ACERT Anxiety

For what ever its worth I'll add my 2 cents as well.

I've driven 3 different trucks with the ACERT and each has had its own different set of issues.

My first was an 08 KW T660.

475hp 18 speed with 3.25 rears pulling 53' reefer which was loaded near gross 99% of the time.

I got in the truck at 367k mi

Now the company owner changed the oil in his trucks at 50k mi. Not sure if this makes a difference or not. But I was always of the opinion that it was a bit excessive. Whether or not this was because of his oil change regime.,.. at roughly 400k mi the motor dropped a valve in #2 cylinder while climbing a hill. Made one heck of a racket. The head was deemed a catastrophic loss as was the piston. Repair bill came out to over $16k but was covered under his extended warranty by CAT.

I drove the truck to roughly 525k. In that time I had the regen fail on me twice and both times due to the ARD head just failing to work. Both times were quick and easy fixes,.. both times were covered under warranty as well. Also had a seal fail in one of the turbos at 475k,.. but I would not label that as an ACERT specific issue. Turbo can fail on any engine at anytime.

Other then what I mentioned that was a pretty good truck. I averaged 6.12 mpg running on the gov at 70 mph most of the time.

.

Next one was a 2007 Pete 386.
Same 475hp ACERT, 3.55 rears 13 spd pulling various flat bed trailers.

This truck was a lemon. Nothing but problems with the regen. Upper sensor failure,.. lower sensor failure. ARD head failure. EGR leaking, blown head gasket, First turbo blew taking the second one with it. Constantly breaking actuator bolts and they had to readjust the valves 4 different times. Constantly in the shop for the 1 yr that I drove it. I loved the truck itself,.. just not the time wasted in the shop and in hotels all the time.

Whem it was running right, the truck was great. I could do 6.55 mpg most of the time. Had 24.5 rubber with the 3.55 gear so RPM's at cruising speed were always kept in the 1350 - 1400 RPM sweet spot.

.

Next truck is the truck I own now.
Its a 2005 Columbia with an 04 BXS 435hp pre DPF ACERT. 3.55 rears with 10spd. I pull a 53' stepdeck.

I bought the truck with 940k miles and I just shy of 1.2 million miles now. Originally belonged to my carrier. He did oil changes at 18k, I've reduced the service interval to every 15k. I have to add 1 gallon of oil between changes,.. but I attribute most of that to a leak I have coming from the plate in front of the air compressor.

Originally the truck was getting very poor fuel mileage. I struggled just to get 5 mpg. I've since replaced 90% of the OEM hoses and lines. 3 angle alignments, new tires, replaced the couplers from the turbos to the CAC and then to the intake, had the valves adjusted, New ECM and 1 new injector, upped tire pressure on the trailer and new tires there as well. Also changed my driving habits and slowed down a bit. I now see an average of 5.78 mpg with the occasional tank over 6 mpg.

Mechanically the truck has been a work horse. No mechanical break downs at all. Nodda. Electrical gremlins mainly.

IMO the DPF is not a desirable feature to have. But if your running california you wont have a choice. The main grievance I have with the DPF equipped ACERT is that they do not like to IDLE over night. Expect to have a light flashing asking for a manual regen when you wake up. The newer DPF ACERTs seem to be a bit more fuel efficient then the older pre DPF that I have now. But this is the only one I have to compare to,.. so your mileage may vary as no two are exactly the same.

I love the low end torq and how smooth it is from as low as 1000 RPM all they way to roughly 1500. I never push more then 1500 as there really is no need. Wasted fuel IMO. My carrier has 2 Coronado gliders. 2011 and 2012 with the pre emissions 12.7 Detroits at 500hp. One is a 13 spd, the other is a 10 spd. I dont know their rear end ratios,.. but the other with a 13 spd was being driven by another driver,.. he and I both were loaded from the same place. We both pull the same trailer. We left and I was in front. The first long hill we hit,.. my truck left him behind. As old and tired as my hoopty is,.. it still out pulled that truck.

435hp BXS doesnt quit match the 475hp MXS in terms of pulling power. But its not far behind and I have been told by several mechanic that I should have a few tweaks done and the motor set to 500hp and it would get better fuel mileage. I'm still on the fence and afraid to change anything because its been as reliable as an old dog.

So I think the ACERT is hit or miss. You either have a really great one or you have a problematic money pit.

Hope that helps in some way.

Hurst:smt111

 

well my experiences may not be much given everybody's knowledge on the subject, still I'd add, owning an SDP for longer than a year it is a great motor. the IVA problems were fixed and gone with wire harness replacement on the head, never bugged again.

blew an ARD head and had it replaced, again never bugged again, no other issues with the engine though the truck was a lemon and drove me broke with tow bills, hotel bills and downtime for other issues like transmission (13spd Autoshift) other booboos here and there.
I'd had the SDP C15 set at 475/1650 since CAT or anyone didn't want to uprate it given the Tranny was good for 1650 and it was such a sweet little power plant passing detroits 500s up hill and cummins 500s (had friends run the same loads once in a while) the killer of this engine is the Idling.
you just can't park it and have it run your heater/A/c or soot will plug sensors and it will start throwing codes even in your sleeper alarm clock.

The truck avgd a 5.2 mpg and when driven at 60mph would hit the 6 mpg mark. After several blood tests and talking to Mr. Haney came to the conclusion that the motor is real good, the problem is everything else attached to it.
I've traded the truck in after some money has been gone in it and I didn't want to deal with everything else in it, I had replaced about every single system in the truck and put about $50k in repairs from which about only $4k went to the emission system and about $1200 to the engine (both head harnesses - injectors/IVAs and replaced 2 injectors)
The truck had from the fan clutch replaced to the hubs (they were sold complete) on the rears. Still the engine never went coocoo on me even at the 780000 miles on the clock.
if I had to have the CAT power I'd go for the same engine since I already know the issues, maybe even get a 2011 truck with a 2010 CAT in it but this time I would check the truck "way" better than the last. My .02.

Now I drive a 2014 Pete 579 with a PACCAR MX13 500/1850 and I must say, it is a sweet motor, it's been a month and like McDonalds, I'm loving it.
I'm planning on throwin a Steinbauer box to it to bring it up to 601/2220 and pass a bunch of punks up on the rockys soon!
May the force be with you.

 

Now good luck with paccar. Their parts are expensive than cummins. Could have took a glider.

 

I have a "Bumper to Bumper" warranty all the way through 6/'16. But thanks for the concern.

 

Thats why they discontinued the 386. Haven't seen 2015 386 for sale.

 

I have a BXS 475 hp in a W900 and have little to no trouble. the only thing I'm disappointed with is the mpg. I've got 2 6nz car and one mbn cat all in 379 long hoods and they get at least 15% better then the Accert. Mechanically I've had to replace the wiring for the vva's and did the water pump a few weeks ago but it is almost to a million and I've not touched the inside on the engine yet. I got it with about 650000 on it so not sure if anything was done before.

I have 2 579 ordered that were built yesterday and will be here in about 2 weeks and am hoping to see a good increase in fuel encomy over the cats.

 

I would like to try glider t660 with 6nz 550 hp and 13 sp.

 

My 2006 Pete 387 has 13 speed.C15 475Hp 944000 miles I run overhead every 150000 miles ,change oil and filters 15-17000 miles travel about 63-65 M/Hr get average 6,25 m/gal NO problem ever.I do pre trip .fix little stuff before they get big.I pull 53' flatbed.