9-11-2023 Praise our first responders. When I started driving professionally, I was informed to never allow the pyro to hit 1200. I could do very serious damage to the engine. So I held to that reasoning. even though this is 7 years ago It really hits home. These drivers today have no idea what this is about since the computer will not allow it to happen.
I am confirmed. I read the Pittsburgh Power past articles in a Truck magazine. "Cannot understand why rebuild and not also increase rhe horsepower?" and "The rebuild price is about the same for a. 350HP as it is a 550HP engine" and "Improve fuel mileage" "You only live once'". I am benefiting from longevity with a low rated 370-435HP Cummins N14 Celect Plus (It is to increase the horsepower and torque in the last two gears only when going up a grade). I do actually feel it kuck in at times. It has 43.5k hours and over one million miles. Day cab undef 4.7k idle hours. Intermodal also helps: I am not hauling steel or heavy liquids. Most loads I pull are are under 30k lbs net. I am empty 50% of the time. I do care about gradeability: I just run my low horsepower N14 at 1450-1600 when loaded and chop my way the upper midwest hills. Eaton 13-Speed allows me to stay in the aforementioned range 95% of the time from 20MPH to 65MPH. I drove and MBE 4000 for a while with a 10-speed. Good low end for the bottom eight gears dow to 1,000. Poor Volvo Detroit lije gradabimity losing 10MPH up 3% grades. Cats may be the most poweful engine but in my experience they are also rhe most thirsty. I average 6.25-6.5 with my N14.
my company uses cat and cummins isx. the intermodal uses 579s and volvos with 600 hp isx and the flatbed and heavy haul uses cat c15s and c18s. we have a c500 with a quad turbo 3412 (1300+ hp) for 150 ton heavy hauls. the cummins dont break down much and get 8+ mpg and seem to be money makers. the cats (especially the c18s) have more power but burn more fuel. break downs are not common theyre both pretty solid. if i was an owner operator it would be a volvo with a cummins over a 379 with a c15 or c18.
I did a rerate to my 3126. It was gutless, 175hp. Dealer said I could go to 190 with no changes. 210 if I changed the turbo, or 230 if I did the turbo and injectors. I’m sure injectors would’ve been pricey, so I installed a reman turbo. It seemed the only difference was the new turbo has a wastegate. Then I had them do the rerate. It’s still slow, but definitely noticed it has more power.
Cummins in Amarillo Tx did just that to my 97 freightliner with a N-14. I went from 435hp ( 1600 trany torque ) to 525hp ( 1850 Trany torque ) and daammmmm that’s a beast now. Cost ???? $$$ 350
The highest torque rating you can get is 2050 for the transmissions but trucks at sled pulls put out 3,000 plus foot lbs through these or lower rating transmissions with no problems. It's all about proper use of the transmission.
A re-rate here At Blanchard in Summerville SC according to them is 750 for the Cat password to get into the ECM then 2 hrs labor. About a grand. I'll run my c15 475 and like it for a bit longer.
If your Cat dealer has dyno I would also recommend a PAR dyno. Just because you engine flash file is for 500hp it doesn't guarantee your engine is producing 500hp. The engine is run on a dyno at the factory when it was build and the fuel rates were adjusted to with in normally 1 or 2 hp of what ever your rating happens to be. In some rare cases after an engine has been fully broken it or is several years old it can be up to 15 to 20hp low at the rated RPM and sometimes even more in the usable RPM range of 1100-1600RPM. If the dealer has a PAR certified dyno they can adjust the fuel rates back up to meet or slightly exceed factory specs for your engine rating. I have always recommended doing a PAR dyno before doing a top end and not after. The reason for this is if you valve lash is on the loose side you are loosing valve lift and reducing hp, when the injector rockers and rollers seat in and start to wear this normally retards timing reducing hp and throttle responce. Doing the PAR dyno before to top end set will compensate for this and bring your hp back up to spec. Then when you have your top end set it will advance the injection timing and the tighter valve lash will increase the valve lift for on average of about a 10hp gain. Not a huge number but in some cases every little bit helps. It might be helpful for some guys if you have a video to better explain what a PAR dyno is. In some cases it may not be available since most dealers don't invest in the required building separate from the shop, the very expensive dyno equipment and the trained technicians to operate it due to the low demand and profit. Hope this helps
This was useful in trying to understand why an engine with 775,000 (Mack) might fail if the HP was increased from 415 to 485. FYI, over-runs on the engines were eight with each instance being more than a half hour! Must have been some enormous hills to descend. Again, I am neither a mechanic nor driver so I don't know. But I do know that the only change to the engine in the shop was software - no hardware at all.
Yeah this what I do to electric Cummins motors, I take em to the Diesel Doctor I'm Effingham, IL and have him turn the motors up via file thru the ECM port. He normally turns em up to max 600hp 2050 ft/lbs torque if it's a non dpf motor or max 550hp 1850 ft/lbs torque for a dpf motor! I just didn't know it was called a rerate!
I built a 3406E for a customer 5Ek was the stock engine family He wanted a serious up grade and buying all cat parts we put 6nz parts on his engine loaded liners head , cam, injectors and turbo being 19k in parts we had a rerate for the Ecm print out was 550 hp @ 1400+- rpm 1300 +- torque at 1400rpm i think it was a genset file not sure but oh man that truck will pull 100k up hills in sc like nothing else in the area kinda like it doesnt care how much weight it pulls never more that a dark grey cloud of exhaust smoke and clearing right up. The man is super pleased with his engine after 10years. Question educated guess on power at 2300rpms the print out states hp and torque at a very low rpm setting it would be interesting to know what it has at high idle
THAT was the most enlightening information that I've had in a very long time!THANK YOU!!!Just a thought,I wonder does that apply to all BRANDS?Like I said,just a thought!
Just bought another MBN C15, @ 435HP. Had CAT turn it up to 525HP, as it states on the passenger side of the motor. You have to find the right CAT tech for the job, because I've found out that most guys won't do it.
Adept Ape thanks for video . I have c15 6ng single turbo . My fuel mileage is around 4 mpg . I put new turbo and manifold by cat but fuel mileage is still 4 mpg . Need some help
Wowzers, you get alot of comments! I don't know how you keep up with them all. I must say that I love your channel. Your devotion to educating others about CAT diesels is really cool! I enjoyed studying the C7 engine family re-rate chart you showed in this video. Do you have a chart of these families for the 3126B/3126E? It would be very interesting to look at (I like numbers!). I'm thinking about buying a bus and considering the T444E and 3126 as possible choices, but it will be a while before I can afford one. I know little about the CAT motors, but I've been learning quite a bit watching your channel. As a side note...do you ever plan to do a video on how to set the injectors (synchronization) for a 3116? I have no need for this, but just find the topic really interesting. I imagine there aren't that many out there these days, but probably still a few. I know a guy who used to work at a CAT dealership and said they were an awful pain to do. He was the only one in the shop who could (or would) do them. Thanks for any information you have. Keep up the great videos!
+Jonathan Bopp I used to reply to every comment before, but I don't have enough time for that now. I'm not sure when I'll do a 3116 rack sync video. We only get them about every 6 months, but I'm the lucky guy that gets to do them. They are very tedious to do. It isn't that they are crazy hard it is just a ton of little steps and the Cat instructions are hard to follow. As far as the 3126 rerate chart, probably won't be putting that up online because it is much more difficult to follow. It is much more component dependent and is several pages long.
I can see where keeping up with so many comments would be time-consuming. I figured you didn't see too many 3116s these days, but I know they are still out there. I rode on a 1995 Bluebird GMC bus for years and it had the 3116. It never failed us, but was a real dog starting out...particularly on a hill. The turbo lag on them (or at least the later models) was something awful. The mechanic I knew said that they used to get that complaint at the dealer constantly. He said they would put the bus in gear and push down the pedal to see how many seconds it took the engine to reach a specific rpm. If the time was too long, there was an adjustment screw you could adjust to turn up the pre-boost fuel. I realize doing a video on that would be tedious and time-consuming. I know the timing of when you get one also might not be at a convenient time to do a vid. From the little I know, the process is vaguely similar to Detroit's "rack" system. Ah, so it would seem that a re-rate on a 3126 would involve more than than flashing the ECM in most cases. I had just assumed that it was similar to the C7s. If you ever get motivated, I'd still find the chart interesting, even if nobody else did. I love specifications and numbers. Thanks for all you do for all those who watch. I'm going to send you a donation this evening. :)
awesome video, I'm quite interested in hearing more about the tuning end of things with not only Cats but on diesels in general. keep up the good work my friend.
Thank you for the kind words. The tuning on these engines can get pretty intense, but I just wanted to show that there is also a Cat certified alternative to the aftermarket.
i still find it hilarious that you can plug in a computer and load a tune for a 550 or 600 horse C15 onto a motor that originally had 425-435 from the factory. perks of having a Cat versus a Cummins or Detroit lol.
Back when I was running trucks they called it pretty codes in a truck I guess is what you call RI rate Fabick cat Fenton Missouri used to do a pretty good job with my truck the Dark Horse trucks all ran pretty hard running out of that shop when they rebuild them and put codes in them I appreciate your video kind of showing what they did I understand it a little bit now these would have been around when my trucks were still running the guys would have drove me crazy talking to you man LOL
A ecm comes a dime a dozen. Just need to know the right people. I goto computer king in Dickinson tx. They warranty everything. And if you have a faulty one, they’ll hook it up to they’re truck. But I had a faulty one and came out at $850 with core.
My 550hp 6nz now runs around 700hp. Different turbo and program. I can not make my exhaust temp go over 1000 degrees without severely lugging the engine. Stock form it easily climbed higher. There is a good way and bad way to add power. Anyone I've known that has done a factory cat rerate has noticed little to no difference. Love your videos though. Thanks for what you do
+Mitch Less I'm sure there are ways to tune your engine better than factory, but it is easier to mess up than make it run better. Sounds like you know what your doing. Glad you like the channel.
Forgive me, I know you get a million questions! If you don't have time, maybe some of the other guys can help. I'm try to find information on the best operating rpm range for a 2001 C-15 6NZ single turbo pre-emission. I'm averaging 6.0 mpg and normally keep it around 1400 rpm's in whatever gear for the speed limit and try not to let it get over 1800 rpms under jake down hill. I'm looking at a chart for horsepower put out by "Road Choice" Truck parts online and it references a 500 hp testing at 2100 rpm's putting out 1850 ft lbs. 2100 is not a working range is it??!! Again we truly appreciate all that you do for us!!
Peak torque is at 1200 rpm. If I remember right 2120 rpm will be your top engine speed limit. You get your torque down low and your horsepower up high. A lot of people dont want to lug the engine but a C-15 can take it, and really its where the torque is. If its running right you shouldn't have no problem pulling right out of it. Generally keeping the rpm low most of the time is gonna make the engine last longer. I overhauled one for a guy one time who kept his rpm low and changed oil religiously. It had over a million miles on it and the rod and main bearings looked brand new. 6NZ is a legend so make sure you hang on to it and keep rebuilding it.
good morning adept,I want to thanks you for the videos that you have make us,I really learn alot of things from them,pls can you make video for me,a video of how to drup and engine from the a track☺☺
my friend has a 3406b 7fb with 40 psi+ lbs. of manifold pressure it will go higher but he said the turbo he has the guy who sold it to him said 40 psi was the max and the pry never goes over 900 he owned this truck for many years like this and get 7mpg on the highway and when im behind him I never see any smoke come out the stacks
Can you rerate to the fire/Rv ratings now that the 3126 are beyond any factory warranties? I have a 190hp 3126 in a 2001 C5500 and would like at least to be at the 300/860 mark but more is better. I have seen the PDI tune/turbo/manifold aftermarket options but not sure if worth putting on a such a low HP engine. I assume it would be cheaper just to find a running used engine in the HP range I’m looking for. What do you think is the most cost effective way to change 190hp into 300hp?
Very nice info. Hey boss, where are you from?. I got 1.3 mill on my pete 379 with cat, c15mxs. Start leaking right next to head. May be you can help me. Can you? Thanks
I have a 2005 lexion combine with C9 engine. It's at 360 hp. Can we safely add more hp? Not driving the snot out of it. Just need a boost once in a while
installed the edge chip on my 3126 was very happy till check light came on after 1000 miles. reset and was fine. then heading down freeway and engine went to a idle. lemp to rest stop and unhook chip and ran fine. out $800 bucks. called edge said they discontinued that chip.
I've wondered about the C7s in the more recent BAE military 2.5 tons from the teens, would they be in the emergency family? Really I'd wondered because it was the military ordering them with the wide range of fuel requirement, were they saddled with the same emissions kits as the civilian trucks from the same years?
I have a c-15 serial SDP how can I find the chart that you used in this video to see how high I can go with my HP This is in a 2008 Pete and it had been deleted by 2nd previous owner. Shows 475hp on the computer but KW tech said it could be different HP because it has been deleted is this correct and how can I find out what the HP is? thank you for your time.
A manual transmission can handle More torque than rated for as long as you know how to shift and drive on the power band not the torque curve. Most manual transmissions have same internals, differences are in the clutch. What I am curious about is trueing the ecm. As I've heard that makes a big difference. More like dialing everything in correctly as from New there are always a few flaws. If your looking for big power talk to guys driving the show trucks in Wisconsin they do most stuff in their own shop.
Tell all you need to know in a clear manner Im looking to rerate a C15 435 for pulling a low loader with an allowable gross weight of 59 tonnes/130000lbs
Zeigler CAT of Rochester, Minnesota says that they don't/won't do a re-rate. States that CAT "won't allow us to." Is this common? They sent me next door to Rochester Diesel. They say 100HP for @ $2000 parts/labor. That seems odd. It's a 2000 3126 f650 that started out as a 26' box truck , shortened & now has an f350 box. It's just a big toy I use to tow my 42' travel trailer a couple times a year. Not sure now exactly what to do. I'm just looking for an improvement in fuel economy. Any suggestions?
+mehmet g Well the C15 is the standard truck engine, it is heavier and 15 liters of displacement. The C15 makes more power and torque and is an overhead cam engine. The C13 is usually found in buses and some trucks. It is 13 liters of displacement and is a pushrod engine. Both use Mechanical Electronic Unit Injectors with a gear drive oil pump and water pump. The C13 is more sensitive to overheats causing damage and the C15 has more problems with its overhead and liner flanges.
I have a problem with a truck I am working on and $3600 and counting haven't been able to get it running . Is there a contact or place I can get in touch with you regarding this truck . 2006 F650 C7 Acert engine - replaced cam, cam followers , rod bearings , crank bearings, oil pump , 3 ecm's , engine wiring harness
fantastic vid my freind!! ty!! for this! my 2005 KW! C-15 acert! z model the cat boys around my parts! tell me is junk! well at 800k she's still goin strong! Rto 13SPD and 3.36 rears! She will pass anything on the big road! all day! but at 80 thousand plus I lose a full gear and a split! do you think a rerate would help her? TY From Idaho USA!
+CAT POWER OR BUST! (ALLDAY) A rerate if you are pulling heavy a lot is a good idea. Now it just depends what your current rating is and then seeing if your transmission can handle a bump in torque as well.
I just bought a 2004 Monaco motor home with a ISL Cummings 370 me have found no maintenance records so I will be doing a complete Oil and filter change to include fuel filters and such. The Engine has 67k miles what Oil should i start out with.
I have Cat ET at my work. I mostly use it for diagnosing fault codes on C7 Cats in school buses. My dad just bought a 2000 Kenworth with a C-15 6NZ 475 HP engine in it. He is complaining about the lack of pulling power in it compared to his old 3406C. Am I able to rerate his engine for him with my basic Cat ET program? If so, do you think you could make a video of it? Or at least explain where to find it in ET? I don’t work on Cat much, usually Cummins. On a Cummins I would just download a file from QuickServe.
Go into et configure with retarter Free hp nothing else needed. Already wrote into software Give you about 15% more power Looks like your blowing alot of white smoke
It can invalidate your wanty ... Engine infirmation tag rough cover front timing cover. Previous owner had it.. 9 to 13 pages. Go to a cat dealer wanty downloader .. rerate danger. Corrupted flash file.. does not require any monetary value... Chance that it might damage current ucm....
Hi I have a few questions , First I have a 2001 Pete 379 with a C-15 6NZ . I am a John Deere Agricultural field tech with 20 years of Deere experience I work with a laptop daily we use a Data link the same as Cat to upload payloads and files . The questions I have are , I am looking at purchasing a laptop and data link with Cat ET installed I want to be able to hook up to my truck and tune the HP , also pull codes when needed and perform diagnostics . I have heard a lot of talk about flashing the ecm and also talk of Mapping the ecm what is the difference , also were can I get these flash files and how will I know which one is the correct one . Are they On cat SIS ? any info would be great Thanks.
+farmerjoe338 The flash file is what sets the horsepower, there really isn't any mapping you can do. You can mess with the FLS and FTS setting, but that requires a factory password. The flash file is also going to require a factory password. The flash file is downloaded from Cat.
Makes total sense Deere does the same thing where you have to be a dealer tech with a password to do things such as this . I am trying to figure out how this guy on RU-vid Steven Bradford ( aka catlepuller ) is getting the horsepower and getting these kitty cats to do what they are doing . I asked him and he said he maps the ECM could you please watch some of his vids and give me your opinion it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you my friend .
im looking for a pre emission truck and found a pete 379 with a 3406 5ek engine with 550 hp with new platinum overhaul from cat would that increase in hp damage engine from overheating. its probably a different pistons pack but all that extra heat what u think ?
what is the main difference between the software within the same family? do cat raise the oil pressure to get more power and perhaps some duration? surely you've looked at some data and noticed something ! thanks and great videos!
+Turners Garage Its really all fuel. Since the oil pressure is controlled by the oil pump and bearing clearances there isn't much software can do to affect it. It can affect the fuel rate though. If you do a rerate you'll notice that the rated fuel limit will change, which means the engine can inject more fuel which means more power.
ahh i see, i miss understood how the system worked i assumed it would be similar to an isuzu 4jx1 engine i run that apparently has an injection system designed by cat, which is heui but has a rail pressure control valve on the pump which can control rail pressure. i am very keen on getting to know this type of injection system better as i remap a lot of new holland foragers and recently i have been asked to look into a c18 powered one which obviously i will approach with great caution!
What can I do to get more hill pulling power out of my 3208T? It's in a motorhome, pulling hills can be a pain, struggling at 35 mph on some hills.. bigger turbo? Fuel adjustment?
So I'm not very seasoned in this stuff. My question is how this really effects the output of the engine. We've had a couple peterbilts that are twin turbo acert motors. Not sure of the mxs, bxs etc, but one was a factory 475 and the other was 550 from the factory. The 475 was rerated to a 550 but I can say it does not pull like the 550 from the factory. there's a definite difference. Gearing and transmissions are the same. Can you explain why this is? What's the difference mechanically and electronically from the 475 and the 550? It seems whatever they came as from the factory is what they operate best at.
+Justin Hood The twin turbo Cats use the exact same components from 475 to 550. There are differences if you go above that for a heavy haul or RV engine, but you are dealing with the same injectors, valve lash, camshaft, everything. My guess would be the rerated engine has a problem like a boost leak or low fuel pressure.
Torque Rating on the Motor could also be different as well. If there is Nothing Wrong with that Motor, then it is the Torque Rating on the Motor. My guess is that The 550 HP Motor is a 1850 Torque and The 475 HP Motor is a 1550/1650 Torque Motor.
I have a 2009 peterbilt 367 sdp cat c15 and I'm changing the starter but lost the wires and I don't know what to do ive called peterbilt and they don't have a diagram for it just wondering if you had any ideas? I would really appreciate it
Hey guys! I have a C7 engine family 5CPXH0442HBK with the cylinder head off and the walls on cylinder #3 with some scratches, if not gouges. The original symptoms were huge blowby coming out and blue smoke / oil coming out of the tail pipe. What is weird is that cylinder and head area for cylinder #3 are dry and we found oil on top of the other cylinder / head area. Also, only cylinder #3 exhaust manifold hole is wet of oil and the other ones are dry. Please let me know what are the chances that this engine can be rebuilt, maybe by cutting the walls and putting bigger pistons. Or, what are the margens /specs / limit for cutting the walls. Thank you
ok...why can't my local cat shop update the personality file so it can be turned up to a 550...5ek updated internals 455 stock.... had to recode injectors just to get this paper weight out its own way...lol..even my local repair shop can't get it to take the 550 keeps failing with personality file...
