New International A26 12.4L Engine

Well, International has finally come up with a new engine that will start production in April 2017 and make it into the new LT series of tractors in May. Dubbed the A26, it does look promising, in that they seem to have realized how the screwed the pooch pretty bad on the N13 and started from scratch to come up with a totally new engine that has nothing from the N13. Not a "upgrade" of the existing engine. Will be fun to watch how this plays out. Supposed B10 life of 1.2 million miles.... only 10% of engines will require a major repair before 1.2 million miles. Totally new EGR cooler design, new titanium VG turbo, more high pressure oil squirters on the lower piston areas, higher rail pressures on the injectors (roughly 36,000 psi) and their claim is that it is more user and mechanic friendly to work on. Simplicity was supposedly the key component that International forced on the design team. Will be 55 lb lighter than the N13. Up to 475 hp and 1750 lb torque. Was watching some vids on it and looks promising. I guess we'll see how it all plays out. My guess is they put more effort into getting this one more right, as they cannot afford a debacle that they got into with the N13. Touting a oil change interval of 70,000 miles.

https://www.internationaltrucks.com/engines/international-a26

 

I never said it wasn't in collaboration with VW, MAN, whatever. They stated that the engine was designed from the ground up, and not to be confused with the previous Navistar offerings. I have no doubt that since Navistar joined up with VW, that European fingerprints would be all over the engine design. Still looks promising even if little guys from Mars helped design it. I really could care less. I dearly loved the VM Motori diesel in my 2006 Jeep Liberty. The fact that Mopar had nothing to do with it didn't bother me.

 

They do have a tough row to hoe to get back a significant market share when it comes to their engines. Lot's of hard feelings were generated over the N13. Sure, there is some marketing hype. Every engine builder pumps up their product to get folks to take a closer look. But it can be hard to bust thru past conceptions about a OEM's engine if there was some pretty bad experiences. I feel the same way about Cummins. After being burned on two ISX's, I won't even consider another Cummins in anything, not even a Dodge pickup. And that is even after having some great success with a couple of N-14's. I never got burned on a International N13, so I have no bias going into the game. I just am looking at what did happen to International over the N13, knowing that they have made strides in trying to get out in front of this by dumping the CEO and making several other changes, and knowing that they can't afford to make such a blunder again. This could be the product they should have done to begin with and may be something good.

 

One never knows what goes on the minds of the folks at Navistar corporate. I really would like for them to get the International name back up to respectable level. I am not looking to buy now, but will in the next couple of years. I would like to go back to International for my last one. I will be watching real close for the next year and see what happens.