9400i

Landstar is pretty strict, but it should be nothing out of the ordinary. The thing about a truck with that many miles on it is that it's going to go through a phase where you are going to be spending money. Like I said, be thorough so you don't get caught out for the first three months of ownership. If anything, get a warranty that can cover all the things that are known to break on that engine. If those studs break, it can tear up your motor pretty bad and you don't want to stare down the barrel of a $20k plus rebuild or a very expensive top end rebuild.

 

More than likely those studs have been replaced, that was a problem that the first gen acerts experienced. I would be very surprised if it does not have the updated studs in it. He can call cat and give them the engine serial number to verify if it has been done or not. If not, I would demand the seller to have it done at an authorized cat shop.

 

When I talked to the Cat dealer in Oregon, I was curious if the update was for the early units but he informed me that the fix was needed as late as 2010. That was an eye opener. Aside of that he said that the C15 is a solid engine ( aside of the Acert components freaking out ).

If I get one, I am going to reprogram it and get the VVAs deactivated, then she should be good.

 

I have 1.3 million on mine and have only had one problem with one IVA, they are not as big of a problem as some would like you to believe, same with the turbos. My motor went to 1,001,016 before I had it inframed, it would have went longer but pulling a livestock trailer grossing upto 97,000 and running it very hard was not good for longevity.

 

Some of the things I like about the ACERT is that they still have fixed geometry turbos and the powerband is biased more to the bottom. I was curious though, in your experience, do you think that it's a good idea to replace certain sensors and components after a certain mileage point and what would it be?

 

There are no sensors or other componets that I personally would replace until they wear out or start showing signs of getting ready to fail. To my knowledge there really is not anything on an acert that is prone to wear out at any certain mileage.

 

Well, you sold me. The twin turbo trucks are selling at decent prices right now, and two aftermarket tuners ( PDI and Dieselspec ) know how to make them run really well with reliability. The last time I played with a Cat was my 85 W900 with a B Model and a 15 speed. Never thought I'd do it again, but it really came down to learning and understanding how these engines fail and what to do about it. What's ironic is that I viewed the Cat as more complex than the other emission style diesels, because of the twins, it seems to have less electronic components that are exposed to high heat/exhaust soot. No EGR cooler and valves. I know that there are a lot of O-rings in the system that can cause problems with the fuelling and VVA action, but there should be some upgrades out there for that. Thanks again for the response.

 

EGR coolers or Valves are the bombs that blows up your motor.

 

Why don't you PM Mr. Haney . I'll bet a 15 minute phone chat with him , will tell you all you want to know . Wish now I'd had bought a Cat , with someone like him around !