Paccar

[tsolson]

Hi,

I was in the market for a third truck, and i was wondering if anyone out there has had any experience with Paccar MX-13 engines. Of course the Kenworth salesman says they are second to none, so that makes me nervous!! I have heard some stories, both good and bad, but haven't had anything to do with the Paccar engine.


Thanks for the advice!!

[Rawze]

I tend to prefer something I can work on myself (red engines) + be able to custom mod for my needs instead of being at the mercy of everyone else every time a CEL light comes on or a part needs replacing.

Just remember that ALL newer engines have issues of different sorts. Only question is what your going to do about them as they arise, and how much you can learn to do yourself so that your not at the mercy of the money-hungry broken system of OE repair shops.

[Lonestar10]

I drove a 500HP MX-13 2014 model 386 or 387 i drove both could never remember which was which it was the narrow cab. the thing i noticed the most was the fan was always coming on sucking power and if it idled for any period under 1000rpms it immediatley tripped all sorts of emission codes. but ied say all in all it ran around at 90k lbs alright getting 5.5mpg running 70-80mph. was told to drive it like i stole it by my boss at the time so i did... was only about 6mo with it but in that time didnt have any real problems with it myself.

[smorgan87]

Buddy of mine has ran a cpl of them in a t680 and 389. He likes them so long its geared right and has enough gears to keep the rpm's up. I personally prefer the red engines for the reasons rawze stated as well as the extra 2 liters. And red is purdy under the hood.

[Waterloo]

I would stay with the ISX, for the reasons Rawze stated, especially the part about being able to work on, or at least properly diagnose the problem before a shop gets a hold of it. The ISX is the only motor I know of that you can repair/in frame with a bag of tools and a cell phone. And then we have Rawze.com, there is no site like this for any other manufacturers motor.

Last I heard with the paccar, the crank shaft issue was still an issue too... They can snap.

[schISM]

I bought a 19 Pete 579 with the 455hp. 1550/1750 multi torque MX 13 last November. Only have 34xxx miles on it so not sure on the long term durability but right from the get go the fuel mileage proved to be pretty good with high 6mpg’s. Now that it’s warming up a bit I’m usually above 7. The only other truck I’ve owned that could break 7 consistently was my demandated ISX. The truck is spec’ed with a 3.25 final ratio that I thought was gonna be too high but you gotta keep the rpms in the 13-1500 range to keep it happy.
The engine is pretty quiet and super smooth, not a power house by any stretch but I’m pretty sure once it’s depreciated out I’ll replace it with another.

[Rawze]

(04-19-2019 )schISM Wrote:  ...
a 3.25 final ratio
...

swap it out for a decent set of 3:70's and it would do much better on fuel when loaded.

[schISM]

(04-19-2019 )Rawze Wrote:  

(04-19-2019 )schISM Wrote:  ...
a 3.25 final ratio
...

swap it out for a decent set of 3:70's and it would do much better on fuel when loaded.

It’s got an 18 spd. so it’s always right where I need it to be. I’ve played around with different rpm’s at different speeds and it just likes the 13-1500 range 80,000 or empty.

[Rawze]

(04-19-2019 )schISM Wrote:  

(04-19-2019 )Rawze Wrote:  

(04-19-2019 )schISM Wrote:  ...
a 3.25 final ratio
...

swap it out for a decent set of 3:70's and it would do much better on fuel when loaded.

It’s got an 18 spd. so it’s always right where I need it to be. I’ve played around with different rpm’s at different speeds and it just likes the 13-1500 range 80,000 or empty.

u can disagree all u like, but it has been proven time and again. Getting better rear ratios puts more torque/hp to the wheels and not in the drive-line when loaded. Believe me when i say I have driven hundreds of trucks with hundreds of setups,.. those tall bastar#d rears u have there are garbage for anything but bobtailing around in.