Questions to ISX owners

I don't own a ISX, but know many guys that do. The egr valves do go out alot if they are on the hot side of the motor (exhaust side). With all the heat these new motors are putting out the parts just don't last as long. If I were you I would keep the truck you got and rebuild the motor or buy a glider and install a rebuilt 60 series in it. You know the older motors and they just seem to last longer...also you can hot rod an older motor easier and cheaper than a newer one.

 

ISX gear train is far superior to anyone else. Both Cat and Detroit use that ridiculous bull gear. But Detroit uses whats just like a wheel bearing in the center. Cat's aren't so big compared to Detroit....but its not much better. With separate idler gears, you have less chance of failure because there is not so much load on one gear.

EGR valves are a problem on the pre '07 engines. Turbo's are as much of a problem as any other engine. In my opinion if you take care of your truck and listen to it, you won't have too much of a problem. I usually have trucks that come in that will get an EGR valve once and thats it. Other guys may not agree but Recon has come up with a fix and they do last longer.

As far as price, I don't know if they're that much more expensive. But in my opinion you get what you pay for. Its like you don't buy clothes from Walmart because they're in the latest trends.

 

That happens with all engines!

 

As with any used truck, make sure that ISX was WELL maintained. Ours wasn't, and it has issues. Been into a shop more than few things. Runs great on the road and pulls like a train, but doesn't idle worth a ####. Shakes BAD!

When we bought the truck, the ECM fried 1 week after we bought got it (with 386k on the clock), but the dealer replaced it at no charge. Year before last (outside of warranty) the water pump failed in VA, oil cooler in IA, and the head cracked (dumping fuel down #3), and one injector stuck shut. This all happened in the span of 5 weeks. Cummins still covered the head, even out of warranty , but we had to pay for labor.

 

I have an 05 cummins isx have gone through 2 egrs I have heard you can dissconnect the egr has anyone eles tried that?

 

I have had my EGR disconnected for about 2 months. Upped my mpg by almost 1 mpg to an average of 7.3. Engine runs smoother, less soot around stack tips between washings, and it runs way cooler, obviously because it isn't having to also cool all that hot exhaust that would be going to the intake. Even on a warm day with the AC on and a relatively moderate pull on a hill with heavy load..... never gets above 195F and the fan cycling has decreased tremendously. Checked on doing the EGR disconnect with Gary at Pittsburgh Power and he stated will not hurt the engine in any way. Only that it will help.

 

I am a tech, we work on them all. I can't remember every seeing an ISX in the shop due to gear train problem. Yes, the EGR valves suck, we change them like night and day. As for the turbos, they seem ok. We don't have anymore problems with them than any other make. Some Cummins parts can be expensive, but here is the thing... If you use a non-genuine Cummins part, that part may have warranty, but you better make sure it covers progressive damage. What that means is the part failure cause damage to other parts of the engine. Most third-party parts makers will cover their own part for warranty, but nothing else. If you use genuine Cummins parts the warranty will cover progressive damage. Failures like that are rare, but do happen!

 

Mine is a 2003 pre egr so no probs there and a rebuilt turbo was 950.00.
I would have a blowby test done and if it within specs for its milage go for it,,, if its high blowby run.