Did you watch this video? Look at all of that smoke coming out of the oil fill tube. That is severe blowby caused by compression escaping by the piston rings and getting into the crankcase creating pressure. This International MaxxForce DT is a 2011 diesel engine that needs some rebuilding to get it back to normal. The slobbering oil and crankcase gases engulfing the emission system will soon cause blockage and driveability problems.
There is a solution that is now available. Cummins engines have a repower package for school buses that include the emission system and a 3 year warranty. This does not include the labor which could be done by your own shop or the Cummins dealer. The cost which I will not quote because of the innacuracy would be much less than going out and buying a new bus or truck. I know the aftertreatment system like all diesel engines will cost and arm and a leg but necessary.
Taking a totally different diesel engine and repowering a highway vehicle is a massive job. The wiring and plumbing and routing of everything would be complicated including programming the modules to hook up with each other. The transmission reads sensors on the engine and vice versa. The interface between the engine and transmission determines how smooth the two will work together.
But Cummins has a package engineered that works so if it was me stuck with a MaxxForce engine I would seriously consider the change over. Spending thousands of dollars to rebuild your MaxxForce back to the exact same engine you started out with is a hopeless proposition. Why not put that 10K towards the Cummins power? You’ll thank yourself later. The international parts are extremely expensive but let me be truthful any modern diesel is expensive to fix. The emissions especially are at the top of the list.
Another factor here is the rebuilt Cummins will perform for years (with the proper maintenance) without any major issues. Your rig will last much longer and pay you back big over time. The financial sacrifice you make is the one big move that you would have to decide on. Sure you have to add DEF once in a while and most likely make payments but the minimal down time will squash any objections you might have.
Cummins is it. Cummins saw the problems in front of them and solved them. They deserve to be the front runner in the medium duty market. While all the competitors gave up trying to keep up with emission requirements and closed down production Cummins dug in…..they researched and developed a great engine.
