The Detroit Diesel Series 71 is a two-stroke diesel engine series, available in both inline and V configurations, with the

inline models including one, two, three, four and six cylinders, and the V-types including six, eight, 12, 16 and 24 cylinders. The two largest V units used multiple cylinder heads per bank to keep the head size and weight to manageable proportions, the V-16 using four heads from the four-cylinder inline model and the V-24 using four heads from the inline six-cylinder model. This feature also assisted in keeping down the overall cost of these large engines by maintaining parts commonality with the smaller models. The inline six-cylinder 71 series engine was introduced as the initial flagship product of the Detroit Diesel Engine Division of General Motors in 1938. The V-type first appeared in 1957. The 71 in the model series designation refers to the displacement per cylinder in cubic inches (actually 70.93 cu in / 1,162.4 cc). Bore and stroke is the same to all units, at 4.25 x 5.0 inches (107.95 x 127 mm). All Series 71 engines utilize uniflow scavenging, where a gear-driven Roots type blower mounted to the exterior of the engine provides intake air through cored passages in the engine block and ports in the cylinder walls at slightly greater than atmospheric pressure. The engine exhausts through pushrod-operated poppet valves in the cylinder head(s), with either two or four valves per cylinder. Unit injection is employed, one injector per cylinder, with no high fuel pressure outside of the injector body. The injectors are cycled from the same camshaft responsible for opening the exhaust valves. As a two-stroke diesel engine cannot naturally aspirate (draw in) intake air, a blower is necessary to provide sufficient air to scavenge exhaust gasses from the cylinders and support combustion. Later high-performance versions were available with turbochargers, and turbochargers with intercooling, the turbochargers discharging into the Roots blower intake.

Nicknames
Over the years, the 71 series has enjoyed a reputation for dependability and ease of maintenance. Due to their ubiquity and operating characteristics, inline models acquired a variety of nicknames from those who used and serviced them. Most common were "Screaming Jimmy" (Jimmy being trucker slang for GMC trucks) or "Rocky Mountain Humming Bird," which terms referred to the engine's sound at full throttle. Other nicknames include "Green Leaker" and "Driptroit Diesel," referring to the powerplants' factory color and propensity for leaking oil on everything in or near the engine compartment. The V12 has been called the "Buzzin Dozen" due to the higher RPM needed for it to produce power and what sound it makes when the engine brake is on.

[edit] 71 series variants

Model Displacement Engine configuration Horsepower 1-71 1.2L (71ci) Single-cylinder 10

2-71 2.3L (142ci) I-2 3-71 3.5L (213ci) I-3 4-71 4.7L (284ci) I-4 6-71 7.0L (426ci) I-6 6V-71 7.0L (426ci) V-6 8V-71 9.3L (568ci) V-8 12V-71 14.0L (852ci) V-12 16V-71 18.6L (1136ci) V-16 24V-71 27.9L (1704ci) V-24
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68 113 160 238 238 318 450 635 1800

Model Codes T Turbocharged V V-Block configuration L or N Low profile