S 60 problems

[John316]

I have been reading about problems that other engines have. What kind of problems does the S60 have, and what are warning signs?

Anybody have thoughts? Clifford?

Thanks.

God bless,

John

[Busted Knuckle]

John,
Sooner or  they all go ca-put for various reasons. Some more often than others.
The main thing is to keep up on the regular services and maintenance schedukes recommended by the mfg. And watch for early warning signs. Sometimes you get them, sometimes you don't!
FWIW   BK 

[rv_safetyman]

John, I am not sure what all you can look for.  I would certainly do oil analysis (although mine testing did not give me any significant signal) and check the antifreeze with a test strip. 

In my research related to my problem, I found that one fairly common problem with the Series 60 is the piston liner receding into the block.  That is what happened to mine and also what happened to the engine I bought as a replacement.  I reviewed the documentation of the rebuild and the symptom was exactly the same as mine. 

I put 53K miles on my engine and from day one, my radiator surge tank fluid level would drop and my low coolant sensor would trigger a check engine light.  I assumed that I had a small leak, as the loss was not significant at first.  It got worse as time went on.  When the liner sinks in the block, the head gasket seal is lost and the cylinder pressure gets into the coolant system and pressurizes it. 

So that is one symptom. As I think about it, my engine also sounded quite a bit different from most Series 60s at both low and high idle.  I assumed that it was my exhaust system that I fabricated.  It will be interesting to hear what the "new" engine sounds like. 

I was never impressed with my power.  My engine was set at 470 and I don't think I was getting that.  At an Eagle rally in MO, several Eagles with Series 60s traveled from Springfield to Branson (big hills) and I did not have the power they did.

So, just plain paying attention to your engine (sounds, smells, fluids, power, etc) will go a long ways. 

Again, based on what I have learned, most of the problems were gradual and did not result in catastrophic failures.

Not sure any of that helps, but it does come from a painful education process

Jim

[John316]

Thanks for the replies.

BK, that is kinda what I figured....thanks.

Great post, Jim. I will watch for that. Can they fix the problem early, if that does start to happen? Ours has the right amount of horses at hitting the road (from the dino test), so that is nice. Otherwise the dino test, everything looked good. We don't know the results from the oil test, yet. We also sent a coolant sample off, so we will see about that.

God bless,

John

[TomC]

Like all wet cylinder liners-you have to be vigilant about the acidity of the coolant.  I've seen a Series 60 pit out the cylinder liners in as few as 220,000 miles.  At around 600,000 miles, the bull gear on the valve train should be replaced-if that fails, the whole engine usually needs rebuilding.  At about 800,000 miles, injectors.  If you don't overheat the engine-yes you can get 1,000,000 miles out of it before overhaul-but that's it's 50% rating-meaning only 50% of the engines will reach the 1 million miles mark.  Once you overheat most any engine, a whole host of problems usually occur-like cylinder liner problems.  The thing is, it is really hard to overheat a Series 60 with all of its' built in electronics.  Good Luck, TomC

[edroelle]

On any electronic engine (all Series 60s), sensors will fail.  In many cases, you are dead in the water.  Some people recommend carrying spares.  In fact, Jim and I talked about that yesterday.  Most sensors are $75-$100.  But, mine usually fail Sunday afternoon in the middle of no where.  I have lost the first 3.

Oil pressure sensor
TPS, throttle position sensor
Air intake temp sensor ( $12 from DD - yes $12 !!)

Cam sensor
Crank sensor
Air intake sensor ( $12 from DD - yes $12 !!)
Turbo boost sensor
Coolant level sensor

Ed Roelle
Flint, MI