Despite all the nay sayers putting down the reversed diesel head layout (exhaust in valley of V) in thread71-184766: Diesel design paradigm - V6 & V8, GM has announced the 2010 Duramax V8 diesel will use this layout.  It definitely offers some packaging advantages as well as challenges.  Hopefully GM will sweat the details on this one & not unleash another "Oldsmobile diesel" on an unsuspecting public.

http://www.sae.org/automag/technewsletter/080108Tech/01.htm

I thought about the DOHC setup being wider AFTER I posted my reply. I could also argue that it must have a bore large enough to accommodate 4 valves & injector - so being an 8 cylinder of only 4.5L the stroke probably isn't overly long and therefore a reasonable deck height. But I do have to agree that it looks tall.

As for the intake I think there is a plenum above the intake cam and the ports wrap around the outside of the "cam cover." If you look closely you can make out 4 bulges behind were the intake connects to the cover.

I have to agree with RossABQ. I was surprised that this engine is both an 8 cylinder and over 4 liters. I was hoping for a medium-light diesel that could use a lightly modified transmission & axles from the petrol engines to keep the "premium" costs down and the efficiency up. I imagine that one of the main drivers for customer acceptance was 0-60 time for highway merging. There is also the paradigm in this great USA that diesels are meant for hauling not economy.

I have no doubt that changing injectors in this will be only 5x as worse as in a normal duramax and parts will be just as high.  

Looks like it's got sucker written on it.  Customers will only pay so much for labor before they will be fed up with poorly packaged engines.

As an auto technician who very likely will find myself servicing this engine in the future this comment portraits the biggest problem we face just about every day we get to work. We study, and equip ourselves with the tools and information necessary to diagnose and repair "transportation equipment", only to see a huge portion of consumers act like we are working on a $200 appliance.  The perspective of the quote above turns into a self fullfilling prophecy that needs to be broken. Consumers that understand that these machines need serviced, and that it simply costs what it has to cost are the ones that not only see the value in having the equipment but trained professionals available to service it when necessary. The ones that purchase this technology, and then moan and complain that it's ownership also comes with a certain level of responsibility for it's up-keep actually work to thin the number of shops and technicians available to do so when that day finally comes. Strange as it may seem, this drives the cost up, while arguably forcing the quality (of the technician ball valve) down! Both of those points would be ones "the consumer" would if asked say they don't want, yet their purchase habits dictate otherwise. The heart of the problem really comes from manufacturers that try to tell the public their product is "virtually naintanence free" when no such "machine" is ever going to be built.

I can't tell you how many times I have overheard a conversation where someone was failing to have a vehicle repaired, while I knew there were competent techs and shops that could easily solve the problem. The reason they were not getting the car fixed was they weren't looking for an educated, and equipped technician, they were looking price first and therefore rewarding the people without the tools and schools for not investing in them with their business.

With today's increased complexity, you could easily spend a couple grand on "routine" repairs on a car that is technologically yesterday's news, and really serious bucks on some of the "major" repairs that are inevitable.  Consider that people are loath to pony up maybe $1000 nowadays for a well-rebuilt GM TH350 automatic trans, as cheap as they come, for a 15-yr-old vehicle that is otherwise in good condition.  How much will a rebuild on a 10-yr-old 6-speed ZF set you back in 2017? Will people put a $10k trans into a $20k car at that point? (The hottest products in 2017 may well be adapters to hook up TH350's to M-B's and BMW's!

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2011-01-24

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