The head gasket issues are even more hilarious than that. From what I've heard from others who worked on it at the time, they updated the gasket, which didn't work, they tried to harden the cylinders, which didn't work and created a tendency for them to crack. Then they put out a bulletin to drill out the head bolts to the next size up, which actually made it worse, because that block was so weak that the extra clamping force warped the deck and pulled the cam bearings out of round, resulting in the camshaft seizing. Incredible right?
Worked on Detroit 6V53 V-6 diesels in the USCG, and 3-53 diesels in skidders; we always said of Detroits, "if there's no oil under them there's no oil in them"...
We had several of these in ford and gmc school buses. The fuel mileage was WAY better than the alternative gas engines. We had pretty good luck with them and school bus’s were a good fit for these. I remember they used the same basic unit injector as the two stroke Detroit engines and were prone to leaking fuel into the oil. I think I still have the tune up tools for this engine somewhere in my stuff. Cool video. Thanks
The Canadian military used these 8.2l engines in our Medium logistics trucks, I was an army mechanic and worked on them a lot. They were geared so low that they would redline barely doing 55mph and would struggle to maintain that speed up the slightest of hills and risk throwing the rods out the side of the block going down the other side of the hill. All while making the crew deaf with the noise that “isn’t service related...” They worked well off road when put in low range and turning the 3 power sucking Rockwell differentials.
OK I'll bite. I worked at GM for the 80's 90's & 2,000's & I saw and heard a totally different picture. First: whenever a new design comes out everyone says wait'n see. If it works they all say it was engineered well. And if it doesn't do so well they all say it was poorly engineered. That's not the case. MANAGEMENT dictates the quality and robustness of any new model. Engineers know how to do things correctly but they answer to Management. I attended many hours of "Quality" meetings, but each one ended the same way. WARRANTY was the dictator. Management always tried to convince everyone they wanted quality but what they really wanted was to just get past the warranty period. I got there for 2 yrs of Pete Estes. Then came Roger Smith. Something was wrong w/ Smith. No one liked him and they would not perform for him. Bickering and fighting were the order of the day. Recall Ross Perot. Smith removed him at a cost of $750,000,000. It was over the argument about how to treat employees. Perot said "An Army Travels On It's Stomach, Feed The Troops" but Smith would have none of that. Smith hired temporary employees so there was no future for them. Smith wanted a two tiered quality system, one like Cadillac & one like Chevrolet. He even authorized the sale of the Chevy 350 V8 to Toyota so they could have a strong V8 for their Tundra. Paying off Ross Perot almost bankrupted GM. Smith didn't care he was a lawyer. Bankruptcy means something different to lawyers. Bob Stemple was a breath of fresh air being all engineering but he was doomed by the Roger Smith loyalists. All of the problems from the 80's on up are a product of poor management. Even Barra can't pull GM out of it's grave. Remember I Was There. ben/ michigan
I have a 1986 Ford F700 with this engine. It was replaced with a factory rebuilt engine in the late 90’s. It’s been a good motor for the truck. Decent power.
The high school I attended and then came back to work at had a Chevy activity bus with one of these engines. I rode in it and then drove it. When I came back to the school as a teacher, I got a bus license to help drive the marching band, some clubs, and tennis teams to matches. It was slow and I don't honestly know how hard the bus garage had to work to keep it running, but every single time in any weather conditions that old bus (it was a 1990 model and I started working there in the fall of '03) would crank, get us to where we were going and get us back. They finally got rid of it about 8 years ago.
The HT4100 had the same design with the liners. In fact, you couldn't order a typical 'short block'. They only sold the replacement engines in Long Block form. Strange they didn't learn the lessons of the 5.7 diesel on the 8.2 using a lousy 10 bolts per head. I had a number of the 5.7 Diesel cars and got to be pretty good working on them. They weren't all that bad once you got the bugs ironed out, however, NOT powerhouses by any means. Stinky, weak, leaked oil, Burned oil, didn't really generate the heat an IDI needed for good combustion, head gasket changes were considered fairly routine. I got to where I could change a head gasket in 90 minutes. Rebuilt the stanadyne DB2 pumps and put the solid agricultural governor weight cage in. The cars I had would top 75 MAYBE 80mph balls out top speed, but I got nearly 31mpg once.
We have a couple of old C70’s with these engines. One Is a service truck, and it has 350k miles and an innumerable amount of hours from running the pumps, compressor, and generator. We’ve never had any problems with it except we have to use canned glow plugs on a 90 degree day.
The head gasket issues are even more hilarious than that. From what I've heard from others who worked on it at the time, they updated the gasket, which didn't work, they tried to harden the cylinders, which didn't work and created a tendency for them to crack. Then they put out a bulletin to drill out the head bolts to the next size up, which actually made it worse, because that block was so weak that the extra clamping force warped the deck and pulled the cam bearings out of round, resulting in the camshaft seizing. Incredible right?
Worked on Detroit 6V53 V-6 diesels in the USCG, and 3-53 diesels in skidders; we always said of Detroits, "if there's no oil under them there's no oil in them"...
It's almost like GM decided to put ALL its bad ideas into one engine
I love how you keep using the word "challenges" when what you really mean is failures or flaws 🤔😆
I'm gonna guess GM would've done what they always do if they get the chance: get it right - just as the product is EOL'd.
We had several of these in ford and gmc school buses. The fuel mileage was WAY better than the alternative gas engines. We had pretty good luck with them and school bus’s were a good fit for these. I remember they used the same basic unit injector as the two stroke Detroit engines and were prone to leaking fuel into the oil. I think I still have the tune up tools for this engine somewhere in my stuff. Cool video. Thanks
All these manufacturers had to do was copy John Deere. Those John Deere tractors are over 60 years old and still run perfectly.
A future topic: discuss the earlier GMC V12 truck motor made from the GMC V6
The Canadian military used these 8.2l engines in our Medium logistics trucks, I was an army mechanic and worked on them a lot. They were geared so low that they would redline barely doing 55mph and would struggle to maintain that speed up the slightest of hills and risk throwing the rods out the side of the block going down the other side of the hill. All while making the crew deaf with the noise that “isn’t service related...” They worked well off road when put in low range and turning the 3 power sucking Rockwell differentials.
OK I'll bite. I worked at GM for the 80's 90's & 2,000's & I saw and heard a totally different picture. First: whenever a new design comes out everyone says wait'n see. If it works they all say it was engineered well. And if it doesn't do so well they all say it was poorly engineered. That's not the case. MANAGEMENT dictates the quality and robustness of any new model. Engineers know how to do things correctly but they answer to Management. I attended many hours of "Quality" meetings, but each one ended the same way. WARRANTY was the dictator. Management always tried to convince everyone they wanted quality but what they really wanted was to just get past the warranty period. I got there for 2 yrs of Pete Estes. Then came Roger Smith. Something was wrong w/ Smith. No one liked him and they would not perform for him. Bickering and fighting were the order of the day. Recall Ross Perot. Smith removed him at a cost of $750,000,000. It was over the argument about how to treat employees. Perot said "An Army Travels On It's Stomach, Feed The Troops" but Smith would have none of that. Smith hired temporary employees so there was no future for them. Smith wanted a two tiered quality system, one like Cadillac & one like Chevrolet. He even authorized the sale of the Chevy 350 V8 to Toyota so they could have a strong V8 for their Tundra. Paying off Ross Perot almost bankrupted GM. Smith didn't care he was a lawyer. Bankruptcy means something different to lawyers. Bob Stemple was a breath of fresh air being all engineering but he was doomed by the Roger Smith loyalists. All of the problems from the 80's on up are a product of poor management. Even Barra can't pull GM out of it's grave. Remember I Was There. ben/ michigan
Pretty sure the HT 4100 has the same free standing cylinder design.
I have a 1986 Ford F700 with this engine. It was replaced with a factory rebuilt engine in the late 90’s. It’s been a good motor for the truck. Decent power.
The high school I attended and then came back to work at had a Chevy activity bus with one of these engines. I rode in it and then drove it. When I came back to the school as a teacher, I got a bus license to help drive the marching band, some clubs, and tennis teams to matches. It was slow and I don't honestly know how hard the bus garage had to work to keep it running, but every single time in any weather conditions that old bus (it was a 1990 model and I started working there in the fall of '03) would crank, get us to where we were going and get us back. They finally got rid of it about 8 years ago.
@
Actually the only reason for an open deck is low cost.
Adam, thanks for expanding your video topics. I truly enjoy learning about the less known of automotive history.
The HT4100 had the same design with the liners. In fact, you couldn't order a typical 'short block'. They only sold the replacement engines in Long Block form. Strange they didn't learn the lessons of the 5.7 diesel on the 8.2 using a lousy 10 bolts per head. I had a number of the 5.7 Diesel cars and got to be pretty good working on them. They weren't all that bad once you got the bugs ironed out, however, NOT powerhouses by any means. Stinky, weak, leaked oil, Burned oil, didn't really generate the heat an IDI needed for good combustion, head gasket changes were considered fairly routine. I got to where I could change a head gasket in 90 minutes. Rebuilt the stanadyne DB2 pumps and put the solid agricultural governor weight cage in. The cars I had would top 75 MAYBE 80mph balls out top speed, but I got nearly 31mpg once.
Thankfully never crossed paths with these. The 2-stroke six cylinder detroits screamed and leaked but ran forever.
We have a couple of old C70’s with these engines. One Is a service truck, and it has 350k miles and an innumerable amount of hours from running the pumps, compressor, and generator. We’ve never had any problems with it except we have to use canned glow plugs on a 90 degree day.