Helpful tip regarding your Perkins or Deutz Pistons
Selecting the correct replacement piston for your Deutz or Perkins engine can be a problem. This Foley Tech Tip, one of an ongoing series to help engine rebuilders, discusses Perkins and Deutz pistons and gives a guide to their selection.
Piston Design
Over the years, pistons have changed greatly with new manufacturing techniques and advances in metallurgy. As changes were made they were done to help maximize performance in your particular engine. Both Deutz and Perkins have decreased the number of rings used per piston in many more current engines, sometimes even leaving some grooves empty in certain Perkins applications. In other cases, different coatings have been used on the outside of the piston for better durability, reduced friction, and better heat management. We have also seen the advancement of the diesel engine piston to have a mound or hill in the center of the combustion chamber in the dish to assist with flame propagation.
With all these changes and available options, you would think that it would have also become easier to find the correct piston, but not all the options will work with your particular engine. These different pistons designs were crafted and engineered to work in tandem with all the other components installed in a given engine. Just because a Deutz 1011F and 2011 might share a common bore size, it may not be beneficial to go with the new technology unless your engine was originally designed to do so. This same concept should apply for most engines across the board.
Boring, Honing, Sleeves
Often, you have the choice of replacing your pistons with new oversized pistons or standard sized pistons with a new cylinder liner. Oversize pistons are available for most Deutz and Perkins engines. For those who want to stay with a stock or “standard” size piston, of you have major cylinder wall damage, let us know and we can see if there is a piston and liner kit available for your engine. Most Deutz and Perkins pistons, whether standard or oversized, come with new, size matched piston rings. We stock many of the common pistons used in Deutz and Perkins engines so give us a call to get the right piston the first time.
Choosing the Correct Piston
The easiest way to ensure you are getting the right piston is call us at 866-821-2454 or e-mail us at info@foleyengines.com nwith your engine serial number or Perkins engine numbers. If you need help locating the right engine numbers, see our Tech Tip # 20: Perkins Serial Numbers or Tech Tip #199: Deutz Engine Serial Number Location Made Easy.
Please call us with any questions. We take tech support seriously and publish these tech tips to support the knowledge base in the marine and industrial engine field.
