In 1908 the Chief Engineer of the Deutz factory in Cologne was the genius , Ettore Bugatti .

In 1909 he built the first Bugatti Type 10. He is in the drivers seat.

The Badge on the radiator is Deutz.

The Bugatti company has produced many classic cars and now the world's fastest production car. The W16 cylinder 253 mph Bugatti  Veyron.

This car has 10 radiators !  as part of an extremely complex 2 stage water cooling system  to cool the 1001 hp engine.

It still needs AIR !

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 DEUTZ - The First Engine Manufacturer

It is becoming increasingly obvious that there are many Deutz engine fans all over the world.

Let us show IVECO that we believe their decision to drop the Air-Cooled option was not right.

Send in your information on any 'Deutz Air-Cooled' driven item that you know of apart from Magirus Deutz trucks. Send to : roland@magirusdeutz.co.uk

Lets find the Oldest, most unusual, items of plant and machinery that still benefit from Air-Cooled Deutz power. Come on, share your enthusiasm with the world.

driven by ©

click on the item name for a picture

Here is my version of The Deutz story.

The first and oldest engine factory in the world was founded in 1864 in Servas Alley near the banks of The Rhine in Cologne, West Germany.

The company N,A.Otto & Co. was started with Nicolaus August Otto providing the technical expertise and Eugen Langen being the financial provider.

The name Deutz ( pronounced DOYTZ ) derives from the name of the area in Cologne.

In 1876 Otto built the first 4 stroke engine, and after various business negotiations following the death of both founders, the company became Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz AG in 1938.

After many technical and commercial developments, the first Air-Cooled diesel engine went into production later that year.

Following extensive damage in WWII, production was virtually halted. The plants were restored, production resumed in 1949, and was back to normal in 1950.

In 1954 the 100,000th Air-Cooled Deutz engine left the factory.

As the company celebrated its centenary in 1964 the Magirus logo was adopted and the workforce reached 32,000.

Deutz continued to grow, by aquisition of Fahr agricultural, Voerde and other companies involved in railway and heavy engineering.

By 1978 the production of Air-Cooled engines had reached 500,000.

Deutz engines are still everywhere.....

The reliability of Air-Cooled Deutz engines has made them a popular choice for many applications other than trucks.

As they do not rely on physical movement to assist cooling air-flow, they are used in many static units.

Generating and pumping equipment manufacturers were quick to take advantage of this unique operating feature.

The lack of radiator, hoses and coolant circulation pumps made the design of lighter and more compact installations possible.

It was 1938 when the first Deutz powered Magirus went into production and 12 years later the world of agriculture began to benefit when the first of the Deutz tractors appeared on farmland.

Their popularity led to bigger things, in the form of combine harvesters driven by larger versions of the same power units.

I recently received an email from an agricultural engineer who was rebuilding a much smaller item. A Deutz powered pea-picking machine in the UK !

Drive past any construction site, anywhere in the world, and it is unlikely that it will be a Deutz free zone.

Excavators, material handlers, air compressors, dumper trucks, pumps, cranes and generators have all found the Air-Cooled advantage.

Some of the manufacturers who offer the Deutz option are:-

Liebherr, Terex, Poclain, Orenstein & Koppel, Atlas, Kaelble, Fahr and Faun to name just a few.

You may not see a Deutz logo on the outside, but there is often one humming away under the bodywork.

There are also many instances of items of equipment having their standard power units being replaced with Deutz, so they really can appear in any engine powered machinery, anywhere,

The largest engine used in a Magirus Deutz.

In my mind there is a certain amount of mystery attached to this dream of an engine.

I have very little information on regular production models using this model although I believe

that there were some Italian market Magirus that were driven by it.

I do remember asking a Magirus Deutz employee what engine was fitted to a fully loaded TIR tilt artic which was circulating at the most amazing speed on the high speed circuit, up on the test track at Markbronn in 1976. His reply was ' Fow Zwölf '. I got no further information that day.

The FLF80/200 Airport Fire tender unit actually had 2 of them ! to drive all 8 wheels.

DEUTZ BF12L413 - V12 Layout -19.144 Litre - 360HP - and Air-Cooled.

My Continuing ramblings.......

As previously mentioned, I did not become aware of Deutz engines until 1976, and was very impressed from the first day. I have a motor engineering background but although I had very good experiences with VW, I was not really aware of the existence of Air-Cooled trucks.

The combination of the Deutz engine and traditional high quality engineering by Magirus resulted in a very acceptable package indeed, and in my opinion has never been bettered.

I ask myself what a 2010 Magirus Deutz would be like if production had continued ?

The Deutz engine offers operators many advantages over the water cooled opposition.

Reliability : A very large percentage of engine failures are caused by failure of the cooling system. There are so many components which are simply not necessary, radiator, water pump, head gasket, drive belts, hoses, thermostats to name but a few. What is not there cannot fail ! As long as a Deutz engine is running, it will stay cool and damage caused by overheating is very rare. The only cases I have heard of, relate to oil loss ( which affects all engines ) or in VERY dusty environments, where the remedy is pressure cleaning of the engine fins. This is in effect, removal of an item (dust) where water cooled engines usually need spare parts added.

The exhaust gas thermostat on an Deutz engine controls the oil flow to the axial cooling fan, by the change in the exhaust gas temperature. If the engine fins become congested a small washer in the thermostat can be removed to give 100% flow to the fan. The effect of this is maximum cooling, which although it results in decreased fuel efficiency means the truck can continue in operation, until it can receive further attention.

Engine Life : One of the greatest causes of engine cylinder wear is the action of Acid on the bores. When an engine is in its warming up phase, there is a short period of time in the temperature curve where water vapour in the incoming air transforms into a powerful acid. This is called the dew point temperature. In an air cooled engine this point is passed quite quickly, but in water cooled engine there is a flattening of the temperature curve at this point and indeed it lingers for a few seconds, causing faster bore wear before continuing on to its normal operating temperature.

Maintenance : Obviously due to the lack of many parts, the service times are reduced. When major engine work is required, cylinder, piston etc., its is possible to remove a single complete cylinder assembly without engine removal or even removing the engine sump or oil. An 8 Cylinder engine can undergo a top end rebuild over 8 daily down time sessions ( 1 cylinder per day ) and go to work each day, rather than be taken off the road for complete engine removal, rebuild and replacement. This is a particularly useful facility for emergency and military use. The modular construction of the engine drastically reduces the number of spares which need to be held.

So you are asking, what are the negative features ?

I can only say that the points of contention are Noise, and the fact that Air-Cooling is heavily misunderstood.

With regard to the Noise of an Air-Cooled engine, it makes a different noise due to the lack of a water jacket, a higher frequency noise, but the overall sound level was no higher than water cooled engines, or they would not have been allowed on the roads. The sound readings on later air-cooled engines, has been affected by technological advances.

The Air-Cooled concept needed a bit more investigation and acceptance by operators, who were not keen on change.

When it was explained to them that their water cooled engines would not remain cool without Air, it began to make sense to cut out water and all it’s associated problems where possible.

The Air-Cooled Deutz engine continues today and is used extensively where the working conditions are at their most inhospitable and where reliability at extreme temperatures is paramount.

The last model of Deutz engine fitted to a factory built truck, available in the UK, in 1988.

How Does The Deutz Air-Cooling System Work ?

A Plain English explanation by myself.

I have been looking through my Deutz information and hope I have found some answers for those enquiring.

What follows is my interpretation of 'How Deutz Air Cooling Works'. I repeat that this is MY understanding and I am willing to accept any comments which may be forthcoming, if I have got it completely wrong !

In fact I would welcome and publish any better explananation, with full acknowledgment to the sender.

Well Here Goes............

The exhaust gas thermostat which controls oil circulation to the fan, is located in the exhaust manifold. It senses the temperature of the exhaust gases and when they reach 85-90 deg C, some of the oil in the lubrication circuit is diverted to the hub of the fan at the front of the engine.

In the hub there is a continuously rotating shaft driven by the engine, and an impeller linked to the fan blades.

When the exhaust gas temperature is below 85 deg C, there is virtually no oil in the Fan hub, the rotating shaft imparts little, or no motion to the fan blades.

As the hub receives oil, motion is imparted and the cooling fan operates until the exhaust gas temperature drops below 85 deg C.

The airflow generated by the fan is then directed through the finned cylinders and the Oil Cooler matrix, before it can escape the engine panels.

This forced airflow makes the engine ideal for static locations. If there is air, and the engine is running, it cools itself .

The absence of water means the engines can operate at far greater range of ambient temperatures, from +70deg C to -40deg C.

These are the official factory figures but there were thousands of Magirus Deutz trucks working on the Trans-Siberian railway project operating satisfactorily temperatures below -50 deg C.

The maximum permissible oil temperature in a Deutz engine is 125 deg C.

The maximum temperature of the cylinder fins is about 170 deg C.

The following diagram is from Deutz literature, and I dont claim to fully understand it. Maybe you do ?

Its a long time since I learnt about graphs.

Below is a close up of the Cooling Fan Unit of the 413 Range of engines.

On the left is the oil supply pipe.

The larger black pipe below is the oil return.

The Yellow shaft and Red component rotate continuously.

The Green component is the Fan.

Ok... all you clever people out there.

Have I got this right ? Please feel free to contact me.