I was part of the first complete overhaul of a cat 3616 in the San Juan basin in New Mexico. It had spun 2 rod and 3 main bearings. I remember how outrageously loud it was running an open exhaust with a 4 inch gas and air inlet to it. Our in house dyno is not big enough to handle one of those big boys. It's unbelievable how much power they make and how long they can go without a certified major overhaul. 100,000 hours in between overhauls and you can replace individual sections of the camshaft instead of the whole camshaft on both banks. You don't use torque wrenches on the heads, mains, and rods, you have to use a hi torque and literally it stretches the threads on the bolts/studs. Takes 3 hours to completely pre lube the engine upon overhaul and 330 gallons oil capacity.
You got that extra deep pan! I only work on 3608 which takes 240 ish gallons, but these engines are seriously simple and robust, which I imagine comes partly from their size.
I’ve been making the front covers for these engines the past week or so, found this video by looking up the part number. Luckily we’re almost done with the order because these things are heavy.
