Driving a Detroit Diesel xV92

[fulltiming]

Many of the members of this site have either Detroit Diesel 6V92's or 8V92's. These are 2-stroke engines and some of the conventional wisdom about driving a vehicle with a diesel engine does not fully apply to these 2-stroke engines.

I found an article on Tejas Coach Works which describes driving techniques for the 2-stroke DD's. Although the article may get a little technical for some, please take the time to read it if you have a 2-stroke DD.

In particular, there are several great take away thoughts from this article:
1) Drive it like you stole it - drive the 2-stroke DD's up on the power curve. Note: Most of the 1980's and early 90's Newells had 2-stroke DD's and were geared to run 1700-1900 rpm at 65-70 mph. This is frequently the sweet spot for a these engines.
2) Never lug a 2-stroke!!!! Lugging is running the engine where it can not accelerate in the current gear given additional throttle. Note: If your foot is on the floor and you are not accelerating, you are lugging the engine. If your foot is not on the floor but pushing harder on the accelerator will not increase ground speed, you are lugging the engine, even if you are at 2100 rpms (redline). The DDEC equipped 2-strokes will try to compensate for lugging but it you are climbing a grade with your foot on the floor and your Newell is losing speed, you need to back off then, when it is safe, downshift. Remember that your engine will increase by 400+ rpms when the automatic transmission downshifts. You will see the coolant temperature start to rise rapidly and frequently the oil pressure starting to drop under these conditions and that can be a death sentence for a 2-stroke DD.
3) Excessive idling is BAD!! Try not to let the engine idle for more than 8 minutes on slow idle. Use the Fast Idle switch if you think you are going to need to idle longer than a couple of minutes. The article points out some really bad things that can result for excessive slow idling (such as run-away engines) that you likely have never considered.

Scrolling up and down the webpage, you will also find hints on starting in hot and cold weather, oil consumption and other interesting areas. Most of the 2-stroke DD Newell's have block heaters. When it is cold outside, use them. I typically turn mine on 4-8 hours before I am going to start the engine if the outside temperature is below 40-45 degrees.