E9-500 V8

[bullhusk]

Ok guy's, I've been gettin a lot of flack from one of my shop guy's about this Mack with the E9!! All I keep hearin from this guy is what a junk they are!! Now he tells me he drove one and it kept blowin up and he new this guy an that guy who couldn't keep them together! Ya know I used to hear the same shit about the 92 Series and we had 6 of them Silvers in International Paystar 5000's that are still runnin today!! I have done my homework on these V8 Macks and 75% was all good, the other 25% was the nut that held the steering wheel! Now with that being said, could you guys tell me some does an don't an any thing that I have to keep up with? All the exh. and vent tubes are dry and very little blow-by if any, I left her out last night (about 29temp) and she started up on like a half a freakin crank!

Thank'sBULLHUSK

[Lmackattack]

From what I have seen on a 89 super liner with 440 V8

The tach drive Seam to fail all the time. We replace one every 5 years.

Air throttle was a joke.

Exhaust studs can be a pita.

Other than that parts will be harder and harder to find. The truck had 425,000 and needed a rebuild but the owner was never good at maintance. Real bad infact.

[fjh]

Could I ask what your using this unit for? v8s live a long life as logging trucks and dump trucks !They don.t like to be idled they, dont stand up to steady pulls up long grinds day in and day out pulling a steady 500 hp out of them, Head bolts will break under these types of conditions,If you got a job that they get reasonable work pulling big power out for a bit then a semi light loading for a bit mixing it up a bit they will live long.30000 hrs is attainable .

[bullhusk]

Could I ask what your using this unit for? v8s live a long life as logging trucks and dump trucks !They don.t like to be idled they, dont stand up to steady pulls up long grinds day in and day out pulling a steady 500 hp out of them, Head bolts will break under these types of conditions,If you got a job that they get reasonable work pulling big power out for a bit then a semi light loading for a bit mixing it up a bit they will live long.30000 hrs is attainable .

I'm a Cenent hauler out of the NJ, PA, NY,CT, area so I,m 80,000 one way and empty the other. Now we do have pump off time on an average of about 35 to 45 minutes @ around 1,100 RPM, if you know the area there are some hard pulls like Jugtown Mt on 78 an the West Orange Mt pull on Rt 280 6% also Rt 81 and the N-East Ext. in Pa. I also will be putting a wet line on to haul a dump trailer, but only for our own use

Thank you all for your help

Ernie DS AKA BULLHUSK

PS I use ROTELLA 15-40 an change oil @ 12 to 15,000 mi and the trucks drive line an PTO shafts are greased every Sat. Fuel filters are changed with oil unless we get a bad batch on the road

[rsb502]

Idle em up over 800 if they are gonna sit still for more than 15 minutes ro so to keep oil pressure up to the top end and keep all the fuel burnt off, as far as load goes I have run them pretty heavy all day and the only issue I ever had was a turbo split in half on me but it was 22 years old too. The biggest concern with an E9 is parts cost and availability, they are getting hard to buy parts for. I know many people talk trash about how they dont hold up but those are the same people that dog the crap out of them and dont adjust the overhead or torque the head bolts. I talked with a man in KY that had 12 in RW's and CL's the newest was a 95 and had already retired 8 more all current trucks had over 500,000 miles hauling coal 120,000lbs at a time, he said he adjusted the valves and retorqued the head bolts every year and did rod and main bearings at 500,000 and had only had two go down, he told me one that went down only had 45,000 miles on it and Mack rebuilt it under warranty and it was still running and the other had a valve seat come out of a head around 650,000. I talked to him for hours just listening to someone that seemed to know what he was talking about and in his opinion it was a great engine and when his trucks were finally wore out he was getting out of the business, said he had tried an ETECH 460XT, Cummins N-14 525, and Cat 3406E 550 and none of them pulled the hills and lasted like the Mack E9, he told me to replace my rod and main bearings every 500k and to run the overhead and torque the head bolts once a year and if I ever had a head off replace all the head gaskets and bolts and start with the once a year thing again and I wouldnt have any issues. I have noticed driving my last E9 truck that they dont need to be revved more than about 1600 to do anything if you run em higher you just burn more fuel, I would say just let the engine do the work not your foot and take care of it and you will be fine.

[fullfuel01]

an E9 is a one men motor. don't overspeed it, load it. if you give it to the 'new guy' they'll break it. lot of power but you gotta control it.

[bullhusk]

an E9 is a one men motor. don't overspeed it, load it. if you give it to the 'new guy' they'll break it. lot of power but you gotta control it.

No prob. I drive all the old ones

BULLHUSK

[Mack Doctor Jr.]

The valve seats are known for getting loose if you get them hot. Mack doesnt press them in as hard as Dale Francis does.

[41180]

ours ran 30000 hours. it started to seep coolant into the oil and we tore it down and did a complete overhaul. all that was wrong was the one liner had some pitting . we have all 8 pistons and 7 liners for spares just incase. e9s are awesome engines .ignorant people dont like them .

[BAD DOG]

My Dad andI both had a couple of E9's I swear by them. Once you have one it's hard to go back to anything else. The only major things we ever had was on the 94 CL E9 500 had some bad injector o-rings and she filled the crankcase right up with fuel when it was almost new. the 90 Superliner E9 400 my Dad blew a coolant hose off on a and got it a little too hot and it dropped a valve seat and cost him a head, piston and liner about 5or 6 months later. and the 92 Mh E9 450 I had had a couple of pitted liners and put coolant in the oil, I did an infrme on it and still have the engine now in my 89 Superliner.

[bullhusk]

Thank You guy's, I'm takin in all the advice, I will be torquein the heads and doin the valves just for hell of it, the guy I bought it from said the motor was done before they pulled the 440hp out and put the 500 in! He has a Superliner with a E9-500& 58000 rears for his lowboy and was gonna use this one for his dump trailer, but wound up buyin tri-axel's. I've known Billy Hiller for a long time and he held this truck for over a year and was offered more money but kept it for me! A stand up guy

BULLHUSK

[rsb502]

Id also shoot for a more frequent oil change, I know its more expensive (56qt pan) but it will help an older engine clear out soot and sludge changing every 8-10k, I serviced my 84 one every 8k and used 2 gal of Lucas oil treatment every time, but I used it local and ran 5 or 6 days a week pulling a dump trailer,lowboy, or containers so I was heavy almost all the time.

[bullhusk]

Id also shoot for a more frequent oil change, I know its more expensive (56qt pan) but it will help an older engine clear out soot and sludge changing every 8-10k, I serviced my 84 one every 8k and used 2 gal of Lucas oil treatment every time, but I used it local and ran 5 or 6 days a week pulling a dump trailer,lowboy, or containers so I was heavy almost all the time.

Not gonna use her every day, but I can do that!

Thanks,

BULLHUSK

[rsb502]

When you get ready to change the oil in an E9 be ready it comes out fast and it is a lot more than an E7, 14 gallons to be exact, your average 12 gallon truck drain pan wont hold it all, ask Staxx about the new guy at Mack of Nashville changing the oil in my 84 after. I told him to drain the pan completely and he said "oh no itll hold two oil changes" I told him again to drain it he said it was cool "he had done it before", then made a big freakin mess on the floor when it ran 14 gallons out instead of the 10 he was thinking about.

[bullhusk]

When you get ready to change the oil in an E9 be ready it comes out fast and it is a lot more than an E7, 14 gallons to be exact, your average 12 gallon truck drain pan wont hold it all, ask Staxx about the new guy at Mack of Nashville changing the oil in my 84 after. I told him to drain the pan completely and he said "oh no itll hold two oil changes" I told him again to drain it he said it was cool "he had done it before", then made a big freakin mess on the floor when it ran 14 gallons out instead of the 10 he was thinking about.

I hate when that happens LOL!!! When I was a kid my friend Lenny had a 54 Plymouth with a HI-Drive trany. (fluid drive) only down side was when you changed the engine oil, the torque converter oil come with it (also motor oil) 15 quarts! I did warn him, but he thought I was nuts!...............He wound up with the same results I LMAO!!!!

[BAD DOG]

Id also shoot for a more frequent oil change, I know its more expensive (56qt pan) but it will help an older engine clear out soot and sludge changing every 8-10k, I serviced my 84 one every 8k and used 2 gal of Lucas oil treatment every time, but I used it local and ran 5 or 6 days a week pulling a dump trailer,lowboy, or containers so I was heavy almost all the time.

I agree you can never change oil too much. Oil is cheaper than bearings. I also use Lucas oil stabilizer in everything I own, I swear by it.

[Herbh]

Has anyone converted an air throtle over to a cable on a 97 CL500 ?

[Yoos Brothers Construction]

My Dad did one a few years ago for a buddy. He used fuel pedal and linkage parts out of a CH cab that had a mechanical motor.

Thanks, Josh

[brutus998]

They are great motors we have had several of them. You can also get arp head bolts if the stock headbolts seem to give you issues. They will last a long time if they are not turned up a bunch and ran like crazy. One thing you do need to upgrade if you turn up the fuel is the turbo. With the fuel turned up on the stock turbo the pyro runs hot very fast. You can upgrade to a holset or one of the borg warners, you will get crazy good boost at low rpms and keep temps down.

[Mack Doctor Jr.]

I'm going for the Borg Warner S480 I think

[AZB755V8]

I got an old Holset H5, made before all the billet stuff, its good for 60-62 psi. I have Francis do one now for me. $2300 out the door, my old one was $2800 ten years ago. Be careful to not go too BIG. The Holset is a 3.6 with G trim and comes on at 1800 rpm's. Anything BIGGER is strickly truck sled pulling material and needs a lot of RPM's to spin it and not usable for everday. I want the new one at 1500 rpm's to make it a little more usable for the road but still pull like a freight train! Still a 3.6 but with different trim.

I just put on a turbo blanket and wrapped the crossover and exhaust under the cab to keep the heat in the pipes. Any one else noticed a difference doing this? It sure helps keep the floor cooler.

[BGarofalo]

A borg warner S480 is a nice up-grade even for stock fueled engine. It takes a few modifications to get them plumbed in but its worth it. You can get a brand new one, not reman, for about 1k.

[Mack Doctor Jr.]

You are correct GB. About 1200$ on my end. Gonna make a good brush puller out of her now.

New injector , bigger valve springs and pump to 500 cc at 3500 rpm should do it. 😜