Mechanical or Electronic CAT, which one is better

I dont agree with this. Sure if you can see mechanical parts broken its easy to assume you can fix it but it takes just as much knowledge and special tooling to properly repair/set up a cat mechanical injection pump. If you have a faulty sensor the ECM will tell you somethings wrong (most of the time) where as a mechanical doesnt tell you the timing advance weights have failed and are about to punch a hole in the timing advance cover.
The electronic knowledge you need to work on a 3406E is no more than the skills you need to repair lights, fuses, swtiches or any other electical system already fitted to a truck with either a mechanical or electronic engine.

 

well you gotta get outa the 80's everybody hated the computer cars when they first came out but now they are the standard the mechanical cats are the same the b's and e's are the same except for the electronics i have an "e" and before that a 400 cumalong and have had nothing but good luck with my 2000 shaker midroof with a 500 "e" i have 800,000 and have replaced 1 sensor with no breakdowns and have averaged almost 3mpg better than that old 400 cummins how can you argue with that?

 

I have both and like the E model better, the B model powered truck is sitting in my yard as an ornament at the moment, the newer truck is the one making the money, very reliable I might add and better mpg too.

 

Its a little computerized box you mount on the frame. You hook it into the speedo, tach, clutch, and brake. It actually worked better than some of the first ECM motors cruise.

Good point! The only thing is the tooling for the B, you only need the tool to get the bonnets loose. If they've been in the pump for a long time, your gonna need a welder and a big nut, but you'll still need the tool to tighten them back up. As for anything electronic, you'll need a computer, cords, and programming to check things out. But you are right...its all in the knowledge!

I take it them motors aren't in the same style trucks? I know I get better MPG's in my B (FLD120) than my dad does with he E(Classic).

 

The electronic motor is the only way to fly. I'd like to see a b put down a 1000 hp to the ground and survive in a real world working enviroment. The E will do this for hundreds of thousands of miles, the b will not last one hundred thousand miles doing this.

 

Both the trucks I have are 379 Peterbilts. Old one is a flat top sleeper 15 speed with 3.70's and the newer one has a stand up, 13 speed with 3.55's. The mpg on the B ran about 5 to 5.3 The E model I don't think has ever gotten less than 5.5 and I am doing a lot of city stop and go type driving right now. I have gotten 6.8 before when running freeway miles and setting the cruise at 65. I keep track of my mpg and usually it is close to 6 or 6.2 which is close to 1 mpg better than the old truck. It depends on how much I idle, its a black truck and it takes awhile to cool it down, since fuel got a little cheaper I have gotten into the habit of letting it run unless I am going to be someplace more than 30 mins or so. I am usually grossing 76 to 80K but the load is only 3-4 feet tall. You gotta figure that driving 10,000 miles a month # 1 mpg better saves somewhere around 300 or so gallons. Figure roughly 2.50 per gallon and thats $750 per month I save in fuel. My truck payment is just under $850 so the savings is paying most of my truck payment for me. I still like the E better but I have to admit the B was more fun to drive, I like the sound it makes when you stand on it and turn the sky black. The E model hardly smokes at all, I have the hot trim codes and a non wastegate turbo but thats it.
The cruise control for the mechanical engines is made by King Controls in Minnesota, I have one. The cable broke on it and I never fixed it. It worked great for a long time. You can still buy parts for them unless you have an older one like mine. They are the same people who make the King Dome satellite dish.

 

With the right modifications a E will turn the sky black and still get close to or over 6 mpg.

 

The B/C could easily survive it, driven correctly, you'd just have to get a late model driveline to hold up to it.... Now, lets see who can get the most HP for less $$$...

IS the B turned up? If so what all did they do, you should be getting better MPG's than that. My dad has a W900B with a big 22" bumper hauling heavy permit loads and getting 6.2-6.5.

Hey I still have my old cruise and the cable is good, if you need it and I can find it,you can have it.

Heck, mine turns the sky black on startup...LOL.

 

The B model is turned up but I don't think too much. I was having problems with the governor section of the pump and had a independent guy in Phoenix AZ fix that. He also found something wrong with the timing advance and set everything so it would "run pretty good" It did run a lot better after he got done doing what he did to it, probably had more power than my 475 I am driving now. Too bad it sucked a exhaust valve one night down in Texas. I went down and got it and we are putting it back together now. If you ever need a great towing company a little bit north of Houston, Drakes Towing from Madisonville treated me very good when I needed some help.
Thanks for the offer on the cable, I talked to the people at King Controls. My cruise was surging before the cable broke and they told me there is a part inside that wears out and causes the surging problem. They wanted me to update mine by turning in the old unit and paying I think around 450 for the newer one but I never did it. I have the truck parked anyway, I figure it won't sell for that much and if something bad happens to the newer one I have something to fall back on. If I am going to wind up selling it cheap I can do that anytime anytime so I figured I would just hang on to it. Its almost like having money in the bank. My oldest son wants to drive it but I think my insurance agent might have a stroke if I brought that up to her.