Is there any engine out there that DOESN'T have problems?

Hah! Belive me there are no problem free engines, not in USA, not in Europe.

Well, people say Mercedes OM501/502 V designed engines are the best, but... I saw one with cracked crankshaft.

Cummins ISX - ouh, the EGR story is too long, N14 was a good engine, but new emission standards are impossible to get without EGR. And I cant consider this engine problem free becouse control units are not so reliable. Fault code 111 (internal unit fault) is possible to solve with soldering in new memory chips (of course I have memory dumps).

 

Not sure about the maint. cost for the motor. I dont break it down that way. I have only had to do regular maint on it with the exception of the exhaust manifold and I had a precooler hose go bad. The exhaust manifold cat "fixed" under warranty but they never actually fixed it. They changed sections of the manifold but cat would not let them put a new 1 on. I ended up going with a pdi manifold. I would suggest that to anyone that has problems with thier manifold.
I would look at Cat ESC very close before I bought it. I dont think you can get the injectors and turbo coverage except when its new. If thats the case you might be better off with an aftermarket warranty
As far as fuel mileage right now I am getting about 6.7 Before I got the PDI tune it was about 6 and if you go back even more before the mufflers, manifold and FASS I was getting 5.4 mpg. But I run local I dont do a lot of interstate driving. When I do I dont get as good mpg. My truck is not geared for otr work at 70mph which is what I run on the big road its turning almost 1500 rpm which is to fast for an acert.
My advice is if you decide on the cat go straight to Mr Haney and get the tune he suggest for you. I would also put straight through mufflers on if they are not there already. The pdi manifold is worth it but I would not get right on that unless yours leaks. The FASS is worth it too but I would not jump right on it. its not that big of a gain I would get it when money allows. Do not wait on the pdi tune it will pay for itself in less than 6 months.
No matter what anyone tells you all trucks are junk! They all need fixed sooner or later and usually at the worst time. Get the truck that is set up for what you are going to do and one you like. If its not set up right your not going to like it for long. If you dont like it when its new to you that wont change as it gets older and you wont be as concerned with taking care of it.
Hows that for a long winded answer

 

JD Power did a survey and it was on Etrucking magazine and it said the least problematic was the International and Detroit.
I worked on Cats and nothing is cheap on them, they are difficult to work on, time consuming, costly, heavy, and will have a very low resale value.
No other engine when it comes in for an used truck inspection has to go threw a bottle test, unless there is noticeable problem, every Cat does.
There is a market of customers that love their "CAT" and chrome, The biggest companies out their any of them running big Cats.

 

not all Cats are reliable and bulletproof. 3126 had a lot of oil actuated injectors, it is very sensetive to oil quality, especially in cold winter conditions, but 3106 ore 3406 are very good (do not take into account broken injector pupes))))

HUI is not so good thing.

But MUI are really reliable.

Anyway to rebuild Cat is more expencive then Cummins ore DD.

 

By far the best truck I ever owned was a 3406 cat(T600) Running SOB.

 

I do not why but onece a year we had to change leaky injector tube. They crack! but we lost some clips and brakets so I sugest we got some vibration there.

In Russia they love N14, becouse no EGR, cheapper parts (hah, some parts are made in China), there are many ECM rebuild/reprogram shops.... easier to fix is DD60 w/o EGR, but DDEC-IV control unit is located lower and sometimes damaged with water, ususally EPROM and Frash memory.. chips are on tape and sometimes it is corroded and we cant fix faulty ECM.

 

seems to me Series 60 is not very reliable engine. First of all - sencetive to fuel quality, especially sulfur and ash. Sulfur burns pistons, ash leads VGT and EGR to fail. If you have DD Series 60 check valve lash ajustment twice a year ore more.

ECMS are located too low and when it is rainy road dirt, water and sand attacks ECM body. DEEC-V is better, but DDEC-IV had many problems with damaged with water memory chips (EEPROM, two RAM chips and Flash).

Mercedes engines are better (all PLD engines: OM904 (4-cyl, up to 200 hp), OM906 (six in line), OM457 (12L six in line), OM460 (12.7L) and V6 and V8 OM501 and 502).
But expencive parts. really expencive...

What is good? you can change bad head gasket in half of hour on road, easy to pull injectors, PLD pums... But wanna have better - pay more!

MB engines may have Temic contor unit (works with FR/ADM - it is just a VECU in cabine) and Temic is CAN controlled only! Some of MB engines for US market are with DEEC-V units. Temic unit is better, but to diagnose it DDDL is not the good thing, better way - StarDiagnose via k-line (pin 13 on small connector), in the USA Mercedes dealers have SD, but..... usually with car/light truck licensie keys... so they will not help you. And IMHO, for US market Mercedes engine with Temic unit is not the good choise.

About problems with ISX we know more then enought.. Ash related problrms with EGR, HPI valves and sometimes EGR cooler... N14 is very reliable, but'll never be made becouse EPA2010 and Euro-IV emission standards will never sattisfy.... Like Volvo D12C engine too......

So problem free engine is the myth....

 

I worked on the Sixty series from day #1 till July 2007, and the only bull gear I have ever seen changed was from an accident. The ECM's I have never seem a corrosion problem unless the unit was acid washed and they sprayed right at the connectors. S50 the ECM connectors were easily accessed
I have repaired many Cummins and Cats for corrosion and poor connections at the ECM's.
I did so many Cats I bought the tool, to repair the Deutsch pin connectors
If you use high sulfur fuel you will get burnt valves on all engines it was a normal thing to have on the 3406B.

 

I had no problem with corroded connectors.... but with memory chips... hah! I used to put in DIP components instead of SMD with dozens of thin wires. This truck still runs with rebuilt ECM! LOL!!!!

About sulfur fuel... all engines do not like it But CAT 3406 seems to me more tought then other...

Really DD60 is a good balance of reliability and maintenance and repare costs. Yeah, less reliable then CAT ore Cummins, but less money to fix.

I wanna purchase semi next year and seems to me I gonna get '01-05 Century Class with Deries 60....