Comments on Detroit Diesel 16v92 1350hp ?

importmonkey

Opinionated Member
Jul 9, 2015
1,056
Space Coast, FL
Boat Info
2005 260DA (sold)
2007 44DA (sold)
1989/2015 Hatteras 65c
Engines
12v92TA
Anyone know about these? Could use some input/feedback. All I hear of Detroits are that they are louder, noisier, messier, less efficient - but will run forever, are easy to work on, and parts are plentiful.

Thanks!
-T
 
Like anything yes and no it depends how run and how taken care of.

At 1350HP I assume Turbo and After coolers. Your looking at north of 120GPH WOT could be 140GPH.
Detroit's reputation for lasting "forever" come from running them natural not high horsepower high boost.
They are two strokers, blower is for cylinder scavenging not boosting horsepower. That's "naturally aspirated"
As soon as you add the Turbos and get into boost RPM ranges you squeezing 50-75% more HP from the same block.
That always takes a toll on longevity.
On the up side an entire liner, piston, bearing, in-frame overhaul kit only runs about $3,800 dollars.

Run them at displacement speed to long is also no good as they are fueled (big injectors) assuming they will be run near their full HP. Just on plane is best balance for the engines life and fuel but still going to be close to 100GPH I'll bet.

At displacement rpm they are going to be over-fueling a bit typically which tends to be hard on the cylinder walls and lube oil dilution. With a limited slow runs and regular mid range runs to blow them out they will last a fairly long time but if run hard or always slow you will have issues.

Nothing this big is in a small boat, I'm going to guess 75' plus sport fisherman?

We ran 8v92TI in 44' MLB and 16v149TA in upgraded 95' Cape class Patrol Boats (2470 HP)
Goods engines both.
The old 95 hulls could not handle that much HP and beat them selves to death after the upgrades
but they would fly, and they would gulp the fuel...

FYI- those fuel numbers are for twins, combined, so half that per engine.
 
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Your not going to find many on here that have Detroit's, I am one of the few I know of. Detroit's are two cycle engines and mine are clean and get 38gal/hr for both @ 21/2 knot cruise. The more you run them the more maintenance there is. Their one of the only engines with the after cooler under the blower in the air box. Fairly expensive to have serviced comparatively. The rest is fairly easy to service. The 16v are two 8v's bolted together, not sure I would want that however, but they are powerful and very heavy. They can be dirty if you don't keep up on the airsep's and keep the check valves clean. I like the way they sound, very beefy. The biggest issue with two cycle's are the can run away and blow them selves up when trying to slow down or stop. When they get old and worn, they can feed on the engine oil as fuel and "run away" and blowup.

Not sure what you are looking for in an answer but I love these engines, I like the 60 series even better. Sounds like a large boat if your asking about 16v's.

EDIT: Funny @hughespat57 fuel estimate is right on for what I am seeing. But depending on hull type and weight you might see more. The biggest thing for two cycle diesels is not to go over the 1:1 ratio of horsepower vs displacement, the lower the better. Also buy a membership to boatdiesel.com and read and you will see the issues and troublesome areas.
 
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Thanks guys. These are in a 65 Hatteras.
A little smaller than I expected, but a bit longer than @bahamabreisus, and twice the engines basically.
But fairly typical of avid big fishing boats, get out there fast, trawl a bit, get home fast.
Did they provide what top speed it makes?

So you might be around 60-75GPH at minimum planing/cruise.

@bahamabreisus whats your "cruise" rpm/speed? planing or displacement?
 
Before I’d step into a 1692 I’d be looking for anything that was MTU or CAT in the similar HP range.

I have lots of experience on bigger Detroits.
 

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