Engine block of a diesel engine with integrated cylinder head, and casting method

The invention relates to an engine block for a diesel engine with multiple cylinders in a series arrangement, said engine block being integrally cast with the cylinder head. The engine block has an outer wall (21) and a respective cylinder wall (13) with a first cooling chamber (22) for a liquid coolant between the outer wall and the cylinder wall, and the engine block has a second cooling chamber (25) over a cylinder head (14). The cylinder head (14) has openings (15, 16) for gas exchange valves, and the first cooling chamber (22) encloses all of the cylinder walls (13). The aim of the invention is to reinforce and optimally cool the vulnerable zone at the transition from the cylinder wall (13) to the cylinder base (14). According to the invention, the first cooling chamber (22) forms a gap (23) between the cylinder walls (13) of adjacent cylinders, the width (35) of said gap being constant or increasing from top to bottom, and the gap (23) surrounds the first cooling chamber (22) of the cylinder wall (13) a