Medium Duty truck engines

[AWray]

Anybody have positive or negative experience with engines like a DT466 or T444 in an International, Duramax, or a Powerstroke in a 15,000-26,000 GVW truck?



Have you had the chance to operate more than one in similar environments? Is there a difference is frequency and cost of maintenance? What about longevity?

 

[jgillott]

We had 25 2004 Internationals with the VT-365 at work. Over half of them were sold or repurchased due to chronic engine failures. Those that are still in service have approximately 60-70K on them and seem prone to small reoccurring problems... . EGR coolers, turbos, injectors etc.

 

[jmorse]

The guy that does my rollback hauling had a 444 in his truck and had problems. He traded the truck for a GM w/ a CAT in it and is much happier. He says mileage is a lot better.

 

[AWray]

Is the 444 the same engine as the Powerstroke in the Fords?



I drove a DT466 (mechanical pump) and a newer ('00-'02) 444 several years ago but it was only for a few days. Not enough to really test them or to know anything about durability or maintenance.

 

[jgillott]

Is the 444 the same engine as the Powerstroke in the Fords?

I reserve the right to be completely wrong, but I believe the 444 shares the same platform as the 7. 3L Powerstroke, the VT 365 shares the platform with the 6. 0L Powerstroke.

 

[Dieselnut59]

I reserve the right to be completely wrong, but I believe the 444 shares the same platform as the 7. 3L Powerstroke, the VT 365 shares the platform with the 6. 0L Powerstroke.

That is correct.

If I were buying an International, I would get the 466 and if a GM, the Cat If a Freightliner, the Cummins. V-8's are NOT medium truck engines. They are pickup truck engines. Cat, Cummins and the 466 International are TRUE medium truck engines. All are good engines, by my experience. We have a customer who runs the GM/Cat and Ford/Cummins (8. 3). No engine problems from either. I am thrilled with my Cummins and the ones we have at our shop.

 

[RTFoster]

ive had 9 f 650' s in our fleet one of our oldest trucks is still running around maryland with over a half a million miles on it now all the ones we have are 05-06 with two 07's on the way cummins is the way to go ive had my new about 7 months has 71000 mi and no problems runs good 260 horse

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

I have no direct experience but from what I have read about the DT466 it's a bulletproof engine and right there with (if not better than) the Cummins 5. 9 or 8. 3 in terms of durability and power potential. I believe they're used in pulling tractors.

 

[AWray]

How does the 8. 3 compare to the 5. 9 in maintenance and longevity? There are numerous examples of 5. 9's going 500k+ that work hard every day. Is the 8. 3 similar?

 

[Dieselnut59]

How does the 8. 3 compare to the 5. 9 in maintenance and longevity? There are numerous examples of 5. 9's going 500k+ that work hard every day. Is the 8. 3 similar?

The 8. 3 is very similar to the 5. 9. It is actually more "commercial" by what I understand. The guy whose truck I service has the "P" pump on it, like the '94-'98 Dodge engines. Turbo and intercooler are larger and it has a 4" exhaust. I think his is only rated at 210 horsepower. Should last FOREVER at that rating! Would be as easy to BOMB as the 5. 9L. The same era of International 466's have the "P" pump also. I believe the 8. 3 is Cummins' comparable engine to the International 466. Cummins and International's inline 6's are great engines. International also made a DTA360 (Diesel, Turbocharged, Aftercooled, 360 cid) which is comparable to the Cummins 5. 9L. Not sure why they never used that in the furd pickups. Maybe cause they could not say "I have a V-8" then! Would have been a hell of a competitor!

 

[JohnsonG]

I ran a porta potty service and one of our 2 trucks was a 2001, 2wd DT466E, 6 speed spicer... 1600 gallon **** truck... . we ran up 100k on it and had to do the water pump, we had off and on again minor oil leak problems on the injector pump, 3rd time at 140k it held, at around 250k, we did the turbo and all the hoses (radiator and pressure) We ran it about 40% of the time on asphalt and the rest on dirt roads. . the guys averaged about 400 miles a day, 5 days a week, 9-10 hour days. . sucked on average 70 units a day. . so there was a lot of time when it sat running the vacum pump at 1800 rpms. had problems on this one with the interior, radio, a/c, electrical... we sold the business, it had 310,000 on it... all we did was run synthetic everything, keep up with all the maintenance... wore out 2 vacum pumps in it... ran real good for us. . just the creature comfort stuff went to hell...



we had a ford F550, sucker truck,4wd, the engine died at 110K, the transmission went to hell, transfer case, a/c brakets cracked, a/c system fauilures. . fuel pump problems, when the second motor started giving us hell, we order another 4wd international with the high output 466E, 2800 gallon cap, a hell of a truck, we put 80k on it the first year, ran perfect for 3 years, 260K... good trucks. . there was a hell of a difference between the first int and the second inter. International paid a lot more attention to the later model, had much better electrical and a/c systems. .



for what they went through (which was day in and day out hell) out here in the desert, they did very well... keep the oil changed and leave em run...

 

[dpuckett]

Girlfriend's boss had an International 19ft rollback with a DT444E in it and a 5speed. Gutless pig, even after he replaced a few sensors. Then he test drove a GMC with a Cat 3116 (maybe a 3126? 97 model), and it was better. Then the guy he was dealing with got an FL70 xcab with a 225 hp ISB and a 6 spd. He still brags on the low end grunt that thing had. I keep telling him, his pickup (02 PSD) could have it too, if he'd jus come on over to the dark side. I think the rollback is about the upper limit for terms of durability and longevity (500K+) for the B series. Case IH used the 8. 3 in a lot of their 175-250hp-ish tractors. Farmer I wroked for has one with 6000hrs on it and still going strong.



DP

 

[RColston]

My IH 4700 has a DT530E, 8. 7l. Much more tq than a 466, 800 vs 650 or so. Both are said to be very tough and dependable. I was not aware that the 466 were p pumped. My 530 has HEUI much like a Cat. Only problem prone area with injection syst. according to the dealer service dept. is dirty oil and high pto/idle time. Mine is barely broken in with 75k miles. only had it a short time, but so far so good. 466 and 530 are in frame rebuildable with replaceable liners. Much cheaper than cast in cyl. bores. Same is true with the c 8. 3.



Rick C

 

[JUeckert]

been around them,or owned them all for over a period of 30 years. botton line,the 466 is as good as it gets period. it's got the oldest track record,and with few exceptions has the best reilability factor. the 6. 9,7. 3 and t444e [powerstroke 7. 3] were all designed by international as medium duty engines,the 6. 9 and 7. 3 were fair performers in a medium truck,but in my opinion under powered when loaded to gvw. seen many go over 200k in a medium,seen some didnt hardly make 100k. the 444e was a better suited choice depending on hp level,hp starts at 170 and goes to 250,hard loaded any thing under 190hp and they were dogs. reliability was good on these for the most part,seen many mediums with over 300k on them. the 5. 9 and 8. 3 were siblings,the bigest advantage the 8. 3 had was it was sleeved. i know many cummins mechanics who prefered the 5. 9 over the 8. 3 from a reliability standpoint[earlier years]. in mediums the 5. 9 was the same as the t444e,low hp got the job done,but the higher hp sure made the job seem easier. reliability wise,the same can be said for the 5. 9 as was the 444e. plain and simple, they are just base line medium duty engines. i have only been around a few 6. 0[vt365] powered mediums,they are good performers,but the reliability record in mediums has be so so,turbos being the biggest issue. i cant say much about the duramax engines in the mediums,the big inline one seems to be doing well,the smaller v8's are a rare site. i did some work for a man who had a 5500 gmc last year,claims it had nearly 200k on it haulin oil filed supplies and such,said it had no issues. i have seen just about all these engine go a lot of miles,and some that didnt make 100k before pukeing,ya never know!

 

[Gonzo 1066]

I have no direct experience but from what I have read about the DT466 it's a bulletproof engine and right there with (if not better than) the Cummins 5. 9 or 8. 3 in terms of durability and power potential. I believe they're used in pulling tractors.

I have a repair shop and work almost exclusivly on 5. 9Cummins and IH DT 466 diesels. I have a International DT466 in my pulling tractor. The Cummins 8. 3 and the IH 466-530 engines are a wet sleeve engine. Therefore thay are a rebuildable engine in frame. The Cummins 5. 9, IH V-8 444 and 365 (read 7. 3 and 6. 0 Ford) and the small Cat 3126 engines are all dry sleeve engines. Therefor the engine has to be completly stripped and taken to a machine shop to be bored for reconditioning.

The early 466 IH engines were prone to sleeve cavitation at about 150,000 to 200,000 miles, the bottom end can take LOTS of HP. The later 466 and 530 IH's seem to have the cavitation figured out and have been quite reliable except for some trouble with the HEUI injection system.

If you want a medium duty truck that will have excellent pulling capabilities the 466 IH and 8. 3 Cummins would be my first choice and the Cat 3126 after that. The V-8 engines wil NOT PULL AS GOOD OR LAST AS LONG AS A INLINE I-6 IMHO