Cat Engines

[waslucky]

jus a general question to you guys in the States , i went into my local MACK dealer here in South Australia to get speccs an a price on new MACK TITAN as i looking at putting together a triple ( 3 , 45ft flat top trailers ) for some work i,m at getting into in north and was told i can no longer order or even get a MACK fitted with a CAT only CUMMINS....... jus my personal prefference but when the SIGNATURE 600,s were released here in Aust they were almost without exception Red ( i,m convinced they paint em that colour for a REASON !! ) Hand Grenades......any input from you all out there on said Cummins wld be appreciated as would want to keep a Dog on tha grille to keep the fleet , but until i,m convinced otherwise i cant see myself sighnin for a Cummins powered puppy ......also as i,m throwin this to the forum any feedback on new CAT C15 ACERT as i had a 1st genaration C15 in a CENTURY class Freightliner doing double road trains ( as a driver ) and was RAPT in it Great Power an compared to 12L Series 60 DDEC4 previously in a STERLING was comparable in fuel economy..was averaging 1.5 to1.9L to 100kilometers , in my book that good for a gross weight of @ 90ton.......let u guys convert to MPG

[fjh]

jus a general question to you guys in the States , i went into my local MACK dealer here in South Australia to get speccs an a price on new MACK TITAN as i looking at putting together a triple ( 3 , 45ft flat top trailers ) for some work i,m at getting into in north and was told i can no longer order or even get a MACK fitted with a CAT only CUMMINS....... jus my personal prefference but when the SIGNATURE 600,s were released here in Aust they were almost without exception Red ( i,m convinced they paint em that colour for a REASON !! ) Hand Grenades......any input from you all out there on said Cummins wld be appreciated as would want to keep a Dog on tha grille to keep the fleet , but until i,m convinced otherwise i cant see myself sighnin for a Cummins powered puppy ......also as i,m throwin this to the forum any feedback on new CAT C15 ACERT as i had a 1st genaration C15 in a CENTURY class Freightliner doing double road trains ( as a driver ) and was RAPT in it Great Power an compared to 12L Series 60 DDEC4 previously in a STERLING was comparable in fuel economy..was averaging 1.5 to1.9L to 100kilometers , in my book that good for a gross weight of @ 90ton.......let u guys convert to MPG

This is coming from a mack guy so take it for what its worth.

The ISX has been a fair replacement for the V8 here ,Weve seen very few cats here so I can't coment on that!The ISX Suffers from their own set of egr problems (but get use to it)!We have several in our low bed trucks and have had good sucess with them!Just a A note and a thought for you,Look at your 15 and your isx compare the 2 visually, Which engine was designed to move forward in time! The cat is the same platform it has been for years with a bunch of addons so much so that a simple water pump job is now a nitemare.Having said that I am a non cummins guy my self but having compared the two And having to work on this over enginered stuff I'd rather work on the cummins for now! (speaking of over engineered) Next I have to warm up to the Volvo Stuff (I'm still resisting)

[theakerstwo]

This is coming from a mack guy so take it for what its worth.

The ISX has been a fair replacement for the V8 here ,Weve seen very few cats here so I can't coment on that!The ISX Suffers from their own set of egr problems (but get use to it)!We have several in our low bed trucks and have had good sucess with them!Just a A note and a thought for you,Look at your 15 and your isx compare the 2 visually, Which engine was designed to move forward in time! The cat is the same platform it has been for years with a bunch of addons so much so that a simple water pump job is now a nitemare.Having said that I am a non cummins guy my self but having compared the two And having to work on this over enginered stuff I'd rather work on the cummins for now! (speaking of over engineered) Next I have to warm up to the Volvo Stuff (I'm still resisting)

I agree with you on the cat problem it looks like they should have started with a new engine but the rumor is they will be getting out of trucks soon but who knows. glenn

[David]

Cat may see the writing on the wall. When Paccar starts building their own engines a big portion of their market will be gone.

[waslucky]

ah jus reading thru replies ( thanks to that have ) but i SHOULD,VE PROOF read it 1st !!!! ah my fuel useage rate was a LiTTLE ( sic ) outta wack .......it SHOULD read 1.5 and there abouts KILOMETERS TO the LITRE not as i put it to the forum !!!! christ we could all live like KINGS on what i had written !!!!!

[ciw65]

G'day bloke. yep aussie here too. Mack stopped putting Cats in their gear about 7 or 8 years ago. I think the last one I saw was one of McBrides titans in Alice with one just before Bunkers bought them. One had a Detroit too, apparrently some special trial thing. Obviously failed. The mob I work for have a C-15 in a Sterling rated at 550 and has just racked up 810,000km since new in Oct '03. The worst thing that has happened to it is a clutch plate broke a couple of springs and jammed up the works, so had to be replaced at 730,000. Other than that, the troubles have all been Sterling related, cab mounts, electrics, etc. This one goes to Broken Hill 3 times a week on fridge work, and does the heavy general work on the other days. Being a Cummins man from way back I wasn't impressed when this thing turned up with a yellow peril in it, but it has proved itself. As for the 'RED Demons", they have had their serious troubles and turned a lot of blokes off. however, i work on a couple of Superliners with them in doing nothing but double tanker work 24/7. And so far so good. The older one has just racked up a million and the biggest drama seems to be starter motors and batteries. The newer one is only 4 months old, so we will wait and see. The older one spends most of its time on the dirt to Beverly so cops a fair flogging, but seems to be holding together quite well, just eats drive hub seals regularly ( got to expect these things on that goat track). If you want to PM me. i can put you in contact with the owner for a frank opinion. He was a sceptic about the Signatures too. Sadly, i too have to get used to the swedish invasion....(shudders)