paccar engines

Hi Truckmechanic,

The early MX engine(2006~2009) had plenty of issues in Europe. They had a tendancy to drop exhaust valves when they cracked the valve springs, necessitating open heart surgery to get it running once more. They also had piston ring issues, where they literally drank engine oil from 150,000 miles onwards. Daf(Paccar) stood over most of these situations and rebuilt these engines at a competitive rate or indeed free in some cases. However, I do know of several operators who got very little satisfaction from Daf about these issues, and were left with a very sour taste in their mouths about Paccar products.

Since 2009, we have seen very few problems with the Paccar MX engine, with several units now passing the 1,000,000km mark without any major problems. Emission systems do cause several minor issues, but this is common to all manufacturers. A good workshop can identify these problems early on and keep downtime to a minimum.

It is a good engine since 2009, giving fuel economy and pulling power. Time will tell if it is in the Cummins, Caterpillar, Detroit league.....

Good luck in your new position. Like everything new, it will be a case of getting to know your machine(s) for the first six months or so. Thereafter, it becomes much more straightforward.