Opinions on the 2013 isx 450 smart torque engine .

Go to rawze.com and read....he basically suggests a regular egr cleaning and some other tips to keep them performing correctly. You can spend a day absorbing information from that site and really help your decision.

 

Yea I spent an entire weekend with the Rawze series of " How To ".

The truck I bought has an ISX. It's manufacture date for engine is 9/11. So far it performs just like you described, I'm at 406K.

As far as the cams go, my understanding is there were a bad batch basically, so if you got one, you got one.

Head wrench at my last shop explained it as they had bad hardening on some of the lobes. He also had a pile of them that had gone from 1.2 to 1.6 million miles.

I don't want to jinx myself, so I'm just going to say, so far I'm happy.

They don't like to idle, I have that figured out already. I think as long as you avoid city conditions, and don't idle, you'll be ok. ( Just a theory I am currently doing daily ). My truck has an APU, that gets a real good workout.

I was sold on the DD15 for a long time, it is a good engine, but they have their fair amount of problems too, and some of there after treatment stuff is out F rageous to replace.

I've been told $1500 to $4000 for a cam, or cams, if both, and both cams, and some rockers.

 

If you're thinking of buying a truck, first things first, ALWAYS get an ECM download and review the "Engine Abuse History", this tells you if it has been run with; low oil psi, over heat coolant and oil, etc.
Next, check the aftertreatment history, this will tell you if the system is working correctly, if it is nearing being plugged, etc. The aftertreatment systems of today are extremely expensive to maintain, especially beyond 500k miles, that is when the "fun" begins...this expense is now the leading cause of O/O failure.
Next, pop the rocker cover. On an ISX it's eight 10mm bolts, and you can visually inspect the cam yourself.
I wouldn't even consider purchasing a truck without doing at least that.
For me, it takes 5hrs of evaluation before I even go for a test drive.
And a test drive includes hooking to a loaded trailer with a laptop connected to Insite (or appropriate OEM software) watching the Data Logger to confirm its running properly.

 

I bought the 200K, 2 year warranty with mine. Covers sensors, ECM, DPF, and all EGR parts, as well as the rest of the power train.
Hope I never need any of it lol.

Was talking to a guy with a 680. He has same warranty. His entire after treatment went south 6 weeks after he had the truck.

$9 Grand. Warranty paid it in full.

Mine came with the first year, I paid for the second year/ 100K miles.

Covers everything in engine, tranny, drive axles.

 

Get the most warranty you can afford. A friend bought a 13 t660 with a 485 with similar mileage. Ran good no signs of issues didn't burn any oil, good fuel mileage etc for a year or so. In the last 2 months he's replaced the dpf filter. Most if not all the sensors on it. Rebuilt the turbo and finally an inframe on the engone itself due to a valve seat that dropped and broke sending shrapnell into that cylinder. He had engine warranty but no aftertreatment warranty. Cummins might give him a credit toward the cylinder packs because there was a recall/claim due to carbon packing but since his really didnt do that it would be a good will gesture on their part. You can do the math on the cost of all this. Much less the the month he missed from work during this ordeal. The only good thing was since we do local work no towing was involved and he was able to use the same shop. Good or bad I'm not sure. I know I'll be driving my old warhorse for a while longer l think lol

 

I got towing included as well lol.

 

TheY have that warranty cut into 5 parts.

Engine ( internals ) & transmission.

Turbo, water pump, compressor, CAC, and basically the stuff bolted onto the engine.

EGR, DPF, sensors, ECM.

Axles.

Towing.

You can get as much or as little as you want. And you can get it up to 250k miles. But it's still 2 years. I think you have to get the truck at a dealer, cause the dealer certifies the truck. And there is a precise maintenance schedule that must be adhered to, and all work must be done at an ASE certified shop.

The extra year with everything cost me like $3400.