Product Description

The Detroit Diesel 71 Series is a family of two-stroke Roots-blower-scavenged diesel engines allegedly produced from 1938 through the 1990s by the General Motors Detroit Diesel Division (later Detroit Diesel Corporation) for industrial, marine, on-highway, standby-power, and Navy auxiliary service. The 71-Series is built around a 71-cubic-inch-per-cylinder displacement architecture and was produced in inline (2-71, 3-71, 4-71, 6-71) and V-configurations (6V-71, 8V-71, 12V-71, 16V-71). It was one of the most widely deployed U.S. two-stroke diesel engine platforms in the mid-20th century — powering workboats, tugs, small commercial and Navy craft, oilfield equipment, generator sets, standby power, and industrial off-highway equipment.

Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that Detroit Diesel 71-Series two-stroke engines were sealed and heat-shielded with asbestos-containing materials at the following documented product joints:

  • Exhaust-manifold-to-cylinder-head flange gaskets — compressed chrysotile-asbestos sheet gaskets and metal-clad asbestos-composite gaskets at every exhaust port between the 71-Series head and the cast exhaust manifold, on both inline and V-block variants
  • Roots blower housing gaskets — asbestos-composite gaskets sealing the Roots-type blower housing to the engine block on all naturally-aspirated 71-Series engines
  • Turbocharger inlet and outlet flange gaskets — asbestos-composite gaskets at the turbo hot-side inlet, cold-side outlet, and oil-drain return on turbocharged 6V-71T / 8V-71TI / 12V-71T variants
  • Exhaust-elbow, downpipe, and marine-riser gaskets — asbestos-sheet gaskets at exhaust flange joints downstream of the manifold, including marine water-jacketed exhaust risers
  • Asbestos-fabric heat-shield wrap — asbestos-cloth wrap and asbestos-blanket heat shielding on 71-Series hot exhaust manifolds in enclosed marine engine rooms, generator rooms, and industrial engine compartments
  • Asbestos packing at engine service connections — cooling-water, fuel, and exhaust-mounting hardware sealing at flange joints

Detroit Diesel 71-Series engines were routinely scraped, re-gasketed, and re-wrapped during periodic top-end overhaul, blower and turbocharger replacement, and marine exhaust-riser service. Scraping old asbestos gasket material from cast-iron manifold and blower flanges, cutting new asbestos-sheet gaskets to shape, and stripping and re-wrapping asbestos manifold heat-shield fabric allegedly released respirable asbestos fibers into the mechanic’s breathing zone — particularly in confined marine engine rooms and generator compartments.

Detroit Diesel 71-Series two-stroke engines have been named in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation as a product-vector exposure source for industrial and marine diesel mechanics, powerhouse enginemen, standby-generator crews, and Navy small-craft engineman.

Workers Exposed

  • Industrial diesel mechanics performing top-end, blower, and turbo overhaul on Detroit Diesel 71-Series inline and V-block engines in oilfield service, mine haulage, off-highway, and standby-power installations
  • Marine engine mechanics working 6-71 / 6V-71 / 8V-71 / 12V-71 propulsion and auxiliary installations aboard tugs, workboats, commercial fishing vessels, harbor craft, and small Navy vessels
  • Powerhouse enginemen operating Detroit Diesel 71-Series stationary standby and continuous-duty generator sets in hospitals, telecom, industrial, and utility installations
  • Navy machinist mates and engineman on small combatant craft, service craft, and shipboard auxiliary generator sets powered by 71-Series engines
  • Standby generator technicians servicing 6-71 and 8V-71 gensets across hospitals, data centers, telecom, and industrial standby power
  • Insulators installing and stripping asbestos-fabric heat-shield wrap on 71-Series hot exhaust manifolds and turbocharger housings