Detroit Diesel 12V149 Starting & Running

Detroit Diesel 2 Stroke
1650 rated horsepower
V12
149 cubic inch per cylinder
1788 cubic inches total or 29 litres.
2 roots blowers & 4 turbo chargers
Weight 10,000 lbs
Previously powered a 160 ton coal truck.

[hudsonhawk]

The throttle response is instantaneous, they really crack no matter what model it is.

[crankycrow]

we ran one of these in a scallop dragger it had well over 30 thousand hours on it worked perfect and never let us down once .

[aboversite]

We used these on a Westburne drilling rig back in the 70's in Alberta. Had 3 of them you brought on line in stages, the deeper you drilled. Late at night, running wide open, drilling slowly, middle of winter, I used snuggle down next to one for a warm nap.

[wysoft]

used to work on a couple of ships that had 12V-149s as emergency diesel generators. they were mounted high up, a deck below the bridge - the idea being that you could still have power even with severe flooding of the engine room. when the engineers did EDG load tests you could hear that thing running anywhere in the house. great sounding engines, but if that's your only source of power aboard those ships, you're already in trouble.

[fexploder]

Imagine somehow swapping that or an 8v-149 into a truck, I think it would be pretty cool and I also love the mean sound this engine has.

[billmoran]

Detroits are great generator engines. That instant throttle response let’s it pick up load incredibly fast with very little frequency drop. AT&T used them exclusively for standby power. Some as large as 16V-149’s / 1500 KW. They could start and go right to full load in 10 seconds. Only bad part is the 149’s were the absolute worst on emissions. Most were eventually replaced with 16V-92’s which produced the same power and were much cleaner running.

[TheMadTube]

The battery cables to the starter pulled so many amps that they pulled away from each other due to Lorentz forces.

[ericblust]

When we pushed into Iraq from Kuwait we used an army personal carrier, mortar track, there were 2 Detroit diesels powering it, thing was bad ass... I was in the 50 cal turut and the straight pipe for the exhaust was right by my head, I think it hurt my hearing as much as the 50 cal rounds and mortar rounds....

[sohaibshahid]

The throttle response and the roar is awesome

[gambit]

I just put a rear main seal in one of these on our 780 kw Kohler generator at work. They are monsters!

[jeptj]

good old days with straight stacks use too run 12 of them on frac job could hear them from over 1/2 mile away
and feel them in deep down in your chest

[rampant]

Gotta love the sound of a Detroit running wide open!

[AGentleTree]

That sound reminds me of the two 16V149's on my old sea scout ship. One of my favorite things about being in that program was hearing those engines fire up.

[tickedoffsheikh]

I'm also going to say that was the sweet arresting sound of a Detroit Diesel... I was taken back to my childhood era when my ears were always listening to the 6V53 on the Timberjack 550 skidders and the 6-71 in the Champion motor grader. What else can compete to Classic Detroit Diesel? Uncompromised power and off course that baritone sound.

[edwardkesock]

I was born in 71 i grew up hearing old Detroits running up down the roads from greyhound busses to old KW i love the sound of them wish they were still around like back in the day

[odelldickey]

That’s the sound of power ! Nothing like a Detroit running wide open ! Thanks for the video. American Iron all the way!

[lloeyeloralez]

This is the beautiful extraordinary roar of the king of the concrete jungle, it roars like a wonderful symphony for the ears. the great dd-12 simply wonderful

[robpeters]

Nothing compares to a Detroit. It’s in a league all to itself.
I wet my pants a little when he cracked the throttle.

[rayg]

It's a pity those motorcycle air filters are strangling the turbo suction noise

[russianacorns]

I’ve seen those smoke stacks before they’re on every 17 year old’s 2nd gen