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8V92 v. series 60
Good morning, It’s the Newby again. We have our home in Florida up for sale and are shopping for a Prevost with the intention of full-timing. A short history- we lived aboard and cruised a 50 ft trawler for 8 years and after surviving Katrina purchased a Bluebird and full timed for 3 years. My wife insisted that as we got older we needed “roots” so we bought a home in Florida in a 55+ gated community. God’s waiting room. Now she thinks “we” were premature in buying a home and wants to travel again.
We are searching for an older Prevost and I’ve found that there are some extremely nice, pre 1995, coaches for sale with the 8v92 engine. Our boat had twin 8v53N and they were great engines. The Bluebird was an 8v92 and, while it got us around for 3 years, it was not without issues. It leaked a lot of oil while cruising and I know it’s the nature of the beast. More seriously, while returning from way south in Mexico, I lost most of the turbo boost with a considerable loss in power. Turned out to be a cracked exhust manifold. My other concern was the coolant line to the engine driven air compressor. On a bluebird these lines are very difficult to change( two mechanics refused the job). By far the most serious problem was a design flaw in the air system. If the coach was parked with no air pressure and was hooked up to pressurized water, the water was able to flow into the air system through a winter blow down system. Not a good thing.
Enough history. I”m looking for your opinions, based on the vast amount of experience in the Community, about the 8v92 v series 60 engines. I appears that if I were to shop for a coach with a 60 series I would have to pay a $20k-$30k premium for that engine in a coach that is 1 or 2 years newer. I’ve read every posting in the General section and have not seen that discussion. I appreciate your efforts and look forward to you thoughts. Regards, Jim Barone
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7 Replies
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I like the 2 cycle Detroits but would prefer the S60. I used to have two 625hp 6V92s in a boat. Very high-strung engines, required rebuild every 1000 hours or so. Of course, the over the road engines would not be as high strung and would provide better service life. There are fewer and fewer mechanics that really know the 2 cycle diesels.
The S60s are so much better in terms of fuel economy, parts availability, cleanliness, serviceability. Well worth the additional 20k since you’ll also get a newer coach.
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I’ve had both and echo what Threegreens said about service. Even at Detroit shops, most of the techs have little to no experience with the 8-v. That said, the 8v-92 I had in my 90 Prevost was pretty much bulletproof and did not leak or burn oil. The issues I had were with cooling. The series 60/ 6 speed Allison in my much heavier current bus accelerates much faster, uses significantly less fuel, and has no visible exhaust compared to the 8v with 5 speed trans. The fuel savings may not justify the additional up-front expense, but it is dramatic. I never got better than 5 MPG with the 8-v and I get nearly 7 with the S-60.
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Jim,
I have had both, and you did a pretty good analysis of some of the two stroke engine weak points.
The cracked manifolds or failed manifold gaskets were problems I had. I had to replace the inlet tubes to the turbo. but except for a crack in one of the heads which was an unusual event the engine was a good one. It was not cheap to run however because unlike the pre-emissions Series 60 it liked fuel in large amounts. My average for 14 or 15 years of owning it was 5.6 MPG.
The Series 60 engines appear to be reliable, they certainly are more fuel efficient, and unlike the 8V92 my experience with the Series 60 is that it does not have a tendency to plug radiators or have owverheating issues.
Given the choice of two identical coaches with the exception of the engines, I would go for the one with the series 60. You will not necessarily save the difference in fuel purchases, but it is likely it will always hold a greater value than a coach with the 8V92 so when you sell you should get most of your money back.
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Jim, kinda been waiting for Jon to chime in because he has owned both. When we looked for our first Prevo, we read all the threads going back a long time on POG. We decided based on that info to look for an XL that had a series 60 and IFS. Turned out to be the correct choice. Sure do love the sound of that 8V92 though. Just don’t want the maintainance headaches.
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I have also had both and now it’s getting to the point that even some DD shops have guys that have never seen and 8V92. I liked the 8V in the bus, smooth, especially at idle compared to the service 60 and once wound up at highway speeds, nothing like it. I had them in trucks many years ago and they were a nightmare because of the drivers, but in a controlled owner operated application like the bus, they were good, as long as you didn’t get them hot. The one I had in the Liberty had been rebuild and was flawless, wouldn’t put but a little oil the size of a quarter on the ground from each slobber tube and just ran great. In fact, it’s still running good to this day and owned by Tom in TN and it’s for sale if your in the market. 1994 Liberty
The series 60 came online about 1995 for Prevost and has been pretty much bullet proof. Matched up with the Allison 6 speed, it’s pretty hard to beat. If your a wrench guy, nothing wrong with an 8V, just takes a little more care to keep in running healthy.
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Owned em both…wouldn’t go back.
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Deleted duplicate thread.
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