I'd appreciate any info, what to look for, signs of problems on a Detroit Diesel 3 - 71. I'm thinking about checking out one this week in a street compressor and know nothing about them. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
One thing you would do well to do is use the correct oil. A straight 40 wt. oil that meets Detroit spec's. which can be a little hard to find these days, not impossible but may have to order from a good oil distributor. I can't give the spec's off the top of my head but can find it if needed. Hope you don't have neighbors too close to where you will be running this as they can tend to play their "music" a little loud! Clean fuel and clean oil are important in all engines and maybe a bit more in a Detroit. And from my experience over the years with 2-stroke Detroits they don't like running at low power levels, I always found them to run better when working near their rated power. The blower pushes as much air through the engine at no load as it does at full load and that can cause the cylinders to run cold and the fuel condenses on them and just makes for a mess and stuck rings. If this engine has not been run for sometime let us know before you try starting and we can give some suggestions on things to check. One could write a book on those engines but I'll wait to hear more about it from your end.
Thanks for the response there kshansen . Like I said, I have no experience with these engines ( other than my FIL’s 45’ Hatteras that had twin Detroit Diesels. What a terribly loud boat. Pure misery to be out on the water in that thing.) I’ve always thought, that’s one engine I have no interest in owning, until I read some posts on here and did some reading on Wickipedia which piqued my interest. The guy had this thing on CL last year and I guess no one wanted it. Maybe for a good reason.
I love them. If I could power everything I own with one I would..... Yeah I’m weird like that!
So, Junkyard, you sayin' I should go check it out??
Chevron Delo 100 iirc is the correct oil. And yes, give it a minute or two to warm up and throw the load to it. Cast iron pistons and liners are just about bullet proof. If you don't load it, it will just slobber unburnt fuel out the stack.
You and me both. and TD25C.
One main thing I would check would be cold starting. In summertime it should start super easy from dead cold without any help or clouds of smoke besides the initial puff. No knocks or extraneous noise.
Yeah doublewide , I would steer clear of it . These engines are obsolete & nothing but trouble . Where abouts is this 3 - 71 ?
Thief...
Thanks for the info there RZucker . I guess that's 2 votes for checking it out.
Good info there. Thanks Birken Vogt !
Bah,hahahaha... 3 votes. Thanks td25c
I been thinking of taking the diesel mechanic class at the local voc school at nights and I'm thinking this would make a good project! :beerchug:
Absolutely. They’re tough motors and actually quite useful in many applications. Tough as nails. They do have their quirks.....
That would be a cool project doublewide !
I really like the Detroit street compressors . We dropped one on an old Ford . They run better with some GMC on top . LOL
You be careful looking at that 3-71 doublewide . This gets in the blood pretty quick ! Before ya know that's all you will want to run .
Yeah, one of those "quirks" is that the damn things will run forever with little to no maintenance. Sure they should have a top end tune up every so often... Nobody does that. They normally get run to death until they wont run. And then they still try to run. A customer had an 8V-71 in an old GMC Astro that needed 1/2 a can of ether to start on a 70 degree day. Once it was running it was still a puller.
The only one I ever had issues with was a 6v-53 upper in a crane. It would run but we chased cooling issues, left to it’s own vices it would have run until it melted down I reckon. It ended up coming out and a 6-71 went in its place. When I busted it off before I removed it from the donor truck it went to the moon until I pulled the fuel line out of the 5 gallon jug. It survived that so I figured it was good. Years later it was still chugging along when the crane was shipped to MX.
Better than any symphony!
Wish I had a video camera back in the day when we were rebuilding those Detroits on a regular basis. Would love to have a video of running those 16V-71 twin turbos in that small shop that was just a little bigger than a single car garage. Just sitting on a stand hooked to a barrel of water for a cooling system, no air filters or exhaust system other than the turbos! Snap the governor to high idle and even with good ear muffs it was still loud! And the 12V-71 with no turbos were probably even louder! Ran them just enough to warm up a little and check for leaks. There is still a 4-71 sitting in the shop we rebuilt probably 25 years ago was used maybe a few months running a jaw crusher and been in storage inside since then. When it was being used it never worked hard enough to burn the paint off the exhaust manifold! Last couple of months I was working I hooked up a battery to it just for fun and it cranked over maybe one turn and fired right up. Then about a year and a half after I retired I asked boss if I could use the valve grinding machine to touch up some valve on a small engine I was working on and pushed the button once more and again it fired up like new. Sad to think that someday that engine will be tossed in a scrap trailer as they have no use for it but upper management won't sell it for a reasonable price.
Love that corn crib there td25c , reminds me of when I was a kid in southern Illinois. My uncle sold Pioneer. And hey, the cars pretty cool too!
That's what I love about this site. All the old stories. Thanks.
Thanks doublewide ! Those old corn cribs sure do bring back memories . No corn in the crib anymore but it works great for storing cable rigging & Detroit Diesel parts . LOL ! We have a customer that's a Pioneer seed sales rep . Ride for the brand !
The Detroit engine riff is almost as good as a 1960's Guitar & Drum instrumental
Set some trusses on a pole building yesterday with # 3 Grove crane . Got done and carpenter asked ….. " That got Detroit's in it ? " Yeah , we didn't know there was any other diesel engine for a crane . LOL
I had a 2-71 get me a visit from the po-lice once. It was on a Hobart welder... 600 amps IIRC. Apparently little screamers aren't appreciated in residential neighborhoods at 7am on Sunday… I was just fixing a guys D5 so he could make money on Monday. Go figure.
The price of progress! Haha. I wouldn’t trade my 2-71 powered Lincoln for anything.
LOL ! 911 call . " There's some crazy feller next door making noise with a heater !" " Is he still heating ? " Uhh yeah … He's been welding on this dozer all morning ! 911 dispatch ……. " Do not look at the ark flash snowflake and we will send an officer out to investigate " .
I guess they had some sort of ordinance against making a profit on Sundays.
Hey... Life's been good to me so far. And no... I cant do "All night long" anymore.
Guess you’ll just have to Walk Away
Would that be the "Rocky mountain way" ?
Years ago a buddy of mine had a 3/71 in a 1971 crew cab long bed single wheel F350, NASTY sounds it made but was the most unique machine I had been around back then. Had got the name of the aux trans from a underground mine company in central IL that sandwiched between the OE trans and the engine so used a commercial clutch but the OE Ford(NP435) trans. I cannot find any info these days for that series of gear box.
I guess but you might Turn to Stone
I remember that forward mount OD, but not the name. Maybe it will come to me in the middle of the night.
Didn't "Gear Vendors" produce one in that style?
That may have been it, this is out there now but is aluminum cased where his was Cast Iron: https://high-impact.net/rangeroverdrive/
Better yet another buddy of mine came up with this, the Company has been gone since '84: https://books.google.com/books?id=0uMDAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&lr=&pg=PA26&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false
That's pretty cool ! Reminds me of the adds in the old HOT ROD magazine . December of 1983 … How to build a street blower engine . LOL Internet of that era was a magazine on the store shelf
Yeah, the "Double torque" is the one I thought of. Never seen a Gear Vendors in that configuration. The magazine era, when you were at the mercy of writers, some stupid, others on a manufacture's payroll
At least I wont be wearing Those Shoes.
I recall see it advertised but gear vendors stuck in my mind. Most of their stuff is on the back end.
Take it Easy (since we went outside Joe...)
I loved the magazine days. For me it was Hot Rod and Dirt Bike. Supercross was on TV then...about 3am. So I’d set the good ole VCR to record it. Couldn’t wait to get home from school and watch the race. Jeff Stanton etc. loved it. Absolutely LOVED ready Smokey Yunick. His biography is a great read.
I guess I cant tell you why.
Hey, thanks for your post. Will you help me to paint a Dirt Bike? I recently bought a second hand bike for me. I would like to make it more gorgeous doing paint. What's the easiest way to do that? I already made some researched and read a few blog articles like https://motorcyclehelmetcenter.net/paint-dirt-bike-plastics/
Okay, colors...Cat Yellow with Black Trim // Hitachi Orange with Terex Green Trim