Looking for real world feedback on the PACAR MX 13

Friend at my last company has a 2017 KW with the MX 13 . It has not ran a full week yet. Has had it three months.

 

Well I bought a 2012 Peterbilt 587,with a mx 13,10 speed,with 400,000 miles.
Seen my issus as check engine light driving down the highway,starter solenoid throws a code,of while driving interaxle differential lights up.oil pressure likes to hang around 40psi,.average 6.6 mpg @68mph.

 

I have a 579 2017 with the auto transmission. MX-13. About 75000 miles on it

I average between 7.5 and 8.5 depending on the weight. Usually 20 000 - 45000 coast to coast driving.

Often the check engine light will light up but it always goes away after a day or two of driving.

I guess part of the good fuel economy is due to the auto tranny because my old 386 with the same set up never reached 8mpg

Sure I cant take off very fast at the light but it is a good money maker for the company for sure

 

On my first trip out,I've had numerous faults,TODAY,while pulling up Elk Moutain,WY@ 50 mph with 25,000k in the box the truck shutdown,I pulled over set the brakes gave it a minute and it fired right up,drove it back to the dealer in denver, and here I sit til tuesday my load had to be repowered,I've had this truck 2 weeks and this was my first load.what did I get myself into?

 

Got fire insurance?

 

They run great at 80,000 lbs or less on flat ground (they feel completely gutless at Canadian weights). 2012 motors are emissions nightmares. Go new if you can, avoid used (especially if they haven't been maintained on a VERY regular basis) and do your best to keep up with every little piece of recommended maintenance item and it should last.

My company switched to the MX-13 when CAT stopped making on-highway motors and this is how they keep them running for as little money as possible (but they still cost way more than a good ol' pre-emission CAT, and the DEF system is garbage). I drove one (2013) for 4 months and despite the gutless power at 90,000+, it still was capable of 7+ mpg on a very regular basis after 500,000 km (300,000 miles). The only issue I had with the truck was it's alternator failed.

From what I've been able to gather, it's one of the better options for new motors among Cummins, Detroit, etc.

 

Has a 15 and 16 and both are awesome. 8mpg is easy and 10 dead heading is no problem.

Check engine light comes and goes. Don't worry about t ever.

 

update: truck went into shop last monday 4 bad grounds. mysteriously it took the mechanic over 9 hours they charged me $1400.00(I ended up paying $500 and change) to find the problem and $21.00 for wire and connectors to fix the problem. so they thought it was fixed. I have been averaging 7.3 mpg grossed out to 77,000 lbs. Yesterday hit a bump in the road on us 78 Lamar in memphis,tn and the whole truck went dead,slowly rolled up in front of the loves,crossed my finger and she fired right up.drove to the hub yard and check all the connections they appear to be tight.

My thinking on the phantom wiring issue is I'm pretty sure the previous owner had an APU on this truck truck had 412,000 miles with 10,200 hours.So I'm thinking they didn't hook all the wires up correctly.

 

Try to clean and tighten all the battery connections,see if it's gonna help.
My 2011 Cascadia does the same thing once in a while.

 

Auto makes a bit of a difference but I average 8-8.5 with my MX13 2015 truck with a manual.

The 14 and newer paccars see 1-1.5 better fuel mileage on average over my old 12-13