Mercades Benz Engine

As far as I now that engines assembled in Brazil.Also I heard they have not enough power to haul in a Rockies and true is a lack of parts.

 

Actually, it's not really a lack of parts. All of the needed parts are available through the dealer network. What we are dealing with is a tight control of parts, vice an actual shortage of them. The late Henry Ford once was quoted as saying something along the lines of "I'll give the cars away free if I am guaranteed all the parts sales for them". Mercedes is taking this tack, as does Volvo, and as does Cat to a much greater extent than some of it's competition. One of the reasons for the immense popularity of Cummins and Detroit has always been the looser control of the parts for their engines. You could always got down to the local drug store and just about find a Cummins rebuild kit on the shelf. Cummins and Detroit never established a tight grip on their used parts and replacement parts. One of the long term arguments about the cost of rebuilding a Cat is that there are less sources for parts out there, and you end up paying the dealer for much of what you need for the overhaul.

An engine does not build it's reputation in the primary market, where a fleet buys the trucks, runs them for 600k miles, and then turns them in on new trucks. The engine builds it's reputation on the second owner, since he is the guy that knows how many miles the engine actually made before requiring an overhaul, and he knows how dearly the parts cost is, since he is the guy who foots the bill for it. Any engine, on the market today, will provide you with about 1 million miles of service before it requires a major overhul. Some go a bit longer, but 1 million miles is pretty much the standard. And if you buy a used truck, you usually have to figure in the cost of an overhaul of some major and pricey components at somewhere in that time frame.

Another issue that ties in with this is the familiarity of the mechaincs with a speciific engine. I can stop in almost any town in the country, and there will be a mechanic with experience on the big 3 diesels we use, but finding a guy with knowledge of other engines may be a bit more of a task. And many pople like to use a good independent shop, vice the option of going to the local new truck dealership for their service.

Among the decisions a manufacturer makes is how it is going to support an engine once it is released into the market. Are they going to be the only source for parts, or are the going to allow aftermarket vendors to hold licenses to make replacement parts for their vehicles. From a manufacturing standpoint, they receive no extra money for doing so, and in fact, they lose out on some potential parts sales. But if the engine is a long lived model, what happens is that a lot of people buy their engines in new trucks, because that engine is more desirable in the used market than one with stricter parts controls. A used truck with the Mecedes or Volvo engine has a lower price than a similar truck with a Cummins does.

You often hear advice here and elsewhere that a Cummins or Detroit are cheaper to rebuild than a Cat, and to avoid the off brand engines because of the parts and service costs. And the above issues go directly to those costs.

The next all new engine that will be coming out will be the new diesels from IH. So keep an eye on them and see what decision IH makes as far as parts support and dealer service. the popularity of their engines will rest on these issues. This is the area where an engine manufacturer earns their reputation, for good or bad.

 

I got a MBE in my columbia.....as for power if your heavy it lacks power. My truck is geared with some pretty tall gears 75mph=1500rpm...so needless to say I get passed going up little baby hills. Service cost more for them....and I have had turbo problems 4 times just this year alone. It keeps leaking exhaust and losing power, maybe this is more common than I thought. I got this truck with 44miles on it its got just over 100k now and I can tell it has less power than when new. As for the engine brake it pretty much sucks. Our other truck that has a MBE has overheating problems. They both drink as much oil as any detroit I ever drove.

 

True about jakes!I have MBE in my Columbia and its auto.

 

Being in the auto repair industry, I wouldn't blame your turbo or overheating problems on the Mercedes engine.

Now it's quite plausible that I don't know what I'm talking about, but a parallel situation in the auto industry would have (more than likely) a different company for the turbo head unit.
And the cooling system I would suspect is a product of Freightliner.

 

Seen them at the L.A. truck show Chromed out. Chrome won't get you home

 

Hhahahahahahaahah!

 

seeing these 2 motors side by side....not being a mechanic...i cant hardly tell the diff tween the 2 but the name...far as i hear at the mechanic shop that i work for...thier is very lil diff and that a detroit is actually a mercedes motor to start with...someone care to veryify any of this?

 

Daimler-Mercedes owns both Freightliner and Detroit Diesel. When I was looking at buying a truck 2 yrs ago the Freightliner salesman told me they are going to go with one name for their engines in the future. I would guess that they will market their engines as Detroit Diesel. The Mercedes engine is of smaller displacement than the 60 series Detroit at both 12.7L and 14L with a max hp of 515. I beleive that the Mercedes engine is 12.7L and has a max hp of 450. I would rather have a larger engine that doesnt have to work as hard up hills and accelerating than a smaller engine that you have to push to the limit every time you need to accelerate or climb a hill. I would imagine the larger engine will have superior durability and might even use less fuel.