Mercedes Benz Engines on Freights....

There are numerous threads on the subject already, with very little first hand owner op "advise" being given.
I have ran one since 2005 in my own truck, which I ordered etc.
been an overall good motor, not up there on power but there are tuners you can get.
Head gaskets are a piece of cake, as are most other things on the motor. Parts are no more expensive than a Detroit, and cheaper than Cats etc. Parts are readily available for them. Just because they dont make S60's, 3406's, N14's etc anymore does not mean parts are scarce.
Get it set up right, and MPG is very good.
Look for one with the turbo brake on it, and not the exhaust brake, they are MUCH better. Also be sure to get a 13 speed minimum, you want the split on the top side for sure.

Martin

 

IMO just an inferior engine all together good till 500k lol and hope you can reuse internals for an inframe.

 

Hmm, 844k miles on mine, still going strong. I know lots of guys that own them, with way over 500k miles on them myself.
Did you own one, or just more internet gossip?

Martin

 

Talking to drivers who have run them, it seems like with any other motor you get good ones and bad ones. I hear more bad on these than good however. BTW the new DD 15 & 16 have incorporated a lot of Mercedes type technology. Have been hearing a lot of good things about them so I guess it can't be all that bad.


I'll keep my 2002 12.7 500hp DDEC IV......love this motor......just turned 1,000,000 and it's running as good as ever!!

 

I keep hearing about how the DD15 has MBE 4000 technology incorporated into it's design. Seems to me that besides both having 6 wet sleeve cylinders and running on diesel they share little in common.

MBE 4000:

Cam in block and driven off flywheel

6 individual heads

Accessory drive runs off both a belt and the flywheel

Unit pump injectors with injector nozzles

Engine brake is a a combination of a constant throttle valve and either an exhaust brake or turbo brake.

DD15:

Overhead cam

One piece head

Common rail injection

"Jake" brake

Not sure about the accessory drive. It might run off a belt but pretty sure it doesn't use the flywheel.


At 750,000 MBE4000 has outperformed and outlasted both my 94' & 01' Series 60's COMBINED.

 

Once they fixed the counter bore issue they were having( other poster talked about head gaskets) . They do well , great on fuel . One of our o/o has 1.5 on his. Inframe is coming soon .

 

A lot of the "bad" came from companies that went in and messed with the ECM settings, and messed things up IMHO.
My last truck was a 500 S60, and it got traded at 750k miles due to ongoing issues that no one could figure out. Doesnt make the pre EGR S60's a bad motor by a long shot, but mine was a money pit at those miles.
My EGR has been blocked off for years, and is too easy to do on an MBE motor. Unfortunately the same cant be said for the other motors that run EGR etc.
There are of course good and bad ones, and a LOT depends on the owner/driver of the truck and how he treats it, when he gets oil changed, and so on.

 

Who do you think owns Freightliner?
And who do you think owns Detroit?

 

Seems to be some MBE owners here, got a good one for you all...

Started losing power and reduced engine braking speed last year. Replaced turbo, apod, vpod, vcu, ecm, heads, injectors, engine wiring harness... $20k later I got practically a brand new motor...

6 months later, I'm back to reduced engine braking in the 3rd position (turbobrake), I can engage the engine braking and it works fine for about 5-10 seconds then gives out after a check engine light appears. I do actually have the turbobrake engine, not just exhaust brake, it is a 2003 engine (pre-egr). The ECM check engine light is reading "turbo speed 1/2 power" which
is the same code back before done all the repair, and never really went away. Detroit engineering doesn't even have a clue, nor Clarke Power Services.

Other than that, this truck is running great, 6.5mpg average on my fuel tax reporting pulling near 80,000 when loaded with a bulk tank.