C15, is it MPG and issues suicidal ?

Speaking to the pre-EGR engines, I know my father had 2 2001 FTL XL Condos with C15's. He drove one, was selling the second, and both made 6mpg look easy pulling vans and refers. They were 13speed, 3.55, LP24.5. Ran about 70 mph in Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska mostly.

If you took that same truck and slowed down, I can't see 6.5mpg being difficult without starting to make performance or efficiency modifications.

I get high 5's or 6 with my 2001 W900 with a C15 an no fairing on a stand up pulling same trailers in the same terrain.

My father now has a 2007 W900 with a C15 Accert and he is beating up on 6 mpg most of the time now. 3.36, 11R24.4, 18 Speed. Pulls vans, refers and flats.

That one condo he sold has still not needed a rebuild at 1.3M. Did the turbo at 1.15, and did ONE injector at about 500k. Did a water pump at about 1.2M. That's pretty much it really. Couple starters... STILL gets better than 5.8 and he STILL drives 70+ MPH where he can.

 

The first one i had needed to be rebuilt at 236,ooo miles when they took it apart they said they never seen a motor look so bad and i change oil evey 10 to 12,000 miles after they rebuilt it it still burned oil and had blow by like crazy and i had injecter issues with it just not a good motor the 2nd one had good power but it leaked oil and had oil usege issues to granted one was a 92 and one a 95 so thing have most likely gotten better by now but they left a bad taste in my mouth and i will never own another one, this is just my exsperiance with Detroits i've had better luck with the Cat's and as far as cheap i dont think any of these newer motors are cheap to repair as a matter of fact i've looked at some old reciepts and the Cat parts are around the same as the Detroits were.

 

part for equal part cat is higher than detroit. ser 60

 

Ask for an ecm download to see what mpg has been to date. Also look at gallons consumed at idle. That should give you some honest data.

 

I have a C15 in a 2000 freightliner classic xl midroof i get anywhere from 4-6 pulling a van, cats really arent known for there great fuel mileage in the first place but i have 1,100,000 on the odometer and the only this that has been done is new injectors which was done before i bought it and i replaced the turbo just for the fact i have terrible luck with turbo's

 

This forum has a ton of information about how to get a C15 to run and get good mileage. Look it up. I did. Mine is an 05 BSX and I got it up from 4.7 to 6.5MPG by making some inexpensive changes and changing my driving habits. A Bully Dog tuner will give you close to 1 MPG improvement. The ROI will be about 2 months. Mine has 736,000 miles and no turbo problems. Actually almost no problems at all. And no EGR to go bad repeatedly. And no bull gears to go out.

If I were to do it over I'd try to get an MXS series engine for the increased computing power of the ECM.

 

My friend, I just saw your post today and whether or not you purchased this truck, it all depends on the type of vehicle....as far as the cat15...its running right now as we speak and its my buddy...my best friend along with my pete...I pull bulk tanks and usually get ave 6.3/mile..deadhead is about 7 per gal...I dont mess with the engine...it has 1.17 million miles on it and all I have done to it is changed the rods and mains...ive had other issues ie water pump....precooler, and oil cooler, but these are parts that will give on any engine....personally, love my cat...the 15 model is obsolete, im grandfathered in and would not run anything else in my truck.

 

Call or visit Ring Power there in Orlando, they should be able to print you a copy of the Service History and current settings programed in the ECM.