Paccar Engines

Absolute crap and bankrupters. Avoid at all costs if you have a shred of sense. More detailed answer. The engines CAN be good. They require strict to the letter on time maintaince to remain in good working order as well as a bunch of extras. And they can get good MPG, they are also light and "cheap" to replace engines. However they have some pretty nasty quirks too. For example they tend to clog fuel filters quite easily.

This filter has only 4700 miles on it and is already jet black and this is pretty typical even after i had my tanks scrubbed to ensure it wasnt a contamination issue. This is what you get with any amount of bio diesel.

Next they are VERY costly to maintain and heavily locked down due to davie4 software which makes it hard to find 3rd partys to work on them. Additionally parts can be quite hard to find and even "common" parts can have multi week wait times. Go see my new owner thread sometime for a great list of all the issues buying used paccraps from my PoV as there is so much on that list i dont even know where to begin.

If ANYONE recomends you to buy a USED paccar, that persons opinion should from that point forward be filed under the same category as someone suggesting placeing live scorpions on your junk then trying to kill them with a nail gun loaded with rusty nails made of salt and rust pulled from the bottom of a malfunctioning sewage and toxic waste treatment plant without any cleaning before said nailgun is then covered in sulfuric acid, is infact a good idea to try. Actully that IS a smarter idea then buying a paccar. Many less steps involved for pain and sadness to happen.

 

So, tell us how you really feel about paccar, but this time don't hold back.

 

I was trying to remain PC, you REALLY dont want to hear the rant i was on a few weeks ago when my dad and i talked about my turbo blowing up

In all seriousness im not wrong though. A fresh factory new or well maintained owner op rig that is maintained correctly from the word go would likely be fine. Anything else is garbage not worth more then F grade scrap.

As an afterthought the scorpions are also rabid, have herpasiphilaids, and are all jehovahs witnesses.

 

I have known some and have heard of others who have had issues but personally I am on my 5th truck with a Paccar motor
All have been 510hp and I maintain them

I have never had a filter issue or def issue with the exception of my first one which was a 2014 and purchased with 210k
Previous company idle their truck so I had a little chasing to get that bugs out but once I did I sold it with 650k and no other issues

I think a lot is maintenance as mentioned but also see a lot of guys idling the def trucks so that has to be an issue

 

When I bought my 2016 t680 with a paccar mx13 in 2019 it had around 280k miles. At 660k now and so far my only tow has been for the transmission and its' only had 1 other shop visit which was a DPF issue. Besides that nearly all my engine repairs have been simple coolant issues (old hoses etc) that I fixed myself.

Tracking down a problem now so might get another shop visit. But overall, almost 400k miles in 3 years, only 2 shop visits and a bunch of minor repairs I did myself.

Conversely, when I worked for TransAm, the 2015 t680 with a paccar mx13 I drove couldn't go 3 months without a shop visit for a warranty repair and had numerous tows.

I think the only real difference is that my 2016 t680 is a former JBS truck, guess they ordered the trucks with better parts.

 

I also think a lot of these are company drivers who don’t care or even know when there’s an issue and just keep on driving

I also think there were more issues early on but believe an O/Op who maintains things and doesn’t idle won’t have the same problems

 

Your not wrong. How reliable the ones at a previous company were are why i BOUGHT the bullfrog. But that company maintained them correctly from the word go and was pretty strict about no idle. Its also why i put so much stress on the word USED. The reason mine is so bad is it WASNT maintained and that caused a massive amount of damage. But i also got it with double the miles of your used one.

That said i still will never own another paccar product, they have joined ford and perkins on my ####list after this truck. And i still recomend against paccars. Yes they are likely fine in general but thats only if someone maintains them.

On an unrelated note, do you use pre filters on your fleet as well like mine or just the inline one to the engine? Mine had massive issues until i added the pre filter as pictured above. This one came without. And even with the pre filter it will go to 10k miles....usually unless i get #1 in which case it desolves. It does always turn jet black by 5kish miles though which is when i swap out of pure paronoia.

 

If you’re not buying new I would definitely find out everything you can about how the previous owner maintained it. I’m on my second Paccar and both have been 510/1850. I have no experience with the 455. First truck had 600k on it when I sold it. I replaced 2 nox sensors, water pump, alternator, and starter. I had to replace the def level sensor but that wasn’t unique to the Paccar. Particulate filter was cleaned at 240k and replaced at 480k.

My current truck has 102k on it and it’s running as it should.

 

No fleet
Just one rig and everything has been stock on all of them
Only thing I do is run some catalyst in the fuel for the def. Not sure if it is snake oil or not but it’s kept me off the hook and fuel additive

I also flush the egr cooler every year and a few other thing but that’s about it