Acert Cats

Discussion in 'Freightliner Forum' started by FAT_CAT, Jan 10, 2013.

  1. FAT_CAT

    FAT_CAT Bobtail Member

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    Jan 9, 2013
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    Can anyone who owns the c-15 Acert cats tell me what kind of problems (if any) they are having? Also, if anyone (who has had experience with these two motors) were to pick between the Acert Cat's an the ser 60 Detroits, which one would you pick over the other? and why? Any input would be appreciated. Thank you.
     
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  3. dgc

    dgc Light Load Member

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    Dec 2, 2012
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    right of the bat the Accerts don't get anywhere near the fuel mileage a series 60 gets
     
  4. DL550CAT

    DL550CAT Road Train Member

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    If your comparing apples to apples they are not as far off as most think. Most drivers drive a ACERT like a Detroit and then wonder why they get such poor mileage.
    Fat Cat if your buying a truck and not going to modify it you will probably like the Detroit better. If you want to have a truck that will run really strong, get great mileage and are willing to put a few bucks into it to make it happen buy the Cat.
    Cats weak points are the VVA system and some have liner height issues that cause head gaskets to blow.
    I would take the Cat any day.
     
  5. Driver of the year

    Driver of the year Medium Load Member

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    Yes, i had a Acert C-13 with duo Turbo. Great Power. Nothing like a cat but the Fuel milage was horrible. Got my latest truck and it has a Detroit 60 12.7 Not as much power but great fuel Milage. The name of the game today in this business is $$$$$$$$$ the less money you spend on Diesel, the more you will have in your settlement. I drive my rig for Money, not for power. Cat. Expensive parts, high Fuel cost, $20,000 for rebuilb. Detroit. Great MPG. Cheap Parts Rebuild $8,000. You Decide what you want.
     
  6. FAT_CAT

    FAT_CAT Bobtail Member

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    Thanks for all the quick replies guys. I know the Cats don't really do as good on MPG's. But I spoke with a guy on here that has a similar set up that i'm looking to buy and he stated with his 435hp and 10spd he's getting between 7 and 8 MPG's on light loads. On heavy load grossing around 80K he get's between 6 and 7 MPG's. All he has done is the fuel temp wire, cam filter, and upgraded fuel pump spring kit. He loves his acert Cat preformance. As I come to realize that the new cat's like to run between 1200 and 1400 RPM's for maximum MPG's and preformance overal. I'v also heard that the parts for the Cats have come down some on price.

    Driver of the year:
    What kind of MPG's do you average with your detroit? If you don't mind me asking.
     
  7. gerardo1961

    gerardo1961 Road Train Member

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    i have a c13-500HP( with mr.haneyecmtuning),iam happy with my engine now 350 k driving i spend meaby in total 8k for repairs and my mpg is very good from 5,7-8,my last run with winterfuel and 40 k in the trailer was 5.7
     
  8. muledriver

    muledriver Light Load Member

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    I worked for a company that bought nothing but cat motors for 25 years the 3406 e and the pre acert c15s were good engines the accerts on the other hand got nicknamed ajunks buy the mechanics most of those engines blew head gaskets and cracked heads before they had 500000 miles on them there is a valve in them that is prone to sticking and when it does it let's the presure get to high in the engine they have a complicated turbo arangement with mutiple intercoolers that can blow . About the best I could get with my t800 with the engine rpms set to the best operating speed was 7 mpg at 55 mph . My last detroit didn't have the problems and averaged 7 all the time without any babying .
     
  9. Driver of the year

    Driver of the year Medium Load Member

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    I get about 6.5 with a loaded Port Container that weighs 92,000 and 7.5 on Light Loads but i know i could get a better MPG with adjusting my valves. Will do a top job at 750,000 Miles.
     
  10. GrapeApe

    GrapeApe Road Train Member

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    I can't say for fuel mileage, we idle with a lot of PTO time, so it MPG sucks on all of them. The C15 Acerts that we have do have some issues. Ours are all 2006-2007 475hp engines. We have 7 Acerts, 3 S60's and 3 ISX's.

    The intake actuators and the actuation pressure sensors go bad. More than I think they should, not a huge problem, but they're kind of expensive for what they are. Something like $165.00 for an actuator kit that has 2 actuators, there are 6 on the engine. Around $125.00 for a pressure sensor. We keep them in stock.

    We've had several break turbo mounting bolts and lose power. Most have broken a manifold stud (usually the 1 short one behind the upper turbo), that's another pricey job. We had a lot of rocker studs break, cat has updated studs for this which we haven't had a problem since we switched them all, but at $40.00 per stud and $10 per bolt, it was expensive to refit all of our trucks. Before that we, had some bad road failures, bending valves, taking out injectors, etc. When the studs break, some real damage can happen.

    The injector harness wires break at the injector end, there is 1 front and 1 rear harness, over $300 for the two and they take about 8 hours to change them. We've had to change all but 1 of ours so far and 1 was done a second time after around 100k miles.

    More down time and higher parts costs on the Acerts compared to the S60's for sure.

    They used to have issues with the pre-coolers leaking, but I haven't seen that for a while. Same for the bellows pipes, they used to crack all the time, but they must have fixed it, it's rarely an issue for us anymore.

    The S60's that we have also have some issues, but are more reliable than the Acerts and are also easier to work on.
     
  11. Driver of the year

    Driver of the year Medium Load Member

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    And imagen if that Acert has over 800,000 miles and the the Head goes out, You are looking at a $8,000 dollar Bill like a friend of mine and then it's decision time? Overhaul or pay 8 grams hoping that you coud get 400,000 miles out of it? Thats what happen to my ex coworker and he bought another truck. Doing better with S60 Detroit. Now a 3406E CAT. Very good Engine. Acert where a faliure thanks to the Environmentalist Wackos!
     
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