gingerfold:
The Leyland O.600 had its beginnings in the latter stages of WW2 and became one of Leyland’s best ever power units. It was developed into the larger bore O.680 in the 1950s and both this and the O.600 were world class engines, used in many applications at home and overseas. Not mentioned previously are Pegaso (Spain) and Hotchkis (France) who both used Leyland engines. Development of both engines into uprated Power-Plus versions initially took away some reliability, head gasket problems etc. and shorter engine life. The TL11 was a hastily cobbled together lightly turbo-charged O.680 and it did well. There was an earlier turbo-charged version, the Leyland 690, (not to be confused with the AEC AV690), which was troublesome and was soon withdrawn when the fixed head 500 series was introduced. I think that it’s fair to say that the O.600 / O 680 was the peak of Leyland’s engine developments, after that it was all downhill.
This echoes my reading of the subject, yet this thread contains no horror stories from GB people, so far.
I don’t believe that there were any “horror stories” where these engines were concerned and especially the O.600 /O680 in the 1950’s Octopus / Beaver at modest road speeds and 22/24 tons gross train weight(s) was a match in fuel consumption and reliability for the Gardner 6LW, and was not too far away in terms of longevity. The same applies to the AEC 9.6 litre of that era, for example Bowaters recorded over 9.0 mpg in its Mk.III Mammoth Majors. Many of the bigger fleets, and especially the own account fleets, had strip down and rebuild programmes at set mileage intervals to prolong vehicle service life.
I was referring specifically to the reliability problems suffered by the P680 version, a subject which has been described very well by Tiptop495 and ParkRoyal2100. I appreciate that the earlier O600/O680 were amongst the leaders in their day.
From what I remember the first couple of years production of the P.680 were the most troublesome and by the mid-60’s they were much better for reliability than the earlier engines, as a result of continuous development by Leyland. I can only speak from personal experience of running one P.680, and that was in our Scammell, that never gave a problem in the 4 years that we ran it, mainly 3 round trips weekly between the North West and South East. I really rated that lorry.
My experience was only with 680’s, the power plus, never came across one that wasn’t a P/P.
The AEC thread shows some images of the Leyland’s poor head stud configuration on the LHS, which was the root cause of gasket failure.
Unless the truck was worked continuously and hard, I don’t think they gave problems. Ours worked very hard.
Once the ERGO cab was introduced, their disintegrating cooling fan ruined any reputation for reliability the LAD’s had built up.
It took Leyland way too long to come up with a better fan material and I was surprised to see the Aus. boys had invented a modified setup to run a conventional water pump mounted fan in place of the crankshaft balancer mounted design.
Who can remember the “sock” oil filter. Big shock the first time I ordered a filter and this thing arrived in the mail.
The convenience of the LAD’s dash mounted oil level gauge, loved it.
tiptop495:
Hey, PR 2100, the basic engine was the 1160DK 230hp, the DP680 was never used in coaches or buses.
Descendants are the DKA 250, DKB 324, the DKS was the 2800 Turbo Cooler with 340/(320 DIN) hp.
A stronger block came later with the ATI’s.
The 95 had the same bore and stroke but had nothing to see with the old engine, the design was completely different.
cargo:
Park Royal the bus engine I was referring to was the Fleetline video.
But it’s been a lot of years and I’m now quite deaf so perhaps my recollections are a bit off.
We did run our 680’s at higher rpm than the NZ Octopus video started off. Once he was up in the revs it sounded more familiar.
We ran at around 1900 where they were very smooth, and then flat to the boards for the hills.
A different world today where trucks are geared at around 1200 for 100kph, with massive torque available.
Ah, understood. Yet the Fleetline and Atlantean are all but identical, perhaps it’s just who recorded what with what.
Your point about what rpm operators ran these at - I assume that would have a bearing on how reliable these engines were (plastic fans and housings notwithstanding).
robert1952:
I was parked up in Poland, some years ago, on a golden autumn morning. While I was brewing tea, I heard the unmistakable sound of a 0.680 starting up. The unit emitting that satisfying sound was an elderly Star, made in Poland. I later read somewhere that Star did in fact use 0.680s. Perhaps someone will verify this. Robert
Yes Sir You could hear 0.680 engine in Poland but not in Star truck for sure. It was a Jelcz 315 or 415 model. O.680 unit was produced in Poland under British Leyland licence since 1966. Jelcz trucks were fitted with various types or modified versions of 0.680 engine including the turbo charged version with 240 horse power. Not only Jelcz trucks were fitted with this engine /polish name for the unit is SW680/ Various machinery such as agriculture tools or busses Jelcz PR110 as well as BIZON GIGANT combain.
But what about an “eldry Star”. Souds of its engine may be similar to 0.400 by Leylad and its true. Star trucks were fitted with SW400 witch is the polish version of leyland 0.400 engine. This engine is verry popular in poland today. Every Polish person can recognise sound of this engine becouse it was so popular especially becouse of AUTOSAN H9 bus with this engine in it.
Pictures:
Jelcz 315 with SW680
Jelcz PR110 bus with SW680
Star 29 with leyland 0.400 /sw400 in poland/
Autosan H9 with SW400 turbo 150 BHP
Bewick:
Prior to the C & U regs coming in the mid '60’s in my opinion the finest 24 gvw tractor unit was the LAD Leyland Badger with the 600 engine and the Eaton axle.However,the 680 Power Plus Octopus in particular the one operated by T.Brady which I was a trailer mate on must be about the finest motor of it’s era.Some of the weights we hauled on that waggon and trailer were tremendous for the time and the 680 never missed a beat,after a slog up Shap Fell sometimes the offside front wheel would be black from the exhaust,no wonder as we were often grossing 40 tons plus with some of the lumps we hauled out of the Vickers yard from Barrow to the Clyde and the N.East.The 680 never missed a beat although we did occaisionally spend time in Leyland Motors at Chorley and at Oldbury for work on the pump and injectors but we never ever broke down.Happy days,cheers Bewick.
Eastern Coachworks bodied Leyland Atlantean AN68, built in 1980, and new to the fleet of Ribble Motor Services. (TRN481V, Fleet No 1481).
1481 is now preserved. She is currently undergoing some major refurbishment works including:- replacement of lower saloon floor; re-painting lower saloon seat frames; chassis cleaning; minor rear end bodywork repairs; partial external bodywork painting and silver painting of the engine compartment. Whilst the engine was out, the opportunity was taken to give it a routine service; replace the cylinder head gaskets; steam clean the engine; repair the air intake surround - then spray it all blue and put it back on the bus!
robert1952:
I was parked up in Poland, some years ago, on a golden autumn morning. While I was brewing tea, I heard the unmistakable sound of a 0.680 starting up. The unit emitting that satisfying sound was an elderly Star, made in Poland. I later read somewhere that Star did in fact use 0.680s. Perhaps someone will verify this. Robert
Yes Sir You could hear 0.680 engine in Poland but not in Star truck for sure. It was a Jelcz 315 or 415 model. O.680 unit was produced in Poland under British Leyland licence since 1966. Jelcz trucks were fitted with various types or modified versions of 0.680 engine including the turbo charged version with 240 horse power. Not only Jelcz trucks were fitted with this engine /polish name for the unit is SW680/ Various machinery such as agriculture tools or busses Jelcz PR110 as well as BIZON GIGANT combain.
But what about an “eldry Star”. Souds of its engine may be similar to 0.400 by Leylad and its true. Star trucks were fitted with SW400 witch is the polish version of leyland 0.400 engine. This engine is verry popular in poland today. Every Polish person can recognise sound of this engine becouse it was so popular especially becouse of AUTOSAN H9 bus with this engine in it.
Pictures:
Jelcz 315 with SW680 Jelcz 300 – Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia
Jelcz PR110 bus with SW680 Jelcz PR110 – Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia
Star 29 with leyland 0.400 /sw400 in poland/ Star 28/29 – Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia
Autosan H9 with SW400 turbo 150 BHP Autosan H9 – Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia
Welcome to the madhouse Timi_1978. Superb post- we don’t know much about East European trucks here (I don’t, anyway!), so the more the better.
The Zubr A80 looks like it might have some parts of Fiat in the cab. Was it a licence-produced cab?
robert1952:
I was parked up in Poland, some years ago, on a golden autumn morning. While I was brewing tea, I heard the unmistakable sound of a 0.680 starting up. The unit emitting that satisfying sound was an elderly Star, made in Poland. I later read somewhere that Star did in fact use 0.680s. Perhaps someone will verify this. Robert
Yes Sir You could hear 0.680 engine in Poland but not in Star truck for sure. It was a Jelcz 315 or 415 model. O.680 unit was produced in Poland under British Leyland licence since 1966. Jelcz trucks were fitted with various types or modified versions of 0.680 engine including the turbo charged version with 240 horse power. Not only Jelcz trucks were fitted with this engine /polish name for the unit is SW680/ Various machinery such as agriculture tools or busses Jelcz PR110 as well as BIZON GIGANT combain.
But what about an “eldry Star”. Souds of its engine may be similar to 0.400 by Leylad and its true. Star trucks were fitted with SW400 witch is the polish version of leyland 0.400 engine. This engine is verry popular in poland today. Every Polish person can recognise sound of this engine becouse it was so popular especially becouse of AUTOSAN H9 bus with this engine in it.
Pictures:
Jelcz 315 with SW680 Jelcz 300 – Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia
Jelcz PR110 bus with SW680 Jelcz PR110 – Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia
Star 29 with leyland 0.400 /sw400 in poland/ Star 28/29 – Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia
Autosan H9 with SW400 turbo 150 BHP Autosan H9 – Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia
Welcome to the madhouse Timi_1978. Superb post- we don’t know much about East European trucks here (I don’t, anyway!), so the more the better.
The Zubr A80 looks like it might have some parts of Fiat in the cab. Was it a licence-produced cab?
Was the turbo 680 a reliable engine?
Hey Anorak,
I think it is difficult to compare Eastern Block quality with Western Europ quality, looks at Roman and others, in license they used less quality materials as here. They copied lots of Bosch parts too, but quality was Always less, of course the ritcher the country the beter, Czechoslovakia made beter quality as Romania. The same with the Liaz, made by Madara Bulgaria was again less in quality as the Liaz itself, and so on.
And that was with everything so look at the spanish Fiat (Seat) the same problem.
Eric,
In the late 1980’s and into the mid 90’s I was working in the parts department of a Leyland/DAF dealers here in South Devon, one of our good customers were Glendinnings Quarry who were still running Scammell Routeman tippers which were very long in the tooth even back then but we supplied very few engine parts, it’s was all suspension parts these hard worked motors needed. I can still hear that wonderful roar from these splendid lorries!
robert1952:
I was parked up in Poland, some years ago, …
Welcome to the madhouse Timi_1978. Superb post- we don’t know much about East European trucks here (I don’t, anyway!), so the more the better.
The Zubr A80 looks like it might have some parts of Fiat in the cab. Was it a licence-produced cab?
Was the turbo 680 a reliable engine?
Hello and welcome from Poland.
Eastern european trucking is a little bit unknown for west i know. We were under soviet influence for some time and becouse of that we were forced to use our own /easter block/ technology.
Now about ŻUBR A80. This truck was totally polish idea. No fiat parts in the cab/it looks a little like the one from fiat 666/ The cab was polish made KO-1 model cabin. KO-1 was very uncomfortable no heating and very bad sound proofing. The ŻUBR A80 was the first succesfull truck form Jelcz factory after the WW2/designed 1960/. Poland decided to produce the big truck able to carry up to 7,5 tons of payload. A80 was fitted with polish S56 140 hp diesel engine designed by PZL-Wola Warsaw especially for this truck. Later engine was modified a little /model S560/and the power output was from 150 hp up to 180 hp in some versions. Basicly bad engines, bad ballance/vibrations/, smoke and a lot of errors in entire construction. Most common malfunction was broken crankshaft. To increase the reliability entire car was redesigned acording to experience with A80 problems. S560 engine was replaced with SW680 build on Leyland licence. And so the Jelcz 315 era started. Please check the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usDNFyBkZHs This is original redesigned JELCZ 315 with Leyland 0.680 SW680. There is so dificult to get working A80 but 315 looks a little like A80 enjoy.
Also some extra video about Hungaroring version of JELCZ 400 With turbocharged SW680 - lovely sound!!!
The question was “Was the turbo 680 a reliable engine?” - YES!
robert1952:
I was parked up in Poland, some years ago, on a golden autumn morning. While I was brewing tea, I heard the unmistakable sound of a 0.680 starting up. The unit emitting that satisfying sound was an elderly Star, made in Poland. I later read somewhere that Star did in fact use 0.680s. Perhaps someone will verify this. Robert
The O.680 has been widely used in Poland from late 1960 well into 1990s. Main applications were Jelcz trucks and buses, along with some combine harvesters and marine applications. The Star trucks used different engines (Leyland-licensed O.400 and polish designed SW-560).
some links you may find useful on Polish applications of license built SW-680s:
Stalowa Wola educational video on SW-680 engine range: youtube.com/watch?v=Q4hMv7cMssc
Most of remaining Jelcz trucks are fire engines:
Jelcz fire engine youtube.com/watch?v=gq9hSbtkezI
Jelcz fire engine with turbocharged SW-680/17 (240 hp) youtube.com/watch?v=cZ4w1lv1z38
Jelcz 317 tractor (also turbocharged SW youtube.com/watch?v=NhvUvrCKe9E
Refurbished early Jelcz 315 with naturally aspirated SW-680 youtube.com/watch?v=ZseVbms3ktI
robert1952:
I was parked up in Poland, some years ago, on a golden autumn morning. While I was brewing tea, I heard the unmistakable sound of a 0.680 starting up. The unit emitting that satisfying sound was an elderly Star, made in Poland. I later read somewhere that Star did in fact use 0.680s. Perhaps someone will verify this. Robert
The O.680 has been widely used in Poland from late 1960 well into 1990s. Main applications were Jelcz trucks and buses, along with some combine harvesters and marine applications. The Star trucks used different engines (Leyland-licensed O.400 and polish designed SW-560).
some links you may find useful on Polish applications of license built SW-680s:
Stalowa Wola educational video on SW-680 engine range: youtube.com/watch?v=Q4hMv7cMssc
Most of remaining Jelcz trucks are fire engines:
Jelcz fire engine youtube.com/watch?v=gq9hSbtkezI
Jelcz fire engine with turbocharged SW-680/17 (240 hp) youtube.com/watch?v=cZ4w1lv1z38
Jelcz 317 tractor (also turbocharged SW youtube.com/watch?v=NhvUvrCKe9E
Refurbished early Jelcz 315 with naturally aspirated SW-680 youtube.com/watch?v=ZseVbms3ktI
Leyland Panthers were powered by the 680. Brisbane City Council operated the largest fleet of Panthers in the world. 341 were delivered in the latter half of the 1960s. Earlier deliveries were fitted with four speed SCG gearboxes, these were superseded br two speed ZF automatic transmissions. I believe the ZF was a modified four speed.
Fairly sure that Weatherill used the Leyland in their largest loading shovels including the L86 artic from the 70s.
For any one who has not seen this, a restored S39 Leyland powered Foden with a demo of shifting the famous 12 speed. youtu.be/u40FHBpVTPU
essexpete:
Fairly sure that Weatherill used the Leyland in their largest loading shovels including the L86 artic from the 70s.
For any one who has not seen this, a restored S39 Leyland powered Foden with a demo of shifting the famous 12 speed. youtu.be/u40FHBpVTPU
Weatherill certainly fitted the fixed head Leyland engine as we used to repair one at Buxton. We had a Foden S39 with the 0.680, it lacked the low down pulling power of the Gardners but had better top end power.
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