Mercedes Engine
 

I'm looking at a new Century Class w/ 450 Mercedes. I've snooped around and haven't heard anything bad about this engine. How about you guys?

18 spd d/o, 3.58 ratio. 11R22.5 rubber

I had heard from a cat dealer that the engine brake is whimpy, and that they are hard to get serviced,...compared to the big 3.
Of course he could have been fullocrapolla, and trying to make the sale with me,...but I went with a DD60, not his cat.

As far as it being hard to get serviced I do not see where that would be much of a problem anymore. Freightliner is owned by Mercedes which in turn is part of Daimler Chrysler. Freightliner also owns Detroit Diesel now and seem to be in the process of phasing out DD engines in favor of the Mercedes design.

So I would think that most any Freightliner dealer and DD shop should be able to service the engine without much trouble.

If your doing tandem work it'l be fine, if you're doing multi axle work you'll find it lacking for power. Any time you get a new motor theres a chance you'll be waiting for parts to be flown in. Ask a Volvo owner about parts availability in backwoods areas. I know a few guys that put them in their trucks because they had a better warranty and were a lot cheaper and all of them were dissapointed witrh the power and fuel mileage when pulling heavy.

Actually the mercedes has the most powerful jake out there. You just have to rev it high, REAL high. 2500 rpms it makes ~600 hp of retard.

I was told 580 hp engine braking. I just checked the spec sheet, says you get that at 2,300 rpm. I would NEVER take an engine that high. I think the highest I ever went was 1,900 going down hill, and no more than 1,800 under foot. Usually 1,300 to 1,500 rpm.

When you get it turning that fast, I'll sound like one of the COX MODEL AIRPLANE ENGINES.

Mercedes motors have a tremendous amount of hold back with the jake.

Everyone I know who has driven one says they are very sensitive to the throttle peddle. Twitchy is how it is described.

And you will never hurt a tractor motor by running it at its maximum RPM. They are designed to go up there and live a very long life.

If the engine fails, it fails for a different reason than high rpm.

We run our N-14's at 1900 to 2000 RPM for 16 miles at a time with the jake on full.

Also, I would think nothing of running up a hill at 2100 in the winter to stay out of the torque to keep the wheels from spinning.

Modern equipment needs to be driven in a modern way.

No point driving a new motor the way we did back in "the day".

As I tell all of my students "Use all the tools in the toolbox the way the tools where designed to be used".

drove Mercedes trucks in Iraq and they took a Huge Beating and kept on Ticking-I don't ever remember a convoy grinding to a halt because of an Engine problem and this was with us hauling appx. 100,000# loads in Extreme heat and jumping curbs and Dust so thick it was like driving in a snowstorm Whiteout. Just blew out the Air Canisters. A/C filter was tiny but all we did was take it out and tap it a few times with our hand.

Thank-you all for your input. Sounds good to me.
I currently have a 2001 FLD Classic w/ ISX. My main attraction to the MBE4000 was that it's almost 900 lbs lighter. I scaled the truck I'm looking at and it's about 2,400 lbs lighter overall.
Hey RockyMtnProDriver... that 16 miles of jaking, you must be referring to the Salmo-Creston road. Been over it a few times, fortunately only in the summer. A real treat.

Ya, thats the one.

Here are some pictures of it in the winter. All of our students cut their teeth on it, summier and winter.

http://www.rockymtnprodrivers.com/Pi...es/pict.1.html

I probably have been over that bitch a couple of thousand times, half summer, half winter. And it was with A-trains in the middle of the night.

It's very "Summier" here too :P

i talked to a few drivers who had them and they love them plus the power to weight is great as far as service u can get them serviced at any freightliner dealer and just about everywere that services detroit.

The 2 guys I know who have them love them. They say they get really good fuel mileage them also.
I still haven't been converted. Still like the Kitty's.
I think every motor has it's pro's and con's.. It's just personal preference and what you wanna believe.

Just checked out your web page..

16mi of 8% then another 8 of 6% :shock:

It makes Donner look like the Kiddie Hill.

How often do you see & smell drivers smoking the breaks?

hey
 

my brother recently bought a truck with the same motor in it, he says it runs great on the big road but when it comes to hills, it dies down, and also the fan sensor went bad on his about 50,000 miles, and also like i read in another post, the jake breaks are whimpy, they dont go bum bum bumbum they more less whistle, and they dont do much in the meens of slowing down, but one good advantage is its very quiet!!!!!!

It should work very well, maybe the driver isn't using it properly?

the jakes we had with them in Iraq were pretty much useless too but we were pulling pretty heavy loads.

I didn't know there was any hills in Iraq or are you talking about going in
and out of the bomb crater berms?

umm
 

It should work very well, maybe the driver isn't using it properly?



there is no wrong way to use jakes.......

Uh, yes there is. Mercedes need to be revved to 2300-2500 to get full use of the brake. When it's up there, it's the most powerful jake on the market.

Any engine brake is more effective at higher RPMs. As for being the most effective on the market... I DOUBT IT. An N-14 will hold together up to 3500 rpm. (according to my mechanic) Any idea how effective mine would be at 3000 rpm??? Sorry, Bud, but wimpy at 1800 means just plain WIMPY.

depends on the design. You can't just compare two jakes at 1500 rpms and say one is wimpy and the other isn't. Mercedes use a unique turbo design to acheive their 600 hp jake ability.

Most engines will probably "hold" to 3000 rpms or so. The camshaft profiles aren't designed for this however. Valve float could definitely be a problem as well.

I didn't say anything about Hills-I was talking about Jakes for slowing down. You don't use Jakes for just hills.

That's right I seen a guy use his Jake while pulling into the fuel lane at Steel City today. :lol:

yea
 

and if anyones gonna rev there tuck up that high, somethings wrong

Yeah-actually see Idiots using their Jakes within the truck stop and Bobtailing no less-boneheads

Yeah-actually see Idiots using their Jakes within the truck stop and Bobtailing no less-can tell how long they've been driving when they do that stuff.

Ok guys, I have a 06 Columbia with the 450 mercedes. I am averaging around 7.6 mpg with it. i pull a tanker and run at max weight all the time. i do not however pull alot of hills which does help on the mpg and i keep my idling down to the bare minimum. The exhaust brake which is what they have and not your standard jake like on most trucks. They work great when used correctly and, yes you do have to have the rpms up much higher for max braking.
The problems i have had on the engine itself has been pretty minimal. Exhaust manifold gaskets were changed twice. 2nd time because the first tech did not install properly. mercedes has supposedly corrected this problem and updated the gaskets on all the new trucks. they also relocated the egr sensor, no biggy there. it pulls great as far as i am concerned for what i do. i have a fuller 13 spd on 3:42 rears runnin on low pro 22.5 rubber. pretty good set up as far as i am concerned. i run around 1400 rpm at 65 mph. only thing i hate is the fan comes on constantly when running around town and stop lights. seems to be typical of these egr engines.

As far as I know, ALL engine of Jake brakes operate off of the exhaust. :?

We had one in a Sterling (http://www.websmileys.com/sm/obscene/eck15.gif)It had good power....BUT, parts are $$$$, Sterling dealers are a JOKE, you have to go to Detroit Diesel to get anything fixed.Parts are not stocked.If you do get one, keep an eye on the fuel lines, they rub on the block, causing holes in the lines. The truck we had here ,2 times.Another location 6 times!!( horrible design).We cant give them away.I'm not sure if its the Sterling or the Mercedes part that scares people away.Both, I'm thinkin'.

As far as the Jakes, there is a recall on that( at least the older ones).

Well thanks all for your input.
I took possession of my new 06 Century 450 Mercedes, 18 D/O, 3.58, 11R22.5 on 11 August. Have 9,500 miles on it so far.
Took 46,000 Edmonton to Palm Springs = 5.76 US mpg
15,000 Los Angleles to Cornwall, On = 7.45
5,000 Gatineu, QC to Edmonton, AB = 7.32
36,000 Edmonton to Amarillo, TX = 5.96
It's a bit of a dog on the hills, but with the tall gearing I was expecting that. Especially compared to my last truck with the 565hp ISX & 4.10 rears.
I like the engine brake, nice and quiet. To make it work I have to drop a full gear at highway speeds.

Again thanks for your comments.
Al

yes, jacobs uses the exhaust valves as part of the engine braking but not the exhaust itself as mercedes does. thier exhaust brake is strictly from the exhaust. it has a butterfly valve on the back side of the turbo. this is why you have to use higher rpm's to get the maximum braking. It is however alot better on the engine than a jacobs engine brake is.

KM's I hope? :P

Lbs in the box.

Can you explain how a jake brake harms an engine? I can see no possible way it could. The only thing it does is open the exhaust valves.

Since when is 3:58 tall gears? I've got 3:42, and with 35,000 LBs in the box, from WI to CT, averaged 7.16 mph. With 45,000 in the box, I average about 6.5 mpg. Looking at your mpg, I think I'll stick to my N-14. If I have to down shift, it's generally only 1 gear and keep on climbing.

Rocky... I have a problem with your theory of keeping it above the torque range. When climbing a hill, and keeping the engine above 2,100, what happens when the engine starts to drop rpm? You're going to get well into the torque range before you can really downshift. I know a few of the "hills" in your area. With a good load on, you're going to drop 2 and even 3 gears before you get to the top. Do you let it drop to 2,000, then shift down and let it turn at 2,400?????? Or do you drop the speed in "steps"??? I know my mechanic says I can let it crank up to 3,500, but with this type of engine, I NEVER have it cranking over 2,000. NEVER!!!!