Normal Universal Diesel Engine Life is?

[newgringo]

Hello all. We have a M25 Universal Diesel with 2600 hours on it which I suspect is the original engine from 1986. It starts and runs well. Doesn't leak, overheat or misbehave in any way and I keep up with oil changes and filters. I'm wondering just how much life is a reasonable expectation for these engines? Comments?

 

[ref_123]

From the grape vine...

Our diesel guy once told me that a well-serviced diesel runs for 10K hours without issues. The guy who did my survey said it's 5K before rebuild is needed. So, with trivial math applied, 7.5K hours is when I plan to start worrying about it, unless it breaks before that .

Regards,
Stan
1986 E32-3 "Fire Eater"

 

[Gary Peterson]

Make sure you don't have too much anti-freeze in your coolant mixture. Too much and one might have a Silicon drop out issue that will cause internal hot spots.
Maybe around 3500 - 4000 hours you might have the injector nozzles rebuilt or replaced. A way to check for that is when starting, there is a raw fuel smell with a sheen on the water and an initial engine stumble with some white smoke but clears up.

 

[newgringo]

Gary,
So how much antifreeze is too much? Having too much is a new one on me. I have always run a 50-50 mix of the green stuff, just like older cars.

 

[Gary Peterson]

50/50 % is fine. Wouldn't go much higher though. I believe most current antifreezes are Silicate free or have a reduced content.

 

[mherrcat]

My M18 has over 2,000 hrs and seems to run fine. Don't know if it has ever had any major service/repairs. I change the oil and filters regularly; probably more often than necessary.