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South-central Nebraska | I want to buy a semi this winter to pull a 42-43 ft grain hopper and flatbed for spraying. Everyone wants or thinks (so it seems) that they need a Cat folllowed by a Cummins followed by a stinking Detroit or blankety blank Mercedes. Am I missing something? Did the old screamin Detroits of years past leave a bad impression? We had two old 4 cyl Detroit irrigation engines in the late 70's.
I found some Freighliner Columbias with 450 Mercedes and Freedomlines that seem kind of attractive. Haven't looked yet. Are the DD and Mercedes one and the same now? (Daimler??) |
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western Massachusetts | I ran a Mercedes in a Snowcat for 5 years nad before that they ran both Cummins and Detroits. I thought the Mercedes was the best out of all 3 of them. Seemed bulletproof. 280 hp at 15-1600 rpm and only burning around 3.5-4.5gph Check this link out www.katvpb.com or check www.pistenbully.com goto there videos..pretty cool stuff |
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NW Washington | I'll bet that Detroit 60 series engines are the most common engine in over the road class 8 trucks. Big freight companies buy a lot of them because of their good fuel economy and reliability. Owner-operators, that is a different story.
I would guess that repairs on the MB engines would be like most European engines, very expensive. |
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Geuda Springs, Kansas | Detroit 60 series is a good motor. On the other hand the Mercedes has alot of head gasket trouble. There are only 4 bolts holding the head on each cylinder and can cause lots of problems. For a farm truck id go with a cummins follwed by cat, and then a detroit. Cummins is definatly the cheapest engine to work on. |
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C Ks | I know the older Cummins were cheaper to work on. Do you think the current series, ISX etc, is cheaper to work on than the other major engines? thanks |
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St.Clair Co. IL. | We have a few of the mercedes in the newer sterlings at work these are concrete trucks, and I don't know about anyone else but they seem decent but are fuel hogs, seem to burn another half as much fuel as the cummins, power seems good and not much trouble yet. |
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Texas | we have had good luck with them ,some over 500k miles .
the newest engine is a DD-15 ,a mercedes -detroit 60 series cross breed .
good bye 60 series ,epa killed it . |
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South Central Nebraska | We have a Cat, Cummins and Detroit and it is very easy to rate them in that order. I have heard good things about Mercedes but have no first hand experience. |
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| I dunno.... I run Cummins in mine which I like just fine. Mercedes wouldn't be my first pick and that's mainly because of the Euro parts factor. No doubt to be expensive. Mabey in years to come there will be an aftermarket develop for them the way there is with Cummins or the 60 series, but right now that would make me a bit uneasy with the MBE for a farm truck.
From what I hear of them locally they're a plenty good engine. I'm not hearing about any problems with them and they're supposed to be good on fuel. That's all I know...
Rod |
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Washington, Kansas & Lincoln, Nebraska | A Mercedes engine equipped truck driver told me that if you run one of these out of fuel it would cost $1000.00 to get it running again. That's all I know about it. |
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South-central Nebraska | Whenever it is, Cat is exiting the over the road truck engine market. The "favorite" will no longer be a choice. |
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Wheatley, Arkansas | I can't comment on the Mercedes engines as we have none, however, I would rate best to worst a little different than most.
My first choice would be a 12.7DDECIII, second would be a pre-emission ISX Cummins, followed by a 3406E Cat.
The Detroit in this series was the best one made IMO, reliable, good fuel mileage, and pulled well.
The Detroit topped out at 1650 Torque where the Cummins and Cats were available in 1850, this is where the debate on performance seems to come from. This is apples to oranges comparisons, there is no way a 1650 torqued engine will pull with a 1850 torqued engine. Compare a Det, Cummins, and Cat all rated at 1650 , 500 hp and they all pull about the same.
My liking the Detroit's has more to do with ease of maintenance, repairs , and fuel economy.
That said we run all three brands, most recently acquiring some ISX Cummins due to the dislike of the 14 Liter Detroits,{too many gadgets and too low fuel mileage}. I don't really have any major complaints on the Cats other than their poor fuel economy and high cost of repairs. On the newer cats with the twin turbo, I have not heard a single good word on them,{ pitiful fuel economy and poor reliability.} It makes you wonder why Cat is getting out of the on highway engine business.
JMDFHO!
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Iowa | Millhouse-
The company my Dad dispatches for (http://www.viessmantrucking.com/) has purchased a number of Freighliners in the past few years with Mercedes engines. I know it is not quantified data but his drivers have given him nothing but good feedback about the performance of the Mercedes engines. |
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Texas | Larry NCKS - 11/26/2008 08:11
A Mercedes engine equipped truck driver told me that if you run one of these out of fuel it would cost $1000.00 to get it running again. That's all I know about it.
we have changed the fuel lines on our trucks as a factory recall ,they are the most difficult engine to get primed i have seen .
just basically have to bleed every line to the injectors ,first one we did took 2 of us about 2 hours to get it running |
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| The Mercedes is not as expensive to operate as everyone is making it out to be. The prices on the parts are right inline with the prices of the dd s60. The selling point of the mbe4000 is the small size and light weight. It generates 450 hp and is much smaller and lighter than the s60 and just about any engine on the market. This translates to hauling heavier loads. They are difficult to prime, but there is a tool kent moore has made to prime them. There is a cheaper way around it though, using a bug sprayer. I will be making one over the weekend, so if you would like pictures, please send me an email and I will reply. I wouldnt crack injector lines when priming these engines. The line torque is critical and if not done properly with the right socket will create fuel leaks. The weak link is the head gaskets, which was stated earlier, but there is an updated head and gasket available if this should ever become an issue. I personally like the engines and like working on them.
Ps- if you do purchase one, make sure it has the fuel pro 382 fuel filter. There is an even easier way to prime these engines if they are equipped with these filters. It requires no tools, no cracking fuel lines and you can start it fairly quick. If you want those instructions as well, email me.
[email protected]
Merry Christmas everyone
Edited by ddctech 12/25/2008 09:28
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Is there anything wrong with a Detroit Diesel/Mercedes
