Help Please

Yes, you have to go back to something like maybe 80s to get a mechanical engine. Detroit may have been the first electronic engine, not sure. Cummins had the N14 when I started driving and it was Electronic also.

 

So yes, you can run paper logs!

 

Yes, a early generation. One of the orignals believe it or not. I met my first Computer engine when the model 1994 Cat 350 showed up under my hood. Then a Detriot 500 had it's own ECM as did the M11 about the 1994 era. There is a strong line before 1994 pre computer and post 1994 computer engines in my experience. I never forgot how much I loved the pre computer engines. They all had personalities. The computers took that all away for the most part. However they were not too bad with some of those early computer engines when non governed and unrestricted all the way to redline. I'll give them that.

Now finding a computer that will communicate with those older computers? Thats the trick I think. There are still some older laptops with serial ports and such out there on the secondary market or computer shops. Obsolete by today's standards. But should work well with the onboard truck engine control module.

The problem with those early ECMs is sometimes they die. The entire Module. Its going to be about almost 2000 dollars and several days work to install and configure a new one. You can however run the older engine without a living module in a sort of a bypass smoky joe mode as long you dont shut it off until shop. And you can attempt and usually get it turned over using gravity downhill in 2nd if your batteries were bad. That would be enough to get you to a shop.

Today's computer engines in big rigs are exceeding rational logic. The more the engineers entangle themselves in their ball of electronic yarn the worse it gets for us idiots who have to deal with the castrated trucks on the road.