Another ISX egr question

1) pretty reliable except for sensors. Many have gone thru cams, but Cummins has a tech bulletin out about the rocker arms are the fault. Run those overheads on a regular basis and keep an eye out on things.

2) The ISX, depending on hp/torque settings, is a solid performer. The compression brake is one of the best on any engine.

3) Fuel economy is up to you. Each engine seems to have its own tight band it likes to run in. You have to work with different RPM's and speeds to find where it likes to get good mpg. If the right rear end gears are not matched up to where the engine likes to run, then nothing will help. The truck shape and the driver probably have more to do with good or bad mpg than the engine does.

No doubt, find some way to eliminate any EGR problem. You can block the EGR tube at the intake (my method), unplug the EGR (not the best solution), or do an ECM reprogram that eliminates the coding and effectively you have no EGR at that point (this is probably the best method, but you will need deep pockets). Personally, I think the Bully Dog programmer setup along with Full Tilt's EGR delete program is about as good as it gets. It is a buyer beware situation. There are some not so good ECM reprograms out there and unscrupulous vendors that will have no problem separating you from your money.

All this I stated is not the final word on everything. You have to do your due diligence and research everything out. But a good running ISX can be a real money maker. I have just shy of 800,000 on mine and it does real good. I still have a soft spot in my heart for the N-14, but those days are gone unless a person does the glider kit truck thing.

As a side note, the EGR is the culprit in just about everything that goes wrong on the ISX. By eliminating the EGR, you keep all that soot out of the engine. It gets all over the sensors, nasties up the oil, and degrades the mpg you could get. Most, including myself, see an average .5 mpg or better improvement without the EGR. And my oil stays almost "out of the jug" clean for almost 10,000 miles after an oil change without that EGR. Even my stacks don't get as dirty from soot. And that rocker arm problem beating up camshafts, having all that soot in the oil has to be the primary cause of those rocker problems. They will tend to stick and "slap" the cam lobes. When it gets to that point, the cam is going to go before too long. At first, it was thought that the camshafts had a quality control problem. But Cummins has figured out the rockers are causing the problem.

 

Cowpie, did you lost your cams? How do you like your extended oil drains now

 

Whatever do you mean? Cummins manual specifies 25,000 mile oil changes. I do them between 20,000 and 25,000 depending on the miles on the truck when I hit the house on the weekend. Now, elsewhere, I did mention that I have used a bypass oil filter and a semi synthetic engine oil that I have delivered to my house for $11 a gallon in a drum, but I never stated I do any extended drains like some who go to 60,000, 100,000 or whatever.

You must have me confused with someone else.