I keep mentioning this engine on different threads, it seems to have a bad name , what do others think who drove or operated them ,mine was in a Foden with a 9 speed Fuller and a Rockwell (I think ) rear end and to be honest I thought it was a great motor and I can`t remember it ever breaking down!!! 
Hiya Ramone I too have posted on other threads about the Gardner 6LYT 320 we had a Seddon Atkinson 411 on a 3 month demo fitted with one and I can remember it would pull forever the Sed Atk had a 13spd Fuller box fitted if my my memory is right
It went back to the dealers after 3 months one of our sister companies W J Ridings ran quite a few 401/411s with the 320s fitted I can recall they had a few reliability problems with them
We ended up buying 4 ERF E16s fitted with the same engines we didnât buy anymore cos our fleet engineer was hearing problems about build quality so we ended getting a further 8 ERF E12s fitted with with the 6LXDT
We used to do a lot of with J B McBean from Kirknewton Mid Lothian they ran quite a few E16s I donât know how they faired with them
The stories about LYT unreliability are all over the forum. However, some reports are positive, like Ramoneâs above. Maybe the unreliability was in the factory itself, given that they had just changed to new machines and modern procedures. The workforce was probably more used to traditional techniques.
The engine was successful in coaches. There is a post on the forum detailing the dodgy practices used to sell them into that market.
i was told by a Gardner haulier who had two 320s the silly mistake made by Gardner the camshaft run in aluminum casting rather
than in a brass bushesâŚJapanese would have had needle rollers ⌠and saving the company a farthing each engine.
the same person said if we ed have had the new type oils of today. the ware may never have happend
we ll never know will we
John
What output was the 6LXDT im not up on the Gardners , the 320 was the only one i ever drove , i heard of a local haulier who uprated theirs to 350 bhp but they werent too impressed
The 6LXDT came in couple of ratings I think one was 270 and the other 290 we ran the 290s coupled to the Eaton Twin splitter a very good set up in my own opinion
What was the Gardner 201 with a turbo fitted called? We had just one at Ballidon, in a Foden of course, Dave Robinson from Hartington had it from new and then Dennis Bond from Wirksworth bought it when Tilcon were selling the trucks off. It was a good engine, 230 BHP seems to ring a bell somewhere in my brain box! 
Pete.
Hiya Windrush that was called the 6LXCT the 201 was the 6LXC we ran both over the years
gazsa401:
The 6LXDT came in couple of ratings I think one was 270 and the other 290 we ran the 290s coupled to the Eaton Twin splitter a very good set up in my own opinion
310 was also an option as now fitted to Alan Daleâs 6 wheeler.
6LX = 150bhp
6LXB = 183bhp
6LXC = 201bhp
6LXCT = 230bhp
6LXDT = 270/290/310bhp
After Perkins took control of Gardner, the 6LXDT name was removed and a new range of engines was created (no, really 
âŚ) they were called the 270T, 290T and 310T.
gazsa401:
Hiya Windrush that was called the 6LXCT the 201 was the 6LXC we ran both over the years
Thatâs the one, I think that it was rebuilt once (not by me though, I was driving by then!) like all our Gardnerâs but pulled well. We had mostly 6LXCâs, along with all the inherent problems that engine had when first introduced!
Pete.
Ramone, the 6LYT 320 was a completely new design for Gardners with design input from former Leyland engineers. The camshaft etc was driven from the flywheel end of the engine. It did have reliability problems compounded by the fact that not that many were produced, so the ratio of problematic engines out of the total number built was high, and that made the problems seem worse. As mentioned, it was a good engine in coaches, but there operating conditions are nowhere near as demanding as in a fully freighted truck. By the time the 6LYT entered service it would probably been too late to save Gardners even if it had been a good engine, by then â â â â â â â and Rolls Royce dominated the British âloose enginesâ market. We inherited a couple of 6LYT powered ERFs at Turners when we bought Loweâs of Paddock Wood. One was quickly relegated to special duties at British Sugar factory Wissington and IIRC the other went to Eric Vick at Gloucester. Thereâs a photo of one of them in a certain Gardner book.
Just trivia, I know, but in rebuilding Gardnerâs I found the 6LXDT engine, the last development of the âoldâ LX family, used the connecting rods from the 8LXB 240. Larger diameter big end journals than the other engines.
Was there a 350 introduced or was it a 320 which hauliers were having âtweekedâ ?
THERE WAS A350 VERSION AVAILABLE IT WAS A 6 LYTI IT WAS INTERCOOLED,PLEVIN WOOD WASTE FROM MANCHESTER HAD ONE,BUT AS I REMEMBER IT HAD ISSUES,I WORKED AT ERF T/PARK FOR A WHILE AND IT CAME IN FOR A REPLACEMENT ENGINE I THINK IT HAD BEEN COOKED,BUT IT WAS A BEAST TO DRIVE,IT WENT LIKE A TRAIN
HiyaâŚBassetts from Tittensor had two ERFs with Gardner 350 s theres a Fleetmaster on the steam engine transporter
scene with a 350 Gardner engine.
Dan Punchard or Rob (1970 Commer) will know better than me but I believe that Gary Webb, a haulier from Derby/Blackbrook, rallied a Foden fitted with the last one of those big Gardnerâs they produced. I spotted that he had it for sale a while ago so I guess that it will still be about on the show circuit?
Pete.
The 320 I had was in D355 GWX a Foden , it was last seen on the fairground circuit ,it was repainted in cream and brown the tax ran out in 2011 anyone seen it , it looked like it had been stretched a bit and a generator fitted
Most of the problems encountered with the 6LYT engine family, in retrospect, should be put down to manufacturing standards not being adhered to, rather than any real inherent design faults. The LYT was a clean sheet of paper design, all dimensions were to metric rather than imperial standards. Alwyn Whitehead, (ex Allenâs of Bedford), produced a design which was a considerable departure from previous engine layouts. I was responsible for selling the 6LYTâs into Neoplan in Germany, circa 60 plus units in all, which in the main gave excellent on the road performance against all our European competition. The uncertainty surrounding the future of Hawker Siddeley Group, at that time, I view as having had a negative effect on production standards. Having said that, once Perkins took over, the 6LXDT was substantially redesigned and became the LG1200, becoming a much more compact and light design more suited to future needs. Needless to say company ownership politics and market changes then came into play, again, and the rug was pulled from under our feet for the last time.
windrush:
Dan Punchard or Rob (1970 Commer) will know better than me but I believe that Gary Webb, a haulier from Derby/Blackbrook, rallied a Foden fitted with the last one of those big Gardnerâs they produced. I spotted that he had it for sale a while ago so I guess that it will still be about on the show circuit?Pete.
Pete it was just a 290 6lxdt or ct ? not the 16 litre ,but it was believed or said to be the last Foden tractor unit to be fitted with a Gardner , it was new to British Salt ,I think the last Gardner powered lorries were H/j reg can any on shed any light on this ?