cummins or cat?

I would say the answer is pretty obvious. Cummins N-14 outlasts just about any engine out there. Fuel mileage is great and power is better than most. The ISX is still good if you know how to take care of it. It's a totally different animal and some do not realize it. That "little" ISB you have in your pick em up truck is the best you can get for light duty engines. Cat's little C-7 cannot compare, and the others...need not be named, do not really deserve mentioning. People have things to complain about on every engine..but all I have to say is when Cummins ##### a turbo...its only one turbo. Cummins do not constantly break rocker studs. Cummins do have problems with their EGR valve...but that is just apart the game. Cheaper maintenance, better fuel mileage and more power.

 

Do you work for cummins? Yes I do agree the cummins ISB is a good engine; but with so many bad reports on the cummins, I'll stick to a Detroit or a cat. To me the cat is a better engine for reliability.

As for the miles; my friend runs hard but takes care of his equipment and does regular routine maintenance to prevent bad accidents. In an hour i'm going to Miami with him.

KH

 

I suggest you look thru this sub section for a thread regarding cummins blowing up..

it contains photos of a isx/signature block that is destroyed.. this isnt exactly uncommon out here.. makes me nervous about mine actually. Give me a kitty any day.

 

I won't disagree, the ISX blows holes in blocks more than any other engine I've seen. But like I said before, just as long as you take good care of it and realize the warning signs.

I'm not saying Cummins do not have their share of problems...they all do. I am saying however, that Cummins is cheaper to maintain. Cummins has a high output of power and were first to come out with a 600 horse otr engine. Now I think if you look at the here and now, Cummins does have a monopoly on the market as they won't use the urea in the heavy duty engines. Heck, even since '02 I'd say they've had the best engine. You can put down the EGR valves all you want...the others will have more expensive problems. As far as the older models... I do believe the 3406 B and E was a fierce competitor with the N-14. Although Detroit hasn't really made anything durable and realiable.

And no I don't work for Cummins. I work for Volvo.....I just work on Cummins a lot

 

I ran an ISB (5.9 cummins) in a small freightliner and loved it. The only problem is someone that had it before me put a head gasket in it and used a cheap POS aftermarket. It popped on me going up a long hill and I scored two pistons and torched the block wall between them two pistons.

I got it back up and running for about 12 grand including new turbo, new reman head, used block, new pistons and a new cam along with some fuel pump mods and injector upgrades. Went from just over 100 rear wheel HP to just under 300 rear wheel HP and never looked back.

As far as big truck engines. The company I am currently driving for has well over 70 trucks in the fleet. We have Detroits, Cats (c15s with single turbos and twin turbos) Cummins ISXs and Volvo VED12s and D13s. By far the best motors in the fleet are the Cummins. They outpull our cats on the hills every day while pulling 1.5 to 2 mpg better fuel economy.

The boss has been dumping all his cat powered trucks as fast as he can.

Below is my little rig that I used to own.

 

Right now the better of the two coming out of the factories is the Cummins. They are a little better at reliability and a heck of a lot better on fuel. To get a new Acert CAT to do the same there is some tweaking involved and a few parts. I hate to admit the fact but CAT dropped the ball on their products the last couple of years. I am and will always be a CAT guy. Thats why I will spend the extra to get the motor to perform to my liking and specs...not the epa's or CAT's spec.

 

i have seen maintained ones blow it out, not acceptable out here where they usually operate so far from anywhere thats even a wide place in the road...

I was unaware that the Signature 600 was available before the 600hp 3406 E..

cheaper to maintain? after pricing parts for both makes, this will be my last cummins. i should have either waited longer to find a cheaper cat truck, or just paid the premium for what was available at the time...

 

I'm not saying Cummins do not have their share of problems...they all do. I am saying however, that Cummins is cheaper to maintain. Cummins has a high output of power and were first to come out with a 600 horse otr engine. As far as the older models... I do believe the 3406 B and E was a fierce competitor with the N 14 [/quote]


It would be interesting to find out if the 3406E 15.8L 600hp came out before the 600hp Cummins.............I think CAT will win

Over here the 3406E was a better engine than a N 14.

The Gen 1 signature was a shocking motor looks like the have fixed most of the problems though.

I am at a point now of looking at a new truck now and to be honest NO engine excites me much
I think I will stick to what I have.........Plus its fun to play with

 

I dont't know what options you have there in New Zealand, but if they are like ours keep your truck and just rebuild it. I bought my '06 and its nothing like the older CATs in a performance aspect. I have had to spend about $2000 just to get it close to some of the e models. Right now I'm pricing a ecm and considering swapping the intake/exhaust to a single turbo. There are so many times I wish I would of kept my simple and paid off '99 Freightliner Classic with a 60 series Detroit. The new motors just aren't worth the headaches.

 

Thats what Im thinking,just looking at selling the bin off the truck and the trailer and making a tractor out of it with a 48'' sleeper on it then I will get a bottom dump trailer and just stick to local roading work.