Good Afternoon, I have a Detroit 4-53 in an old P&H excavator. Would any one have some suggestions on the proper way to change oil as well as what type of oil to use? Many thanks
The oil change is a simple process of pulling the drain plug and letting it flow into a drain bucket. I use Rotella 15w40. I also fill the oil filter with fresh oil when doing a oil change.
I always order delo 100 40 wt.
Single weight, low ash oil. Rotella T 30 or 40 weight depending on temperature. NO MULTI VISCOSITY!
I'll repeat that...DO NOT use multi grade 15W/40, use only SAE 40 weight oil. Preferred is an oil with sulfated ash content of 1.0% or less. Delo 100 (not 400) or Mobile Delvac 1240 meet the Detroit Diesel specs the best, Rotella SAE 40 is over 1.0% sulfated ash.
It may be OK in modern times to use modern 15W-40 but I place another vote here for Delo 100 straight 40, what it called for originally.
Those engines do not like multi viscosity oil, the friction modifiers in multi vis will destroy the rings and pistons. Those engines are not like any other diesel engine with the intake ports in the cylinders and rings on top and bottom of pistons, they're very picky about the oil if you expect to get a long life out of them.
Thanks every one for the reply's!! Would you happen to know how much oil this takes?
It could be any number of different oil pans. Hopefully you have a dipstick? I'd guess somewhere between 3 and 5 gallons.
Thanks and yes it does have a dip stick !!
That is one of the things that too many don't understand about some engines especially the Detroits. There are so many options available for them no one answer can be considered right for another engine. Want the engine to turn clockwise, counterclockwise, blower on right and exhaust on left or blower on left and exhaust on right, or both on right or left, lean to one side or lay flat and don't even get started on how you want to control the speed of the engine. Heck if you want the engine to stand straight up with flywheel at the bottom there were some Detroits built like that! How many cylinder do you want most anything from 1 to 24 cylinders have been made for the various 2 stroke Detroit models! I actually think only 1 and 3 cylinder versions were available in odd numbers of cylinders!
Kshansen, That was why I thought I would ask the question about the proper oil for this Engine, As I own a Duramax and I use Rotella in that , I know this Detroit revs a lot and I want it to last. Thanks for the advise
I'm going to play Devils advocate here so take it as you will. I have built numerous detroits over the years and have always used Rotella T 15W40 in all of them. I have yet to have an oil related failure due to the viscosity of that oil. I have torn down many with 8-10K hours on them and the bearings looked like new with little wear. The main problem I have seen is the oil doesn't get changed often enough. Once the oil is dirty it will wipe out oil rings in a hurry. I believe this is maybe just a personal preference of mine, but it has never let me down.
Well this is what it says in the "Official Detroit" publication from 1997: Note in paragraph 4 on the second page they do give rather limited approval to 15W-40 for cold weather conditions with the disclaimer to get it out when it gets warmer! That said the last few years at the quarry we had a 12V-71 in a Terex truck and as it was only used on occasion as a "spare" it was run with 15W-40 but it was lucky to see a couple hundred hours use a year and it was a bit long in the tooth before that so any thing better than used Peanut oil would probably done a good!
I'll play, I realize the delo is a little harder to find and you have to order it some places. But with the price the same, why wouldn't you just get the straight 40 wt. that they formulate just for the 2 strokes? I pulled a pair of 16v-92's that had been in a big boat, and they always ran the 40wt. As do most of the big boats running 2 stroke, and those engines run and run and run and run. From Chevron about Delo 100: Applications Delo 100 Motor Oil is recommended for use in two- and four-stroke diesel engines in farm machinery, construction equipment, marine, and other off-highway applications where SAE 40 grade is specified by the OEM. Delo 100 Motor Oil is recommended for use in two-stroke diesel engines requiring highly effective control of wear and deposits. Delo 100 Motor Oil utilizes exceptional quality technology to provide excellent performance in older engines burning ultra low sulfur diesel fuels. Delo 100 Motor Oil meets the requirements of: • API Service Categories — CF†, CF-2† • Detroit Diesel Corporation two-stroke engine recommendations, including the 0.85% ash maximum limit for Series 149 engines.
I run a collection of detroits , 353 471 671 s . They are all getting on on years now but i have always ran them on straight 40 as recomended with good results. Most of mine are in cranes which really is a bad application for them so they slobber a lot. I have always run mine at the half level on the dipstick which keeps reduce the mess from slobbering down .
Slobber excessively out the air box drains, or out the exhaust, or both?
While we are talking about Detroits and slobbering in light loaded applications, has anyone heard of the idea of using restriction plates in the exhaust to help with this "problem"? Where I first heard of this was many years back when another quarry in the state got a new IR drill rig with a 6V-53 truck engine. The mechanic at that quarry was complaining to the Detroit dealer about the slobbering from the truck engine and they suggested that he make some plates to go between the heads and manifolds and drill a bunch of 3/8 holes in the plates. Idea was to cut back on the air flow through the engine causing the cylinders to cool down too much. Changes in company and I lost much contact with this guy so don't know if he did it or if he did what the out come was. This was one of those applications where the truck drill spent 90% of it's time sitting and when moving most moves were maybe 20 feet at a time and the longest runs it would make is a mile or two to the shop for service or maybe to the fuel pump so truck engine never really worked hard at all. Probably would have been better to have spec'd it with a smaller gas engine but that's what happens when upper management does not understand how equipment actually operates an the salesmen want to sell the most expensive machine!
In Kens post it is specifically stating not to use the multi viscosity oil in marine engine builds. This is due to the continuous load marine engines have, those builds even have special oil control rings for marine applications. I realize I am in the minority here but I always stay with what has worked the best for me through experience. Count me as one of those old dogs that can’t learn this new trick
Ran Detroit 2 strokes in marine application years back (80s 90s) and always used straight 30w pennsoil heavy duty. Got 10,000 + hours between overhauls, fuel consumption was why I switched to 4 strokes. Biggest difference was replacing a v12-71 with 3206 cat and got more power with halve the fuel. The green screamers were reliable but noisy devils. Still have a v6-92 powered screw compressor and have bin running 15-40w in it but don't put many hours on it.