What Pre Emission Engines Do Owner Operators Like The Most

We’ve got a N14, 2 3406b Cats, 400 big cam Cummins, and a E9 Mack.
I’ll have to say, the Cats give the least problems. The big cam Cummins doesn’t run much anymore but it is pretty trouble free also. The N14 has small problems regularly, mainly electrical, just small stuff but can be aggravating, and most of the time you have to take it to somebody with the software to diagnose it. The E9 is a beast, and rearely gives problems, but parts can be hard to come by, and more expensive than Cat.

At the end of the day, you can’t beat a 3406b. None of them are bad, and I also hear good things about Detroit, I’ve just never owned a 4 stroke Detroit to compare.

 

While I personally don't like the Series 60, they're probably the cheapest engine out there. They seem to be good on fuel, parts are reasonable, and they're known to last a long time.

I've only ever driven two trucks with Cummins power. One had a little 8.3 liter mechanical, which, for what it was, was pretty impressive. The other was an Isx in a 2006 W900. That thing was a beast. I only ran that thing for two trips, and I was impressed with it.

Most of my time behind the wheel has been behind a Cat of different sorts. Had a C13 for a while, I hated it. Fuel economy sucked, and the Regen issues were enough to make the Pope swear like a sailor.

The C15 acert was ok. Had good power, but wouldn't pass a fuel station without a drink. But I understand there's a fix for that now.

The 3406e with the 5ek serial number prefix was by far my favorite of the Cats. That thing ran like a beast, and, when driven with some intelligence, got decent fuel economy. Hills? No problem. Ever. It would just grunt and go.

I'm in a truck with a 6nz now, and it's alright I guess. It's only a 475, with a 10 speed behind it, but it does good. But I will say it's very smooth and quiet. Fuel economy is about as good as one can expect doing what I'm doing.

My favorite engine though? A Mack e7. Even though it was only a 350, it was fun. And fuel economy was incredibly good, routinely at 7mpg. The loads were pretty light though. Most times I was 70k or under. But that thing was pretty tough. And as a lifelong Mack lover, it suited me fine. It's a shame I couldn't stand the owner of it....

 

All of them are good. 7mpg is attainable out of all of them if driven right. Can't really compare a cat, esp 5ds 1mm 7cz to a 60 series or a small 11.9L E-7. Its like comparing a 454 to a 350 small block.

@OLDSKOOLERnWV @Mattflat362 might say otherwise about 5.5mpg from a big cam.

 

Touch'e It's never MPG in a Kitty.

However I must put in a small squeak for the M11 cummins. It's a little one. About maybe 330 hp if that. Not too terribly fast. Ungoverned she'll crack 100 if you give it 5 minutes to do it on flat ground. Eventually. Maybe. Too gusty and you get 90 no more.

It's not about speed with that steel and aluminum hauling I did. I asked the engine to be a mountain goat many a time. And she actually did it well. A mack it is not, but with the rockwell 9 short transmission I had she displayed good footing. And a very disclipined RPM behavior. Except during Jacobs Braking, where you take her to the red line and leave it there all the way down.

I put almost 100K on that engine that year, truck already had 280K when I first got it. A day of shop work fixing 20 gripes got her 100%. Small stuff. Toggles, fuses etc. The kind of detail work that brands my face and name onto the now bad tempered mechanic who goes. OMFG there HE IS again. Im gone.

 

I been mashing it hard last 2 weeks, with some idling time (heat / Air cond). 880 miles round trip using a average of 170 gallons per trip on these runs. It does better if I drop down around 65 mph. And yes, it will roll some coal if you mash it to hard .

Big Cam / 15613 / 3:70 / 24.5 tall.

 

Always liked the 12v 71 good old buzzin dozen..in fact that roar was so awesome when it was fully wild up to about 2,500 RPM headed down the highway even only going about 58 mile an hour the way they were only going about 56 mile-an-hour the way they were geared that legendary sound has been dubbed in so many movies somebody driving a 2010 clearly seen truck with a classic buzzin dozen fully wound up roaring away dubbed in..The V8 cat 1692 series about 1974 wasn't bad either..
but for horsepower and torque you could not beat a KTA 600 Cummins is it just blur blurb blurbed it's way past everybody straight up the hill wouldn't go faster than about 60 miles an hour on a good day but it was a torque monster that got the job done in such an awesome way.
now if we're going to go a little bit later on non emission compliant the 3406b was a solid motor too not the twin turbo cat one that was a piece of crap in fact all those accert engines were garbage. but for my money if I built one and put it into like Saturday about a 1978 through may be 1989-1990/ 1992 fixer upper give or take I would definitely go with the 400 big cam for he's the find parts reliability..
the BC400 it's like a small block Chevy durable easy to work on cheap to fix