Any wisdom for Detroit 6-71's?

[Prodigal Son]

Looking at a 36' with a single 6-71 rated at 300hp. It was last overhauled in the early 1990's and runs well, but that seems like a long time ago...so is it a time bomb? It pushes the boat to a 15knt cruise...is there any hope for any more speed/power?

Any other tid-bits of info?

[fishbard]

Detroits are two stroke diesels, hence different from all the other diesels. They are extremely reliable, assuming they aren't hopped up too much. The 6-71 can be made to make 485 HP, but that drastically cuts into the longevity of the engine. They are noisy and have a reputation for leaking and throwing oil. A normally aspirated one (they all have blowers, NA would mean no turbo), can go 30,000 hours or more without an overhaul. They will get you home even after bad things happen, since they have an injector pump for each cylinder. Google "Detroit Diesel" or "6-71 Detroit", you will find out plenty of stuff. They are not made any more, as they couldn't meet modern emissions standards, their successor is the MTU Detroit Diesel, which is a 4 stroke. There are jillion of these things still running world wide, though, and plenty of mechanics know how to work on one. If I were you, assuming you bought the boat, I wouldn't mess with hopping up this motor, just run it until you can afford to put a more modern diesel in. BTW, everybody calls them "Jimmies".

[Prodigal Son]

Thanks for the info. No, didn't buy it, just talking to a guy about trading my boat straight up for his boat. Need to run the boat somewhere other than the river and see how it handles seas before I get too far into things. 2 stroke I knew, reputation for leaking I knew, 30,000hours was a number I hadn't heard...and one that makes me feel a little better. This boat doesn't have that much time on her.

[kapoc]

I just seen this post soory so late I have 2 6-71's on our post that we run up here in Va Beach let me know if you need any help or have questions I got all the books including the service ones if you need to look into it. Feel free to give me a call.