How long does she have doc - Steel Soldiers::Military Vehicles Supersite

panzerjunky · 07-30-2009, 04:17

Hello Fellas

Been reading a couple posts on another thread about the the multi fuel engine being a very " crappy " engine with a very short lifespan my question is what is the expected lifespan of a Multi fuel engine. Mine has 29,700 miles 1088 hours engine is an LDT-465
Redone at Toledo in 88. When I say redone I am not sure what they did it just has a tag that says teads or something like that 1988.
In my opinion 29,700 would be just breaking in on a typical diesel
Opinions please.
Thanks Jerry

cranetruck · 07-30-2009, 07:25

You will get to love it, starts easy, runs quiet and burns anything you care to put in the fuel tank! It's a military engine and expected to perform at a moment's notice under the most severe conditions, not made to run coast to coast day in and day out.

dabtl · 07-30-2009, 07:39

I think it got a bad rap after the governors and such were removed in Vietnam.

I also think it can be made better by the addition of modern fuel and oil filters with some regular care.

Maintenance is the problem in my opinion. In the service, they were treated rough, very rough.

I regularly change the oil and filters, avoid over revving and generally take care of them.

I have not been disappointed yet.

dittle · 07-30-2009, 07:58

Just keep in mind that you can take a brand new pickup off the car lot and blow the engine in it up and this is a "good" designed engine. The deuce engine IMHO is a very well built engine and if you don't abuse it and you perform maintenance it should not disappoint you. Its all how the user treats the equipment that effects how long it last more than the design of this engine. My 2 cents

Divemaster920 · 07-30-2009, 08:19

I have had many of retired military say "You can't kill those things." or "Those things are indestructible." You can break them many times and keep putting them back together again.

clinto · 07-30-2009, 08:51

Multifuel Engine life - the facts from Uncle Sam

Multifuel engine life

Multifuel lifespan

cranetruck · 07-30-2009, 10:05

The high compression ratio makes the engine easy to start in cold weather without starting aids...the hypecycle (slow combustion) rate makes it burn heavier fuel more completely....maybe David Doyle can dig up some info on the "newer" multifuels, which would be more apropo, since few of us have the 427 model.

The engines do have features for extreme conditions, so compromises had to be made, like the self draining oil filters for preheating in arctic temps. This "feature" adds to the wear and tear at startup and if you run your engine often, perhaps non draining filters will improve the life expectancy...but then again, many of us like the original stuff.
Remember we are talking about an engine designed and built almost 50 years ago.

Links are good, but it's also good to see fresh ideas from new members IMHO.

Edit: Oh, also think clean fuel, the multifuel engine relies on many precision lapped-to-fit components and a rusty fuel tank is a killer. All fuel filter canisters have drains, so maintain the purity of the fuel and let no water through!

emr · 07-30-2009, 10:23

WOW! I have never I mean never heard a bad thing about these engines, Aways heard from the unit here, just like said above, cant kil those multis, Bullet prof motors. When I was looking for a motor i found 2 laying in the weeds and dirt behind a Cranford Twp. road dept, i got a call there may be a motor there. there was 2, The Old guy there said, they have been laying there since 1975 that one ran with no turbo and the one with the turbo has a blown head gasket, I gave Him 200 bucks and he loaded em, I put the one that he said rand in 1975 and changed the fliuds and put it in the truck, It fired right up , It did not miss a beat since 1975, And has been running strong and hard since, i did swap the turbo eventually, The Motor I pulled out had a head gasket problem also, So now I have 2 blocks that need gaskets, may just do em and sell em, as for that, It is true the oldest models had head gasket problems, But that was fixed long ago....

Barrman · 07-30-2009, 13:38

Toole was where the rebuild was done. It is outside of Salt Lake City. There is probably a sticker on one of the oil filters claiming that as well.

Service it with clean fuel, oil and air. Don't try to make it run more than 2600 rpm for days on end and it will probably out last you.

JasonS · 07-30-2009, 14:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by cranetruck

The engines do have features for extreme conditions, so compromises had to be made, like the self draining oil filters for preheating in arctic temps. This "feature" adds to the wear and tear at startup and if you run your engine often, perhaps non draining filters will improve the life expectancy.

Do you have any factual data to support that "self draining oil filters" were intended in the design and are thus a design feature and not a design shortcoming?