking for a truck having an old combustion chamber or swirl-chamber diesel engine the following applies:

There is no general high-km quote. Since, the engine is not the point of failure. It depends on the other parts that break. Before you get in trouble with the engine itself, you will likely have trouble with the transmission (lasts approximately 500.000 km), coupler (assuming, a manual shift approximately 200.000 km), gear, or rust. However you should keep an eye on the engine controller (i.e. the control chain). Usually, they have larger dimensions than in regular gas cars (i.e. a duplex control chain, instead of a simplex one). They are supposed to break at approximately 300.000 km and should be changed pre-emptively according to the maintenance plan. Also check the injection from time to time. If the diesel literally "drips" into your cylinder, the piston is likely to erode. I only have experience with combined serial injection pumps from BOSCH. They seem to last forever and do not require explicit maintenance.

I am about to move to Canada from Germany. Thus, my diesel-truck experience is limited to Mercedes-Benz UNIMOG and the MB 1017. I am not aware of Diesel Engines that are used in Canada or the US. However, I assume they are similar.

<EDIT>
Sorry, I forgot. Keep an eye on turbo-chargers. They are the first thing that breaks. Mostly not due to wear, but due to wrong handling. If you see black clouds occuring from time to time under load. It is likely that the oil-circuit of the charger is broken. You will also hear that :D

[TurboMedic]

Well, we use powerstrokes in our "work trucks" and they get beaten hard. Very hard. WOT off of starts, long and hard periods of on off throttle, erratic shifts and frequent downshifts, etc. There is alot of preventative maintenance done on them, and I've seen engines go from 170-250 generally. Tranny's much more often.

[theken]

Originally posted by Zero102
Lots of semis get 3,000,000 or 4,000,000km before they finally wear out.
yeah, they get about 300-400 before highway tucks break in, my dads last truck had 800k+ and he just had to do basic maintnance and a few little things like turbos and shit.

diesel motors are amazing in semi's and they are pretty good in a truck as well.

how many k does the truck you are looking at have?