Pullin with the dreaded PACCAR Mx13

I would never buy a new or new-to-me truck that had an auto shift if I were out in the open market shopping for a truck. If I’m dream truck shopping on Truck Paper, I’m automatically filtering all those out very first thing. The truck I do own I stumbled into and inherited so the sucky transmission is what it is. I drove it as a company driver for awhile and they sold it to me very reasonable, but it ain’t nothing I would have went out shopping for, if you catch me. (Nobody dreams about an MX-13 automatic T680 with all the emissions bells and whistles.) So I asked about manual swapping too. It’s got the hole in the floor and spot on the firewall for the pedal. Pretty sure a 10 speed would bolt up to the factory driveline. The center console dash piece is all wrong where the shift selector is, so there would be a problem there also.

 

If you’re basing your opinion of autos on the one you have then it’s not really a fair comparison to the current ones available. I loved the 12 speed I had, 390k with no issues before I sold it. I wanted one in the truck I’m driving now but it was too late to make any changes to it other than color. But now he has some 12 speed autos coming in. I’m stuck with this manual until it’s trade time for the truck I’m driving.

 

Why not run your truck while putting money back for a new one? Order exactly what you want. You’d be money ahead versus changing everything on your current truck.

 

I don’t doubt the latest gen ones are better at doing what they do. Still wouldn’t want one though. But that’s just a me thing. I like the feel of the gears through the stick and manual control of the clutch. At best an auto shifting setup would allow me to manipulate the gears exactly how I want by mimicking stick movements though clicking up or down on a button. But you still don’t have control of the clutch or the relatively modest replacement cost of a manual box. To me these were an inevitable invention of the fleets and bean counters to save fuel and repair bills and make trucking more user friendly to lure more drivers in. All legitimate reasons and probably worked, but the real driving enthusiasts and gear heads want what they want.

 

They aren’t generally in the business of modifying and hot-rodding work equipment. There are outfits that are more on that level but Kenworth dealers have to play by the corporate rules and don’t stray too far off the reservation for liability reasons. Most of the trucks they see aren’t even owned by the guy driving it.

I agree the emissions stuff has gotten much more reliable than the earlier efforts. Mine has never demanded a parked regen unless I’ve let it high-idle all night in extreme cold. Last night it curiously didn’t though. But I only had the idle bumped up one notch to 750 instead of 950 or 1050. It still stayed up around 170 on the oil and water temp.

 

3 year trade cycle and the stuff that comes up will be the next owner’s problem. Yea you could have some downtime, but actual maintenance will probably be oil changes and a set of steer tires. Maybe drive tires. Unless you’re going to keep your truck forever you’re not likely to get your money out of it that you spend on it to completely make it something different than it is.

 

That was at around -5F air temp and it stayed plenty warm at around 170-175 or so on the temps. Oil pressure around 30 psi vs ~20 at the base 650 idle. It seemed to like the 750 better. The few times I've cranked it up to 950 or 1050 all night it would throw a warning on the dash after about 5 or 6 hours (waking me up usually) that it needed a 10 minute parked regen. At those higher idle speeds the temps would slowly creep up hot enough to kick the fan on at 220 until it cooled back to 200. Don't think it likes running that high. I hate idling so much I'd almost rather just stay out of the way of any temps low enough to suggest it.

I do all my own maintenance on my little truck but I don't really have the time or inclination with a big truck. I'll hit some grease zerks on the front end and top up the fluids as needed but otherwise I let the Kenworth dealer do it so there' s a record of it, which the company wants every quarter. I usually have other requests for them to look at. Last time I had them retorque the front u-bolts which quieted down the clunk/pop in the front end going around a corner. Stuff like that I aint doing.