The Detroit Diesel Series 50 is an inline four-cylinder

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

, that was introduced in 1993 by

Detroit Diesel Detroit Diesel Corporation (DDC) is an American diesel engine manufacturer headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is a subsidiary of Daimler Truck North America, which is itself a wholly owned subsidiary of the mulitinational Da ...

. The Series 50 was developed from the existing block of its sister engine, the

Series 60 The S60 Platform (formerly Series 60 User Interface) was a software platform for smartphones that runs on top of the Symbian operating system. It was created by Nokia based on the 'Pearl' user interface from Symbian Ltd. It was introduced at ...

, which itself was initially designed by Detroit Diesel. The cylinder heads were cast by

John Deere Deere & Company, doing business as John Deere (), is an American corporation that manufactures agricultural machinery, heavy equipment, forestry machinery, diesel engines, drivetrains (axles, transmissions, gearboxes) used in heavy equipment, ...

at one time.

History

The Series 50 engine is used as a major

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

engine in

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, especially from buses built in the mid to late 1990s and early 2000s. The power plant was offered for several applications:

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...

es,

motor homes A recreational vehicle, often abbreviated as RV, is a motor vehicle or trailer that includes living quarters designed for accommodation. Types of RVs include motorhomes, campervans, coaches, caravans (also known as travel trailers and camper ...

, construction and industrial equipment, and

military vehicles A military vehicle is any vehicle for land-based military transport and activity, including combat vehicles; both specifically designed for, or significantly used by military and armed forces. Most military vehicles require off-road capabilitie ...

. It is unusual to find an inline four-cylinder engine propelling heavy duty buses, which traditionally use inline six, V-6 or V-8 diesel engines. In 2000, in order to better respond to more stringent

EPA The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...

emissions standards, Detroit Diesel announced revisions of the Series 50 for diesel applications. The changes included the addition of an

exhaust gas recirculation In internal combustion engines, exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) is a nitrogen oxide () emissions reduction technique used in petrol/gasoline, diesel engines and some hydrogen engines. EGR works by recirculating a portion of an engine's exhaust ...

(EGR) system, and a variable geometry turbocharger system to improve

torque In physics and mechanics, torque is the rotational equivalent of linear force. It is also referred to as the moment of force (also abbreviated to moment). It represents the capability of a force to produce change in the rotational motion of th ...

. In September 2004, Detroit Diesel ceased production of the Series 50 heavy duty diesel engine for on highway applications due to emissions standards. It is still available for off-road applications. A replacement was scheduled to take place in 2007, then was pushed back until 2009. According to Detroit Diesel, Series 50 engines will no longer be produced for non-

Daimler AG The Mercedes-Benz Group AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the world's leading car manufacture ...

trucks or buses beginning in 2010.

Alternative fuels

In addition to being powered by diesel fuel, the engine can also use alternative fuels such as

compressed natural gas Compressed natural gas (CNG) is a fuel gas mainly composed of methane (CH4), compressed to less than 1% of the volume it occupies at standard atmospheric pressure. It is stored and distributed in hard containers at a pressure of , usually in cy ...

(CNG) or

liquified natural gas Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volu ...

(LNG) under the Series 50G label. Several thousand Series 50 propelled buses are now on the streets of major cities such as

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and

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Design

Features

* Power ratings ranging from * Supports the DDEC III and DDEC IV * Since 2001 the engines included an EGR device. * Twin balance shafts * Single over head camshaft design * Electronic Unit Injection

Popular horsepower ratings

* @ 1200 rpm, 250 hp govern at 2100 rpm * @ 1200 rpm, 275 hp govern at 2100 rpm * @ 1200 rpm, 320 hp govern at 2100 rpm

Competing power plants

* Caterpillar 3208 * Caterpillar C9 * Cummins 6CTA / Westport 8.3-L * Cummins L10 / ISL * Cummins M11 / ISM * Detroit Diesel 6V92 * International DT466 * Perkins 1104C 4.4-L

References

* * {{John Deere 50 John Deere Straight-four engines Diesel engines by model