Paccar MX or Cummins ISX

What was said problem? How much oil?

 

Davie is available but that only allows you to troubleshoot a little better, even the dealers must request any settings changes from Paccar and email paccar the flash file for then to edit (if approved) then they email the edited flash back for the dealer to try and hope it helps the issue; if not you have to do the whole circus again to try another setting.

CAT, Detroit and Cummins have no such ridiculous system in place, if you have their software there is almost nothing you cannot do; only One few instances require a factory approval and no "eportal login" is required unless those few things are needed.

The Paccar engine is pretty good, Paccar as a company is a horrible entity that will break the back of an owner operator who buys a used truck with their engine.

That is the topic here, a guy wondering what engine he should look for in a used truck.

 

You really don't have a good understanding of how the system is designed to work or you have had a bad experience with misinformation IMO. That being said, I will admit the system is a work in progress since the engine has been released to North America. Eportal, Paccar Vehicle Pro, and Davie really have come along way in the last couple years of service. None of these systems will work worth a darn without access to the others. Perhaps that's where your frustration lies. You owe it to yourself to look into it again as improvements to the system are getting better every day.

 

Really don't know for sure Dave cause I never had it tore down but late last fall it suddenly started guzzling oil to the tune of a gallon every 1000 miles ....crankcase filter was plugged so changed that and it got better like up to around 3500 on a gallon ...I ran it that way few a few months and it stayed at that level until last March I switched it to rotella with a gallon of Lucas at the drain and went up to 7500 on a gallon and keeps improving .
I post on it the Morehouse thread and its all there .

 

I have been hearing about the "improvements in the system" for 4 years now, the STRUCTURE of the system is the problem; yes the software sucks when compared to other major engine software but that is not the main issue.

When CAT released the C series engines it was less than 2 model years before all the aftermarket shops had the info and tools they needed to do everything that could possibly be required regarding service, repair and rebuilding; a decade after its release there is still NO OPTION on a Paccar MX except the dealer; that is because of how Paccar has locked down the software, information and parts suppliers.

Need filters? No option but Paccar at double the price.
Need an air compressor? It's made by Wabco just like all the other engines but slightly different, cost is $2700.00 as opposed to $800.00 for the others and the $35.00 bypass needle (the thing that usually is all that needs changed) is a "non serviceable" part on Paccar version.

I could go on forever with these ludicrous examples that make the Paccar a very poor choice for used truck buyers; there is reason their resale is so much lower than a Cummins and that reason is NOT because they are a worse motor.

Paccar the company is the reason for the low resale and that is why I advise every used truck buyer of these facts, I have all the tools, software and connections to not need the dealer for anything so the insane parts prices are the only bite Paccar can take out of me but the vast majority of used truck buyers will not be able to do what I do; these engines break their back in expenses in spite of being one of the most reliable on the road today (except for the emissions system obviously, they are as hit and miss as the others).

It is doing a disservice to anyone seeking advice on what engine make to look for in a used truck to pretend that the service and repair on a Paccar is no different than a Cummins or Detroit, those other engines have a MASSIVE pool of resources and third party "fixes" for common recurring issues and many parts manufacturers who make replacement parts and compete with each other in quality and price; Paccar does not allow ANY of these third parties to have the specs they need to build parts (not even the #### filters!)

None of this has "been improving", I am still stuck buying everything from the dealer and needing a jar of Vaseline every time I head to the pay window.

 

That is hilarious, if you think Davie needs anything from Paccars body control module to function correctly it is you who do not "understand" and are the victim of "misinformation", a Paccar MX can run just fine apart from any truck cab just like every other engine ever built in the history of engines.

And I know full well what Eportal is, that is the PROBLEM!

The fact that even dealer mechanics are not trusted to do ANYTHING and MUST be connected to Paccar via the internet to service an engine that is right in front of them is unforgivable, there is not ONE technical reason for this requirement; the only reason for it is to keep the mechanics in the dark and dependent on Paccar so none can leave and go work on Paccars in an independent shop.

 

So first off any dealer can make changes to a PVP file, it is only very odd changes that require Paccar to change them first. Internet connection is not needed anymore to hook up to a paccar engine. It is needed to flash it but not to read codes. Also, internet will be needed for diagnostics in most cases so who cares.
No company in their right mind would release specs to the aftermarket so the aftermarket could make cheap parts. Once the aftermarket companies see there is a demand for parts they will reverse engineer them.
There has been aftermarket filters availble for paccars since almost the start. I do not recommend them, but the option is there. More and more aftermarket software companies can read engine codes on paccars and michelian truck has decent repair manuals for them.
It sounds like all you are upset about is aftermarket support. Aftermarket support is growing as there is more and more engines out.
I do agree the systems are getting better every day and aftermarket support is also growing.

 

CAT, Cummins and Detroit all release the specs for their parts, that is what companies who want the business of owner operators do.

Who makes aftermarket filters for the Paccar MX?

The boneyards are filled with dead paccar engines, Pete and Kenworth have been pushing these to fleets with great success for a decade now and the engine is a very good engine; aftermarket support is none existent but the reason is not lack of demand.

If there was aftermarket parts I would buy nothing but MX13 engines and I would transplant them into every truck that came due for a rebuild.

Every used truck buyer I know who rolled the dice with a Paccar has said "never again", everyone likes the motor but cannot stand the process and cost of doing maintenance that on every other engine is just no big deal.

A fleet with 50 or 100 trucks will do great with a Paccar, they buy new and trade in before the warranty is up; in this scenario the Paccar is a better engine and it costs less to buy new.

But when that fleet hits the resale lot where most Owner Operators shop the drawbacks of that engine far exceed the cost of paying more for a truck with a different engine make.

That is who I am advising, the one truck owner operator who has all his eggs under one hood; these issues that do not exist for the new truck fleet buyer's are the difference between survival and failure for a used truck buying owner operator.

 

Quick googling shows baldwin and luberfiner making filters. Im sure more do as well.

No company would make an engine, then release specs of all the parts basically accepting they will never sell a part ever again.

We have a large amount of owner ops that have the paccar engine and love them. Most are on extended warranty and some are over 1 million k.
I will agree that buying any emission engine over 1mil can be a crapshoot as getting a good one vs lemon. Its not like buying a old cat and putting a platinum inframe in it and having a basically new engine.

 

You may have well established Owner Operators who buy NEW trucks that are very happy, I have no problem believing that. But I have yet to meet a USED truck Paccar buyer who is not frustrated beyond the language that this forum allows.

And I am not talking about a million miles, the guys I know never buy a used truck with more than 300,000 miles or so; this is less than a third of what the engine is rated for a lifespan. They are still very good engines at this mileage but they take longer to fix when they need something and the parts are so much more expensive that it is hard to believe Paccar could even charge them.

You are wrong in assuming that manufactures do not want aftermarket support for their products, they know that is how you saturate the market and they don't mind the competition since they can get just as good a price from their contracted parts builders as any aftermarket company can do; they upsell the "genuine **** parts" angle and charge a little more.

It is a very profitable model, much more profitable than having your product limited only to one segment of buyers (who don't buy parts because they have warranties) and having your product relegated to bargain basement status at resell time.

The Market is the proof, the MX is a better engine than an ISX but any used truck with an MX is worth far less to buyers than a similar truck with an ISX; in spite of the fact that the ISX has more physical concerns.

Thanks for the tip on filters, I have not checked since last year but if baldwin makes them I will start getting them at my local Jobber instead of driving 35 miles to the nearest Peterbilt dealer.