List of WWII Maybach engines


This is an incomplete list of gasoline engines designed by Maybach AG, manufactured by Maybach and other firms under licence, and fitted in various German tanks and half-tracks before and during World War II. Until the mid 1930s, German military vehicle manufacturers could source their power plants from a variety of engine makers; by October 1935 the design and manufacture of almost all tank and half-track engines was concentrated in one company, Maybach AG, located in Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance.
The firm designed and made a wide range of 4, 6, and 12-cylinder engines from 2.5 to 23 litres; these powered the basic chassis designs for approximately ten tank types, six half-track artillery tractor designs, plus two series of derived armoured personnel carriers. Maybach also designed a number of gearboxes fitted to these vehicles, made under licence by other manufacturers. Friedrichshafen was also home to the Zahnradfabrik factory which made gearboxes for Panzer III, IV, Panther and Tiger tanks. Both Maybach and ZF were originally subsidiaries of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH, which also had a factory in the town.
Maybach used various combinations of factory letter codes which specified the particular ancillaries supplied with each variant; the same model could be used in a variety of applications, according to the original vehicle maker's design requirements. For example, the basic 3.8 and 4.2 litre straight-6 engines fitted in half-tracks could be supplied in at least 9 different configurations, although every single component was to be found in a single unified parts list.
However, as the war progressed, a number of problems hampered the German armaments production effort. The factory's inability to manufacture enough complete engines as well as a huge range of spare parts, meant that there was often a lack of both. Conflicts between the civilian Reich Ministry of Armaments and Munitions and the German Army led to a failure to set up an adequate distribution system, and consequent severe shortages of serviceable combat vehicles. In April 1944 an Allied bombing raid put the Maybach factory out of action for several months, and destroyed the ZF gearbox factory.

Maybach history, 1935–1945

In order to rationalise Germany's military vehicle production, sweeping changes were made to its entire automotive industry., head of the Heereswaffenamt, oversaw the re-organisation. By late October 1935, Maybach had been designated the sole designer of engines for the army, with production outsourced to other firms including Nordbau in the Berlin suburb of Niederschöneweide.
Although a steady supply of spare parts is essential to an army in the field, the production of complete engines always took priority over providing spares. Germany never achieved the industrial capacity needed to keep its military vehicles running efficiently: when the Russian campaign got underway, the deficiencies of the armaments industry and the organisation of maintenance depots became obvious. The German armed forces suffered from continual shortages of spare parts for tanks and half-tracks until the end of the war. When the first Tiger I tanks arrived in Russia in autumn 1942, there was only one spare engine and one transmission for every 10 tanks. A critical lack of spare parts meant that most of them were out of commission within a short period, sometimes for weeks on end. Despite various attempts at re-organisation, friction between the distribution systems of the civilian Ministry of Armaments and the Army often led to confrontation and inefficiency.
By late 1943 there was a severe shortage of spare tank engines. Rather than concentrate on proven designs, Maybach continued to bring out new, relatively untested models; the wide variety of engine types seriously hampered efforts to fix the multiple defects which Maybach engines developed under combat conditions. The extreme difficulty of stocking so many spares at the front, several thousand kilometres away from the factory, swiftly led to vehicles being unserviceable for combat. Because the armaments industry was already working at full capacity, it was not possible to completely replace obsolete models with new versions. Instead, the number of tank models and types within each series issued to the field forces increased steadily, which only made the maintenance and repair situation worse.
Severely damaged tanks from the Russian front were initially shipped back to Germany, or to the Nibelungenwerk or the Vienna Arsenal for repair; but the prospect of inevitable delays often meant that vehicles were instead cannibalised at the front for parts. Often when a new engine was delivered, there was little left except the hull of the tank it was intended for. Nevertheless, the maintenance crews did their best, often retrieving knocked-out tanks under considerable difficulties.
As the war progressed, new Maybach engines tended to be rushed into production, without adequate testing and development. As a result, they were viewed as unreliable. All the 325 new Panther tanks delivered to Russia in early 1943 had to be returned because of serious defects in the steering; they were underpowered by the HL210 P30 engine, and its replacement, the HL230 P30 suffered from over-heating, fires in the engine compartment and blown gaskets.
By way of comparison, the Russian Army used a single basic engine to power the majority of its tanks – with a few modifications – starting with the BT-7M and its successor the T-34, producing @ 1800 rpm in 1939; the SU-85 and SU-100; the KV-1 and KV-2 ; and the IS-2, ISU-122 and ISU-152 and the T-10. Maybach didn't produce a more powerful acceptable engine until late 1943 with the HL230 P30.

General design

A number of Maybach motors shared the same basic design but had different engine sizes, the larger engines having bigger cylinders to increase the capacity. Similar engine designs had shared parts lists, e.g. the NL38 and HL42; the HL57 and HL62; and the HL108 and HL120.
The 6-cylinder Maybach engines used a single Solex 40 JFF II down-draught carburetor, and earlier V-12s used two. Later V-12s used Solex 52 JFFs.
A hand-cranked inertia starter was fitted to the V-12 engines to supplement the Bosch electric starter motor.

Nomenclature

Introduction

Maybach used a series of letter codes and numbers to identify specific engine models, namely:
Although these codes usually indicate what ancillary equipment was fitted at the factory, there are some exceptions, discussed below.
The individual engine number and its capacity, the model type, and year of manufacture are hand-stamped on each crankcase. On 6-cylinder models with magneto ignition, this information is found on the magneto housing: e.g.
MOTOR Nr 730192
4198 ccM.
HL42 TUKRM
1943

Performance

This is followed by the approximate engine capacity

Lubrication

In addition, 'T' by itself has no meaning; it is always directly followed by either R or U, but 'R' in this position should not be confused with an signifying a belt drive. Furthermore, in some sources engines may be referred to simply as e.g. "a Maybach HL 120 of 300 metric horsepower", which indicates that further information is needed to identify the particular model number.

Transmission

engine and Maybach-Variorex pre-selector gearbox. Click picture for English translation.
These letters were only used on some models, e.g. HL42 TRKM S, HL45 Z, HL230 P30. The HL230 P30 was designed to be fitted in the Panther, whose prototype was the 30-ton class VK30.02; the HL230 P45 went in the Tiger, whose final 45-ton class prototype was numbered VK45.01.

Examples

List of Maybach engines

ModelTypeCapacity Power @rpmApplication
HL25I-42.5652,800Pre-production Sd.Kfz. 10 D4
HL30I-43.0953,000Le.WS - Leichter Wehrmacht Schlepper
NL38 TRKMI-63.817903,000Panzer I Ausf. B and derivatives, e.g. 15 cm sIG 33 auf Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf B: Sd.Kfz. 10 D6 : early Sd.Kfz. 11
NL38 TUKI-63.81790early Sd.Kfz. 6
HL38 TUKRI-63.8171002,800Sd.Kfz. 11
HL42 TRKMI-64.170110Sd.Kfz. 10 type D7 :
HL42 TUKRRI-64.198100Sd.Kfz. 11: Sd.Kfz. 251
HL42 TUKRMI-64.1981002,800Sd.Kfz. 250: Sd.Kfz. 11, Sd.Kfz. 251
HL42 TRKM-SI-64.1981003,000Leichter Wehrmachtschlepper Schwerer Wehrmachtschlepper
HL45 PI-64.678105Panzer I Ausf. C/F and Ausf. J
HL45 ZI-64.6781052,800HKp 602/603
HL50 PI-64.9951103,000Kätzchen APC · HKp 603/604
HL52 TUI-6115Sd.Kfz. 7, 1st prod models
HL54 TUKRMI-65.420 120?2,600Sd.Kfz. 6
HL57 TRI-65.6981302,600Panzer II Ausf. a
HL57 TUI-65.6981302,600Sd.Kfz. 7, 2nd batch
HL62 TR/TRMI-66.191140Panzer II Ausf. b–F: Wespe
HL62 TUKI-66.1911402,600Sd.Kfz. 7, 3rd batch
HL64I-66.4?160Sd.Kfz. 7 after 1943
HL66 PI-66.754180?2,800Panzer II Ausf. G and L
SHL66I-66.754Used in Pionierschnellboot
HL80I-68.0?160?2,600Sd.Kfz. 7
HL85 TUKRMV-128.5051852,500Sd.Kfz. 8
HL90V-129.02003,000?Heuschrecke 10 - Grasshopper SPG
HL98 TUKV-12230Sd.Kfz. 9
HL108 TRV-1210.838250Panzer III Ausf. A through D: Panzer IV Ausf. A
HL108 TUKRMV-1210.8382503,000Sd.Kfz. 9
HL116V-1211.0482503,300Sturer Emil : HK1600
HL120 TRV-1211.8673002,000Panzer III, Ausf. E: StuG III Ausf. A: Panzer IV Ausf. B, early C
HL120 TRM112V-1211.867300Panzer III, Ausf. F-N: StuG III: StuG IV: Hummel: Panzer IV Ausf. later C-J: Elefant: Brummbär
HL157 PV-1215.580410?3,000?VK 1602 Leopard
HL174V-1219.1444503,000VK 3601 H
HL210 P30V-1221.3536503,000?First 250 Panther Ausf. Ds
HL210 TRM P45V-1221.3536503,000first 250 Tiger Is
HL224V-1222.4680?3,000VK 6501,
HL230 P30V-1223.095700Later Panther Ausf. Ds, all As and Gs Jagdpanther, Tiger II, : Jagdtiger : Sturmtiger : Panther II
HL230 P45V-1223.0957003,000Later versions of the Tiger I and Sturmtiger
HL234V-1223.888003,000Panther II

Development of the HL210 and HL230

A proposed replacement for the Panzer IV had been considered since around 1937. What became the Tiger tank went through a series of specifications, with the final revision being made in May 1941. Only a month later, the German armies invading Russia encountered the superior T-34 and KV-1: by December 1941 a specification for a 30-ton medium tank had been proposed as an immediate response to the Soviet tank threat.
Development of the two tanks continued simultaneously: the Tiger prototype was demonstrated to Hitler on his birthday in April 1942, and the first of two Panther prototypes was ready in August 1942.
The weight of the Tiger had increased considerably since its inception, and although it was now considerably heavier than the Panther medium tank, Maybach proposed fitting almost exactly the same 21-litre V-12 650 hp engine in both tanks. To save weight, the cylinder block was cast in aluminium alloy, with cast iron liners. The pistons were made of low-expansion aluminium-silicon alloy with Si content of nearly 20%. The engine for the original 30-ton Panther project was the Maybach HL210 P30, while the 45-ton specification for the Tiger received the HL210 P45. The only visible difference was the arrangement of the coolant ducts exiting the cylinder heads, since the Panther and Tiger had different flows through their radiators.
Quantity series production of the PzKpfw VI Tiger with the HL210 P45 engine began in August 1942, and it is possible that production of the Panther's HL210 P30 was begun at much the same time. The first battalions to be equipped with the Tigers were the 502nd Heavy Panzer Battalion on the Eastern Front near Leningrad, and the 501st Heavy Panzer Battalion which was sent to Tunisia. Unfortunately, it swiftly became apparent that the Tiger was seriously underpowered, and the rush into production of the new engines meant that the inevitable design defects had not been ironed out. Nevertheless, when the new Tigers arrived in Russia, there was only one spare engine and one transmission for every 10 tanks. A critical lack of spare parts meant that most of them were out of commission within a short period.
The first PzKpfw V Panthers were similarly ill-fated; series production began in January 1943, but when they arrived in Russia in the spring the faults were so egregious that the entire batch had to be returned to Germany. A special plant for rebuilding the Panthers was established near Berlin.
In the meantime, Maybach re-designed the HL210, replacing the alloy cylinder block with a traditional cast-iron one. Although there was no space for a physically larger engine, the cylinders were capable of being bored out without compromising the engine's integrity. The new HL230 23-litre engines were installed from May 1943 in the latest production Panthers as the P30, and in Tigers as the P45.
Despite all the changes, the up-engined Panther Ausf. A with the HL230 P30 suffered from over-heating, fires in the engine compartment and blown head gaskets.
;Identifying HL210 and HL230 types:
German WWII half-track prime mover numbering may appear not to be strictly logical: the two smallest vehicles were introduced after most of the larger artillery tractors were in production. In ascending order of engine size and therefore towing capacity, they were designed to tow the following:
As Maybach designed new, more powerful engines, all these vehicle types received at least two and up to four different engine models during production of the latest batches. There remained the necessity of attempting to produce either spare parts or complete new engines, just to keep the older vehicles running.