hawkeye5766 wrote:

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It leaks oil? Guess thats why they call them "DIRTY Detroit". But they do sound sooooo cool!

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We've been calling then "Green Leakers" forever. If there's no oil under em', there's no oil in em'. 

5 & 4 trans! We call those stir sticks. More options in gears than chances of winning 649  Cool Old Trucks

Delta Tango wrote:

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Here ya go gang. Our project for the day! A 1974 Kenworth Conventional, equipped with a 5 and 4 transmission combo AND a 12v-71 Detroit Diesel two cycle with standard blower and twin turbo's. You do the math.......71 cubic inches per cylinder times 12 cylinders. Can you imagine how thirsty this thing is? And it's still in service!

 

She's peppy in the yard, but we will have to find a geezer to road test it because I can't do the 5 and 4 thing!

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That's a pretty cool truck. The 318 hp V8's were really common when I first got into trucking back in the early seventies, but the V12's were pretty rare. That was big power back in those days.

I always liked the sound of the old Detroit Diesels but they were pretty noisy.

They tended to leak from seals and gaskets but the main leak was from the air box drains. I once put a couple of catch cans on a 8V92 that I had just so that it wouldn't drip oil when it sat in the shop overnight.

Being two cycle engines, they didn't have the same low end torque as the Cummins or Caterpillar engines but they pulled good when they were revved up.

I had a 445 hp 8V92 in the early eighties when these engines were no longer popular. I was hauling from Calgary to Vancouver at the time and all the guys with 380 hp Cats and 400 hp Cummins were sure they were going to cruise on past me when we hit the hills. Most of these guys had the fuel turned up to the point that the stacks were pumping out a lot of black smoke but I had oversized injectors in the Detroit and I also had the rpm governor turned up. The Detroit was a little more stealthy, they didn't smoke much, even when they were fueled up. 

I used to let them stay close or even gain up a bit on the smaller hills but as soon as we got to one of the really big hills like the Rogers Pass I'd put the peddle to the metal and keep that thing revved as high as it would go. It was never close, that screaming Jimmy would always leave them way behind.

By the mid eighties Detroit Diesel got away from the two stroke truck engines in favor of the more common inline 6 cylinder four stroke, the same as everybody else had. By almost any measure the four stroke six cylinders were better engines,,, better on fuel, easier to work on, quieter, more torque, no oil leaks, etc. But the old two cycle Detroits sure were fun to drive.

CDN2PLS2 wrote:

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Have you got a pic of the whole KW?

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 I'll have my camera ready for when it's out for The Road Test! They say I can drive it the whole time with the auxiliary in 3rd?

CDN2PLS2 wrote:

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Have you got a pic of the whole KW?

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As promised.

She got a new pickup tube for the oil pump and a bearing roll in. It was NOT easy finding parts for a 12V71, that's why it took so long to get this done.

CDN2PLS2 wrote:

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Still works it?

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 I would assume so. They got it right away.