::MD HISTORY ::
Boat Store Online.com
Home
Email us
978-397-0725
History
General Engine Products (GEP) a subsidiary of Am General Corporation was born out of the
need to improve the durability of, and sustain the production of a 6.5L diesel engine for military
and commercial use. General Motors, opting for an Isuzu engine for certain vehicle lines, chose
to support the transfer of their 6.5L production knowledge and technology to General Engine
Products, Inc. The current home for the 6.5L engine (the Moraine Engine Plant) was scheduled
to close in the latter part of the 2000 calendar year. With GM’s technical support, GEP
developed a highly efficient engine assembly operation in Franklin, Ohio to assemble and
market an greatly improved 6.5L diesel engine (the Optimizer 6500) to continue to satisfy the
market demand. The 6.5 diesel will continue to be the heart of the Military HUMVEE® and the
commercial HUMMER® vehicle, as well as other current OEM users. Production at the 92,000
sq. ft. Franklin, Ohio assembly facility began in July 2000, and full production capability followed
in March 2001. GEP is the sole supplier of new 6.5L service engines for GMSPO as well as the
exclusive producer of new, full 6.5L engines for OEM sales.
Background On the Optimizer 6500 Power Plant
Although a common question; it becomes quickly evident that the MarineDiesel product is NOT
built on the old General Motors 6.5L diesel engine platform. MarineDiesel is factory authorized
by the AM General Corporation to manufacture the MD product line utilizing a marine version of
the Optimizer 6500 V8 engine block. The Optimizer 6500 engine is produced by the General
Engine Products Division of the AM General corporation. Although the Optimizer 6500 engine
shares many similarities to the previous General Motors 6.5L engines, the Optimizer engine is
an engine of it’s own merits, yielding the durability to handle the performance and torque
associated with 300 Hp & 500+ Lb-Ft torque marine applications. The General Motors 6.2L & 6.5
L diesels were never intended to be high performance diesel engines and therefore would
never have been capable of supporting the rigorous marine duty cycles achieved with today’s
Optimizer 6500 engines. This is evident by looking at historical data yielded by several other
companies who tried to produce GM 6.5L based marine engine and therefore unfortunately mis-
appropriately tarnished the industry’s overall image of 6.5L based products.
One reason the public confuses the Optimizer 6500 engine with that of the earlier GM 6.2L and
6.5L is that although not in anyway formally tied to General Motors, AM General produces the
Humvee and Hummer vehicles as a supplier to General Motors. Having produced these vehicles
in previous years as well, AM General was using the GM produced 6.2L and 6.5L engines
during that time. When General Motors decided to sell the engine rights to the GM 6.5L engine
family, AM General quickly moved on securing the overall engine requirements, however
decided to make major product design and durability improvements by introducing the Optimizer
6500 in place of the earlier GM 6.5L models. Since most of the public is familiar with the
Humvee/ Hummer and the fact that several 100,000 of these vehicles have been produced with
the earlier GM 6.2L & 6.5L engines, they automatically assume the current 6.5L engine offering
to be the same GM 6.5L.
Another common mis-conception is that the MarineDiesel product line being based on a 6.5L
engine design (Optimizer 6500) is therefore comparable to the engine offerings of our
competitors. The truth is that MarineDiesel never produced any marine engines based on the
GM 6.2L or 6.5L engine. MarineDiesel’s competition cannot make this claim and therefore
many of the issues customers relate to the competition are based on products produced and
sold using the GM engines.
If someone claims the MarineDiesel is built on a GM engine, a Detroit diesel engine, the same
GM engine in thats been in the Hummers for years, that AM General is part of or owned by
General Motors, that the MarineDiesel can be compared against competitive 6.5L based
products, etc, you can be sure that the source of this information is out of date and not correct.
The AM General Corporation is best known for manufacturing the Hummer, and military Humvee
vehicle product lines. The Optimizer 6500 is the same engine currently produced not only for
various pleasure and commercial applications, but also for the military Hummer vehicles. To
date more than 50,000 of the latest design Optimizer 6500 engines have been produced and
sold, yielding some of the industries lowest warranty service claim rates. The base engine is
produced by AM General’s General Engine Products division at their state of the art Franklin
Ohio plant, adhering to extremely stringent QS 9000 certification guidelines. Currently, AM
General produces the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV pronounced
HUMVEE ®) and the HUMMER®. In addition, General Engine Products Inc. (GEP), a wholly
owned subsidiary of AM General Corporation, produces OEM 6.5litre diesel engines, both
naturally aspirated and turbo-charged, used in military, automotive, marine and various other
industrial and commercial applications.
HUMVEE® is a registered trademark of AM General Corporation
General Engine Products (GEP) a subsidiary of Am General Corporation was born out of the
need to improve the durability of, and sustain the production of a 6.5L diesel engine for military
and commercial use. General Motors, opting for an Isuzu engine for certain vehicle lines, chose
to support the transfer of their 6.5L production knowledge and technology to General Engine
Products, Inc. The current home for the 6.5L engine (the Moraine Engine Plant) was scheduled
to close in the latter part of the 2000 calendar year. With GM’s technical support, GEP
developed a highly efficient engine assembly operation in Franklin, Ohio to assemble and
market an greatly improved 6.5L diesel engine (the Optimizer 6500) to continue to satisfy the
market demand. The 6.5 diesel will continue to be the heart of the Military HUMVEE® and the
commercial HUMMER® vehicle, as well as other current OEM users. Production at the 92,000
sq. ft. Franklin, Ohio assembly facility began in July 2000, and full production capability followed
in March 2001. GEP is the sole supplier of new 6.5L service engines for GMSPO as well as the
exclusive producer of new, full 6.5L engines for OEM sales.
Background On the Optimizer 6500 Power Plant
Although a common question; it becomes quickly evident that the MarineDiesel product is NOT
built on the old General Motors 6.5L diesel engine platform. MarineDiesel is factory authorized
by the AM General Corporation to manufacture the MD product line utilizing a marine version of
the Optimizer 6500 V8 engine block. The Optimizer 6500 engine is produced by the General
Engine Products Division of the AM General corporation. Although the Optimizer 6500 engine
shares many similarities to the previous General Motors 6.5L engines, the Optimizer engine is
an engine of it’s own merits, yielding the durability to handle the performance and torque
associated with 300 Hp & 500+ Lb-Ft torque marine applications. The General Motors 6.2L & 6.5
L diesels were never intended to be high performance diesel engines and therefore would
never have been capable of supporting the rigorous marine duty cycles achieved with today’s
Optimizer 6500 engines. This is evident by looking at historical data yielded by several other
companies who tried to produce GM 6.5L based marine engine and therefore unfortunately mis-
appropriately tarnished the industry’s overall image of 6.5L based products.
One reason the public confuses the Optimizer 6500 engine with that of the earlier GM 6.2L and
6.5L is that although not in anyway formally tied to General Motors, AM General produces the
Humvee and Hummer vehicles as a supplier to General Motors. Having produced these vehicles
in previous years as well, AM General was using the GM produced 6.2L and 6.5L engines
during that time. When General Motors decided to sell the engine rights to the GM 6.5L engine
family, AM General quickly moved on securing the overall engine requirements, however
decided to make major product design and durability improvements by introducing the Optimizer
6500 in place of the earlier GM 6.5L models. Since most of the public is familiar with the
Humvee/ Hummer and the fact that several 100,000 of these vehicles have been produced with
the earlier GM 6.2L & 6.5L engines, they automatically assume the current 6.5L engine offering
to be the same GM 6.5L.
Another common mis-conception is that the MarineDiesel product line being based on a 6.5L
engine design (Optimizer 6500) is therefore comparable to the engine offerings of our
competitors. The truth is that MarineDiesel never produced any marine engines based on the
GM 6.2L or 6.5L engine. MarineDiesel’s competition cannot make this claim and therefore
many of the issues customers relate to the competition are based on products produced and
sold using the GM engines.
If someone claims the MarineDiesel is built on a GM engine, a Detroit diesel engine, the same
GM engine in thats been in the Hummers for years, that AM General is part of or owned by
General Motors, that the MarineDiesel can be compared against competitive 6.5L based
products, etc, you can be sure that the source of this information is out of date and not correct.
The AM General Corporation is best known for manufacturing the Hummer, and military Humvee
vehicle product lines. The Optimizer 6500 is the same engine currently produced not only for
various pleasure and commercial applications, but also for the military Hummer vehicles. To
date more than 50,000 of the latest design Optimizer 6500 engines have been produced and
sold, yielding some of the industries lowest warranty service claim rates. The base engine is
produced by AM General’s General Engine Products division at their state of the art Franklin
Ohio plant, adhering to extremely stringent QS 9000 certification guidelines. Currently, AM
General produces the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV pronounced
HUMVEE ®) and the HUMMER®. In addition, General Engine Products Inc. (GEP), a wholly
owned subsidiary of AM General Corporation, produces OEM 6.5litre diesel engines, both
naturally aspirated and turbo-charged, used in military, automotive, marine and various other
industrial and commercial applications.
HUMVEE® is a registered trademark of AM General Corporation
