DDC is “confident that the new engines will continue to meet our customers’ expectations in the areas of maintenance intervals, reliability and life to overhaul.”
Detroit Diesel Corp. has filed applications with the Environmental Protection Agency for emissions certification of its Series 60 diesel engines beyond Oct. 1. The initial applications cover 20 current Series 60 engine ratings, and additional ratings will be submitted for certification in the coming months.
DDC said that by Oct. 1 it will have accumulated about 8 million test miles on its fleet of test vehicles equipped with the October 2002 prototype engines. By that date, 27 fleets will have engines in operation.
According to John Morelli, vice president of the Series 60 engine program, based on DDC’s testing “we are confident that the new engines will continue to meet our customers’ expectations” in the areas of maintenance intervals, reliability and life to overhaul. “The warranty on these engines remains exactly the same… Nor is there a change in the recommended oil drain interval,” he said, “because the soot concerns have not materialized. There is no change in the required maintenance schedule, and there are no additional parts subjected to maintenance requirements.
“As far as durability is concerned, the life of the piston ring is actually the key to long life, and we have now confirmed that ring face wear is 78 percent lower on the EGR engines when compared to our current engines.”
People who have driven the EGR engines have found driveability, throttle response and engine braking performance to be excellent, Morelli said. Moreover, the weight of the EGR engine is 25 pounds lower than the current Series 60, and it weighs several hundred pounds less than the other big-bore engines, he added.
DDC is “within a couple percentage points” of our target on fuel economy, concluded Morelli. “And we will continue to fine-tune the engine and improve the combustion process.”
