X15 Performance- Working good?

Was he running flat or hills? Major factor .

 

I’m not impressed with Cummins after owning an ISX in the 2012 Peterbilt 386 I had. The MPG was decent but the motor makes too much soot. I had to replace the cam and most of the valve train on it.
Cummins hasn’t convinced me they have solved the soot problem. If you’re running a PTO or idling a lot, generating a lot of engine hours, I don’t think Cummins is a good motor.
I recently bought a nightmare used truck, 2013 KW with a Cummins that was running close to 50% idle time. Again the soot problem, I had to have the entire EGR system pulled off and cleaned, it was close to completely clogged with soot and sludge.
Idling these EGR motors, even with advancements that have been made, is really bad for them. These big fleets that trade them off with 450k or less will not have to deal with these issues. It’s guys like me that will get hit with it.

 

We have a few 2018 Pete 567's with the X15 605/2050. Highest mileage one is only at 26k so far, it's an 18sp tri-axle daycab heavy hauler. Driver tells me the power is great (he came from an '03 Pete 379 w/ 625hp CAT, same chassis config) and he has no complaints. Shop tells me the truck has been easy to maintain and reliable so far. Everyone seems happy with em'. Only fuel economy numbers I have are the estimated figures coming from the tracking devices so it's not going to be spot on but past 30 days for this one is reporting 3.4mpg. This is pulling a mix of drop decks and 13-15 axle trailers.

 

I don't know about the 389, but the fleet definitely has some big hills in their region. I suspect the 389 runs fast; the fleet probably spends most of their time between 55 and 60mph.

 

Wow. What kind of weight would you be grossing with that setup?

 

Misesian - have you been to rawze.com or seen his videos? He maintains Cummins engines. He did a whole series on maintaining the Cummins egr system - but it sounds like you've already done that.

 

Max gross would be around a half mil pulling a 19 axle.

 

It’s fixed now. I had an APU put on tie truck when I bought it. Idle time kills these motors.
Pittsburgh Power has a cool new gadget called the diesel force that will run a concentrated foam cleaner through the ER circuit, completely cleaning it. They have been very impressed with the results.That would be good preventative maintenance every 250k miles or so for a highway truck.

 

Interesting.

I'm no mechanic, but rawze Notre that certain cleaners (brake cleaner?) were more likely to attract more soot after the initial cleaning. Ymmv.

 

Wow! What's the average load range?