Advise on 2003 KW T600 with Cat C15 MBN (Bridge) motor

It could croak any day. That's how you have to look at it. I bet the motor has had work. Hard to believe it hasn't. T600 is a great truck.

 

an mbn IS a 6nz casterated. a 6nz program and turbo should make a 6nz runnin engine.

 

Like strollinruss said, it's very hard to believe it hasn't had work don't with that many miles. It could blow on your drive home or run another 200k. You say it's not cheap so if it was me, I would run. Depending on your budget you should be able to find a good truck on truckpaper.com for a decent deal with a couple hundred thousand miles on a rebuild. Also I would suggest having at least half of a rebuild budget before buying anything. You just never know what could happen especially if you have someone else drive it.

 

Don't be afraid of the e-model cats. 6ts,1lw, 2ws or even a 5ek. They all are decent engines.

 

Find you a good shop. $10k is only about a third what you'll need to have CAT do it. Was quoted $26.5k for my c13. Had it inframed at Watrin in Terre Haute for $14k.

And don't forget you'll have bills to pay during that 1 to 2 weeks your truck is down.

 

Yes the serial# of said engines start with those digits. In frame is just that, can be done in the truck. A full overhaul or (out of frame) is usually done when the crank or block needs work.

 

Make sure your carefull to pin the seller down on what his "inframe" consists of. Lots of guys throwing that term around and everyone has a different idea of what that means. Or what kind of parts they're using.