Detroit Diesel submits Series 60 to EPA

DETROIT (Aug. 15, 2002) — Detroit Diesel is the latest engine OE to submit an application to the Environmental Protection Agency for emissions certification of its Series 60 diesel engines, which, if approved, will cover 20 of the currently available Series 60 engine ratings. Additional ratings will be submitted for certification in the months following the Oct. 1 deadline.

DDC will have accumulated approximately 8 million test miles on its fleet of test vehicles equipped with October 2002 prototype engines by Oct. 1, and different fleets will have engines in operation, in addition to the factory owned test units, the company says.

John Morelli, vice-president of the Series 60 2002 Engine Program notes that despite concerns among truckers about reliability and maintenance issues with October ’02 engines, the warranty on the Series 60 engine remains the same, as do recommended oil change intervals and other required maintenance.

“Of course, we are well aware of the questions some truckers have about the Series 50 and 60 engines equipped with exhaust gas recirculation (EGR),” he said in a press release. “For those who may not be aware of it, EGR has been used on the Series 50 since 2000.”

Morelli also says that despite concerns in the industry about increased weight that may affect payload, DDC actually has been able to reduce the weight of the Series 60 by 25 pounds.

It’s likely the Series 60, like all the other engines, will suffer some fuel economy, Morelli admits. But after running a customer’s truck equipped with an EGR engine all winter, the company found the truck to be close to regular revenue service, geared at 72 mph, with an overall average vehicle speed of 55.6 mph. “That truck averaged 6.91 mpg. I think most truckers would have to agree that 6.91 mpg, in the winter, fully loaded, is pretty good fuel economy,” Morelli said.