Rebuilding The CAT 3208 Diesel

By Roy Berndt

Since information from Caterpillar is always held very tight within the family it was very hard to
get an accurate history of how the relationship all came about, so if Im a bit off in my timeline,
forgive me. I assure you, it wont affect the content of this article.
The bottom line is, Ford had a truck line with mammoth 477 and 534 cid gasoline engines and
realized it needed a diesel for its fleet vehicles if they wanted to stay in the game. Somewhere in
the late 1960s or early 70s Caterpillar seemed to have an interest in getting into the medium
duty fleet truck engine business, or Ford coerced them into it opinions vary as to which is the
most likely scenario. The point is, Ford had the trucks and Cat had the engines.
From 1968-1974 The Ford 6000 series trucks used the Caterpillar 1140 150 hp and 1145 175 hp
diesel engines. In that same time, the 7000 and 8000 series had the Cat 1150 200 hp diesel.
These early renditions were considered inexpensive throw away engines. There were very few
oversize or undersize parts available, at least from the OEM. Obviously those were different
times and certainly part of a much more vibrant economy, however the entrepreneurial spirit of
engine remanufacturers and the automotive aftermarket never accepted the disposable engine
mentality and so the story continued.
The 1160 was in the 8000 series Ford back in 1968 as well but became a lot more popular in
1970-1974. Then in 1975 the 3208 showed up in 7000 and 8000 series trucks and in the 80s
gained phenomenal popularity. There was hardly a city fleet anywhere in the country that did not
have a Ford with a 3208. Whether in city tractor trailers or garbage trucks they were
everywhere. They also gained popularity in marine applications, power plants, school buses and
construction equipment: if it needed a medium duty diesel engine, the 3208 was the one.
Ford and Caterpillar hit a home run with this combination, a partnership that lasted all the way
through 1990. If my sources are correct 1992 saw the end of production, but there are still a lot
of these engines out there. As I said, Cat plays a lot of things close to the vest, so I was never
able to get exact production numbers so I can only venture a guess about how many of them are
still being used. Especially in todays frugal economy, and I have not heard of a Cash for Cat
program.
There is one thing that I would highly recommend, though, if you have any intention of working
on, repairing or remanufacturing a 3208 or any Caterpillar engine: buy the Caterpillar manual.
Caterpillar manuals are stellar and you will never find better information or specifications but
they are justifiably proud of them and you will pay a premium.

With all of that in mind, lets dive right in and look at the pieces of the 3208.


Cylinder Blocks
The turbo block has two vents for the lifter chambers of the block that the non-turbo does not
have. Figure 1 shows the rear lower extremity of the V of both blocks. The non-turbo block is
plain and just follows suit with the rest of the casting. The counter bored and threaded hole (red
circle) is where the
camshaft thrust bolt is
installed. The turbo block
on the right has a cast and
machined turbocharger
mounting flange in the
rear of the block at the
bottom of the V with oil
feed and drain back in
between the mounting bolt
holes. In the rear of the
blocks you can see the last
cam bearing bore and the
main oil galley plug
threaded bore just above it
and you get a better view
of the breadth of the
mounting boss.
You also need to pay attention to the #1 main
bearing housing bore register in the block. If
it has a center bearing tab locator (Figure 2)
you will use the three-hole main bearing
since that register also has a groove cut into
it. If it has the offset bearing locator tab in the
main bearing housing bore the block will
have a plain single hole main bearing bore
register.


Turbo blocks also have piston-cooling
jets/nozzles that feed off of the main bearings
(see Figure 3). You may find non-turbo
blocks that have been machined for these
nozzles but actually have plugs installed.

Figure 1.
Figure 2.
Figure 3.
Early 3208 non-turbo blocks had a slightly steeper main bearing cap parting line angle. I was
unable to determine a serial number break as to when that happened but if youre salvaging main
caps for block repairs you will want to be aware of it (see Figure 4). One worldly piece of advice
on main caps: they need to be tight in the register in the main saddle. If you have a cap that is
loose (one that slides in
and out with little or no
resistance), it has
stretched and is out of
round. If you have a
main cap that is kind
of loose but still
measures in spec, you
will probably have a
premature main bearing
failure at that location.
If the caps are tight
enough that you need to
struggle to get them out
of the register,
preferably having to
wiggle them back and
forth, you will be
perfect.
If you need to, reclaim the register area of the cap and mill the register face back to a dimension
that will keep the cap good and tight in the block register. Then align bore the block, but
remember that you have a stacked gear train with this engine, so you shouldnt be moving
centerlines if you want your gears to work.
I know that this information is a feel dimension and I have not given you a specific press fit
but I am unaware that there ever was a published specification, I can only share a school of hard
knocks lesson.
Crankshafts
The 3208 engine utilizes a
forged steel crankshaft with
true ground radii they are
not rolled. Pick this crankshaft
up once and you will know
why they are not. There was
no scrimping on metal on this
Caterpillar crank. You can
have an 8- or 10-bolt flywheel
flange (Figure 5) and they
both have the same bolt
Figure 4.
Figure 5.
pattern. If you use an 8-bolt flywheel on a 10-bolt crankshaft, be sure to install two plugs with
sealer into the unoccupied holes or you will leak oil badly.
There is a somewhat unique oiling to this crankshaft the connecting rod oil holes join to one
common oil passage coming from the main journal to the rear of it. So the 1-2 rod throw is oiled
by #2 main, and so on. Therefore, the #1 main bearing journal does not feed any connecting rods
and does not have an oil hole in it. Crankshaft thrust endplay is controlled at the #4 main bearing
position and it uses one single bearing half that is flanged to control crankshaft endplay. This
engine is externally balanced so make certain that flywheel index is correct.
Camshafts and Lifters
In its first iteration, the 3208 was a naturally aspirated engine with a flat tappet/lifter camshaft
made of cast iron. Take a look at Figure 6 and youll see this camshaft in the middle (letter B).
The end of the camshaft has an inset photo to help you identify the lobe profile.

The second camshaft was the flat tappet cam in the turbocharged engines and is identified by the
letter A. Again the lobe profile is superimposed on the end of the camshaft. Take note of the
much gentler lobe peak profile this is also a cast iron camshaft. The last and final camshaft
(letter C) was the roller lifter camshaft. Made of steel, this camshaft is hardened to withstand the
point contact of the roller lifter.
The lifters are readily identified by their
appearance and there is nothing too
confusing about these (see Figure 7). In
the center is the roller lifter and on the
right is the flat lifter. The roller lifter is
used in combination with the steel
camshaft. The roller lifter is secured in
the lifter bore with a clip to prevent it
from turning. These are mechanical
lifters only: there are no hydraulic lifters
used in a 3208 engine
Figure 6. There are three
camshafts for the 3208. Left
to right, we have (A) flat
tappet turbo; (B) non-turbo
flat tappet; and (C) roller
lifter turbo.
Figure 7.
Connecting Rods
There are three different connecting rods used in the 3208, and as with all the other components
what youll use depends on what you have. Figure 8 explains the differences.










The first series connecting rod is shown on the left. This rod is used with a piston that has
straight-sided wrist pin bores in the ID of the piston (see Figure 11). The second connecting rod
was a tapered pin connecting rod used with pistons that had additional material up under the
piston crown creating a tapered wrist pin boss on the ID of the piston. Many remanufacturers
today will machine straight pin boss rods to a tapered pin rod to reduce part numbers and rod
core management for naturally aspirated engines. You can put a tapered rod into a straight pin
piston but not vice-versa.
A word to the wise, however: even if you purchase the correct fixture tooling to install the
tapered pin bushings you still run the risk of having a bushing turn in the rod eye (as a warranty)
due to bushing distress and distortion. Heat the pin eye and nitrogen the bushing, index the
bushing and drop it in the rod. The last connecting rod on the right is the turbo rod. This one
features an enhanced beam and increased strength.
Cylinder Heads
The cylinder head for the 3208 is pretty uncomplicated and yet complex. The only real difference
between the head casting for a turbo and non-turbo engine is that the lift bracket holes on the
cylinder head are different. The non-turbo cylinder head is 3/8 x 16 pitch thread and the turbo
head is 1/2 x 13 (Figure 9). That is the simple part, however when it comes to the valves,
springs and valve seat inserts, that is dependent on the serial and arrangement number.
Figure 8.


Early 3208 engines used 6 ID dash lines on the head of the bolt and were torqued at 95 ft. lbs.
while the 7 dash (one mark is a letter) head bolts are torqued to 110 and 120 ft.lbs., depending on
their location.
Fuel Injectors
There have been three fuel injectors used on the 3208 engine (as shown in Figure 10). The one
on the far left is referred to as the S injector because it was the injector used on the 40S
serial number series engines. You must use the hold down shown with this injector. It is .500
tall with a smooth OD of the spacer barrel. You will also need to use .063 ID fuel lines that you
can identify by the smooth OD line nut also shown.
The injector and
components shown in
the center belong to the
Y injector because its
use was primarily with
the 32Y serial number
series engines, although
it did bleed into the 51Z
engines as well and
some turbo engines (02Z
and 03Z). This injector
requires a different hold
down with a spacer that
is .475 tall as indicated
by the groove on the OD of the barrel. This injector also uses the .063 ID fuel line with the
smooth line nut. Another quick identifier for these two injectors is the black gas seal on the S
injector and the yellow seal on the Y injector (an easy way to remember is Y for yellow
seal).
The 7000 series injector is completely different in appearance and there is no chance of mixing
this one up. This injector must use a .072 ID fuel line that can be identified by the Notched
Figure 9.
Figure 10.
fuel line nut as shown. When this injector is used in the lower horsepower naturally aspirated
3208 engine it will have an injector tip orifice diameter of .290 mm and when used in the higher
horsepower turbo engine the injector tip orifice has a diameter of .315 mm. Other diameters of
orifice sizes are also used for various different specific applications.
Pistons and Rings
The piston bottoms
shown in Figure 11
show the straight pin
bore piston on the left
that can be used with
either a straight pin or
tapered pin connecting
rod. The piston on the
right has the tapered pin
bore and, as you can
see, there is a
substantial amount of
additional support for
the piston head. Only
the tapered pin bore
connecting rod can be
used with this piston.
The piston on the left of Figure 12 is a non-turbo piston with a fuel swirl bowl volume of
approximately 54cc, while the piston on the right for the turbo is approximately 59cc. Mixing
them up can render poor results in runability.
The pistons shown are all
three-ring pistons. Caterpillar
produced a three-ring piston
only for some turbo application
but never for a naturally
aspirated engine. Instead, two-
ring pistons were used in these
versions. The two-ring piston
was only available as a
conventional type ring groove
while the three-ring pistons use
a top Keystone ring (see
illustration).

Figure 11.
Figure 12.
Use the three-ring piston as your choice of piston: its a superior replacement for the two ring
and youll never use a two ring in place of a three ring. Naturally aspirated pistons come with
three different compression ratios: 16.5:1, 17.5:1 and 18.2:1. Turbo pistons primarily have a
compression ratio of 16.5:1, though there are some lower horsepower turbo engines for
California applications, which have a 17.5:1 compression ratio.
Gear Train
In Figure 13 you can see that the CAT 3208 used one of three camshaft drive gears and three
different type injection pump timing advance units. On the left, the narrow drive pin set for the
advance unit (notice how close the pins are to the center hole of the gear) shows these gears are
for a naturally aspirated
engine. The unit in the center
has the wider pin location for
the cam advance unit and is
used for turbocharged
applications. Note that both
of these timing gears have a
higher count of teeth and a
shallower profile. The gear
on the far right is the last
rendition with fewer teeth
and a much more aggressive
tooth pattern and was used
for high horsepower
applications.

There are only two crank and injection pump timing gears. As shown in Figure 14 youll find
either a fine tooth or a coarse tooth gear in this position.







Figure 13.
Figure 14.
The 3208 diesel engine had three different oil pump gears. As shown in Figure 15 from left to
right, the early shallow gear oil pump corresponds with the like front cover and pump bushing.
The center gear is the taller, higher volume oil pump with the matching front cover and bushing
as well. Both of these gears have the higher count shallow profile teeth and the last gear is the
same height, however, it has the coarse, more aggressive tooth pattern. Since many of these
components may potentially be changed out in the field, knowing the appearance of all of the
variations could save a lot of grief and sorrow because an incorrect tooth pattern component was
installed. The oil pump tooth pattern always has to be matched to the crank gear pattern.
However you may find
the tooth pattern can split
between coarse and fine
pattern on the same
engine. Example: Crank
gear, cam gear and oil
pump fine gear pattern
and advance gear and
injection pump gear have
a coarse pattern or vice
versa.injection pump gear
have a coarse pattern or
vice versa.

Fuel Injection Pump Timing Advance Unit
The 3208 Caterpillar engine has a fuel injection pump drive gear that is driven off the front of the
camshaft. This drive gear will usually be an injection pump timing advance unit as well. This
gear may also be zero advanced, used primarily in constant speed engine applications.
When 0 advanced is used in naturally aspirated engines it is a solid gear and for turbo engines
it will appear as any other advance unit, except it is marked as 0. In naturally aspirated engine
applications there are 3, 5 or 8 advance units used. Turbo engines use 3.5 or 8 advance
units.
The dowel size and spacing are different between an advance gear for a naturally aspirated and
turbo engine (see gear train info). The turbo dowels are bigger in diameter and further apart. The
advance unit in the lower portion photo as shown in Figure 16 is an assembled advance
assembly for a naturally aspirated engine that is 5 advanced, as evidenced by the 5 that may be
scribed or stamped into the cover plate. Note the four red dots: these are the location of the 4
rivets that, when drilled out, expose the internals of the advance unit as shown in the upper
portion of Figure 16. The four red circles at the top are those same drilled rivet locations. The
upper portion shows a turbo advance gear, size of the holes in the slides and spacing.


Figure 15.
The weights (two red arrows) show the two sliding tapered parallels (note the 5 stamped on
them) that are driven by two slides between them. Those two slides are driven by the two dowels
off the front of the camshaft timing gear. As centrifugal force of the units rotation speed
increases the weights push against the force of the springs which will cause the slides to make a
change in the angle correlation between the injection pump camshaft and the engine camshaft,
thus advancing the injection pump timing the amount indicated on the face plate.
The light blue arrows show the
resistance springs. As shown in
the inset image what looks like
one spring is actually two, one
fitting inside of the other.
These can break and without
drilling this unit open you will
never know, until you get
improper advance of the
injection pump resulting in
poor power or possible white
smoking. The green double
arrow shows you the center hub
of the unit that has narrow
ledges which centers in the
cover plates. You can also see
that if the narrow ledges
fracture (inset image right) that
will also result in improper
advance action.
These units were not designed
to be disassembled but to be
replaced, so if you are not
inclined to drill and rivet, my
suggestion is to replace. J ust
because it worked before does
not mean that it will work
again after the reman process.
Lubrication oil for the timing
advance unit comes from
drilled holes that connect with
the front bearing for the engine
camshaft. The function of the
advance unit can be checked
with a dynamic timing device.

Figure 16.
Turbos

Early 3208 engines used a Schwitzer turbo
that required a riser that bolted to the block
and the turbo then bolted to the riser (see
Figure 17). This riser required ports for oil
flow for the turbo and added an additional
surface that could potentially have a leak. It
sat higher and required more hood clearance.
Air Research designed a turbo specific to the
3208 that mounted directly to the block and
sat lower down into the valley (see Figure
18). Again the serial number and
arrangement number will tell you which one
that you have. They do not interchange
without making a lot of modifications.
Bellhousings
Figure 19 shows the three most common
bellhousings used on the 3208 engine. Bellhousing
A is used on both turbo and non-turbo applications.
It is an SAE 2 and is double-drilled at the top on the
inside (which would be on the bottom of the image)
this bell housing uses a paper gasket seal to the
block. B is the early design SAE 2 used with non-
turbo engines and is single drilled at the top for
mounting bolts and also uses a paper gasket to the
block. C is the latest light weight bell housing used
and is also a SAE 2 and double drilled at the top and
uses sealer only between the bell housing and block.
There are some SAE 3 bell housings used in off-road applications and of course the serial
number and arrangement number will give
you that information. It is absolutely critical
that the bell housing be dial indicated in
relationship to the crankshaft for alignment
prior to final torque. Failure to do so will
result in bell housing fracture.



Figure 17.
Figure 18.
Figure 19. The images to the right show the 3 most common
bellhousings used in the Cat 3208. Version A (left) fits turbo and
non-turbo engines, SAE 2, double-drilled. Version B (right) is the
early design for 3208 non-turbo engines, SAE 2, not double-drilled.
Version C (bottom) is the latest design flywheel housing, very
lightweight, SAE 2, double-drilled, required in some applications.
Oil Coolers
The oil coolers on the Caterpillar 3208 came in three different varieties. Depending on the
application and engine specification, the cooler cores can come with or without mounting studs
(early style versus late style). The oil cooler bases need to be matched up with the cores. To
assemble a core without studs to a cooler base with openings for the tree studs, the base can be
modified by plugging the holes with pipe plugs. All coolers incorporate a cooler by-pass valve
and later styles also a filter by-pass valve.
Reprinted by permission of Engine Builder magazine.