Choice program on the West Coast - from company driver to IC

I will have to pick DFO's brain on those isx's lol.

 

Well right now I have insurance. After the 14th I don't know.

 

DFO knows a lot about them... Any idea which ISX is in the truck? I have a CM2250 in mine and I think DFO has a CM871...

 

Hey ChicknWing hows the fuel mileage on your ISX?

I'm thinking of going that way.

Thanks for any info.

 

It really depends on how much weight and the route I am running. It also depends on how fast I run the truck. I have seen as high as 8.9 mpg and as low as 6.4 mpg. Both of those figures are loaded. Empty trailers and bobtail I am in the 9.5 mpg range.

 

CW is right I have the CM871. Very good engine and very easy to work on (well for a newer engine, anyways) but you are going to HAVE to be willing to work on it. This was, as far as I can remember, Cummins' second go-round with the EGR system on an ISX and its a little finicky. You have to keep all the piping and sensors clean. Most companies or previous owners/ops don't do this and when you get the truck it'll be in rough shape, emissions system wise. On mine I had to remove and clean the DPF filters as well as a lot of the EGR sensors and tubing and the doser injector, which was the cause of the clogged DPF. It was a lot of work but I did it myself to save money. It would have been several thousand dollars had I had a shop look at it. I've probably spent around $1200 so far all told on DPF cleaning, sensors, etc. I also bought the Cummins tool and software to be able to read the data from the engine to chase down problems. Should have started off buying that from the beginning, maybe I could have got away with just replacing the doser injector and it would have cleared the DPF out. Who knows.

For me, with some big truck mechanical experience and willingness to get my hands dirty, it's not a problem. But for some others it might cost them their business. That just needs to be a decision you'll need to make.

CW's CM2250 ISX I have no experience with, so I can't really give any thoughts of that one. He seems to be getting better mileage than me, especially at higher speeds, but that is partially due to my truck having lower gearing than his and running higher RPMs at the same speed. When we were in Atlanta we were comparing the engines in our trucks and there are BIG differences between the two. CW's engine uses DEF in the aftertreatment system, mine does not. The turbocharger looks to be redesigned on the CM2250 as well, it has a smaller housing. Several components were completely relocated on the CM2250 and appeared to be in slightly easier to access locations.

Anyway, just some stuff to consider. Not trying to scare you away from a Cummins, cause if you get a Detroit or a Paccar or an older truck with a C15 CAT or anything else for that matter, they ALL have problems, that's life, stuff just breaks.

What I will tell you is that my ISX has been incredibly reliable, never left me broke down some where, always starts right up and in return I take care of it. Its not a 8 MPG engine at the moment, but I've still got some more work to do. So far I've improved average MPG by around 1.5 MPG. I do oil changes twice as frequently as most fleets do. I keep everything clean and actually check over my engine during a pretrip before I start it every day. Take care of your truck in general and it'll take care of you.

 

Not 100% yet but I think it's the CM871.

 

How much is the software for that DFO?

 

Around $330 on eBay, closer to 1k if you order directly from Cummins. Expect some chinese bootleg software CD that after installing that you have to crack with a keygen to make it work, lol. It also comes with the tool to plug into the port under the dash that connects to your computer through USB.