Cummins vs any other

I had the ISX and it stayed in the shop for weeks and weeks if you add up all the times it was there. Most of the time was for the DPF system. If you are handy and such, keep spare fuel filters, and a flex pipe, and some tension clamps for the coolant hoses too.

 

Ah, and my turbo was rebuilt twice in Port Allen, LA because Cummins would not send them a new one!

 

I do not disagree that cummins themselves, the dealerships, nor the bulk engine repair shops did ANYTHING to prevent these very serious and well known problems, but there IS NOW A VERY REAL SOLUTION to every single bit of this. I find it very sad that this solution had to come from drivers and not the engineering dept. of such a big company, and furthermore find it sad that it is still not recognized officially, but the truth of it is at I AM NOT A LUCKY MINORITY!!!,... I have literally now, taken several hundred trucks with the worst of the worst of these so called repeating unending EGR/DPF problems and stopped them in their tracks. It is a clear and predictable pattern of failure based on exactly what I discuss in these forums. Anybody with one of these engines can stop it too now, but like I say elsewhere, THE TRUCK OWNER is unfortunately the only one that can stop these repeating problems on the 'Red Motor' with absolute consistency. The information is available for all to use because I got sick of seeing so many ignorant mechanics refusing to recognize the actual causes of these problems, blaming and chasing endlessly, all the secondary effects. Even the The company I am leased onto refuses to recognize officially, these things within its own repair shop. They own 500 trucks with ISX engines, and were having terrible luck with quite a number of them until some of the mechanics started implementing this new solution now on a basic level. Those same trucks are now performing fantastic afterwards with all the EGR/DPF systems in place and operating. I agree as well that Cummins themselves did not design the EGR system itself to handle ANY kind of soot build-up, but NOR DID THE SENSOR MANUFACTURERS. It is a widespread problem that stretches far beyond the 'Red Motor' into the other manufacturer's engines as well, only these same problems do not effect directly, the operation of these other brands of engines as early on as it is seen in the ISX. If the intake manifold, EGR piping, Venturi, and EGR Valve were big enough to handle the soot build-up over extended periods of time (say 800k+ miles), and if the After-treatment injector was gated via a door or shutter when not in use, to prevent soot/carbon build-up on it when it was not in use, and the EGR Cooler were of a 'Brick' design to prevent leaking, away from the exhaust side the engine block, being fed with exhaust gases AFTER THE DPF, where there was far, far less soot to begin with, then perhaps no one would have to take these systems apart to keep them clean and operating. Perhaps everyone would be swearing by these engines by now, perhaps the industry would not have had to suffer so much as a result. This is unfortunately NOT the case, so instead, the only solution is to understand and work with what is actually out there. I do not see any of these solutions on any of the newest trucks or engines being built as of late either, so as far as I can tell, the newest engines are going to be just as bad long term. This being known without question, one has to ask themselves 'What can I do as a truck owner to keep these problems at bay so I can stay profitable long term?',...The obvious answer is to now take the time to learn how this crudely built, poorly designed, slapped-on EGR crap actually works, and to take the time to learn to keep it running yourself, because it doesn't seem that anyone else is going to do it for you. The engine OEM repair shops are too busy playing 'Super Mechanic' with their now over-confident hi-tech computer diagnostic equipment that guarantees them millions in revenue AFTER the sale, that they could care less about taking the extra time to help the ONE TRUCK OWNER by actually digging into a problem in detail any more. Combine this with the now 'Lets make these systems only reliable for 500k miles' attitude by the manufacturers that has started to surface, and all the newbies and/or O/o looking into the used truck market are only left with the reject scrap comming from the big fleets most of the time, where todays 'used truck' market if littered with trucks ready for major system overhauls of these same neglected EGR/DPF systems, the buyer facing it in short order.

Here is the truth of it long term as I see it based on experience repairing these systems,... If you don't want to become a mechanic in your own truck owner-ship, buy a detroit, volvo or a paccar. but get rid of it before it gets 500-600k miles on it, before all the EGR/DPF problems set in, and replace it. Otherwise a 'Red Motor' is not a bad option for the 'I want million mile+ EGR/DPF motor', but only if your willing to get your hands dirty on a regular basis. The detroit,volvo, and Paccar engines can be million milers too, but they are much more difficult to 'get back right' after the EGR takes its toll on them down the road toward that 600-800k+ mark.

Take a look at a C60 early EGR engine. Its too bad that they scrapped that design because with a bit of tweaking, it could have gone far, keeping up with emission standards.

 

Peterbilt glider with a non-egr engine and no emissions bs.... unless you run CA.

 

I wonder why cummins didnt introduce bigger pipes/manifolds/egr-valves yet. It literally cost them nothing. Overall, I think ISX15 should be redesigned to make it more serviceable: concentrate most serviceable parts/filters/sensors in front side of engine. Current filters/sensors placement is way far from optimal.