On two of our brand new Cummins ISB diesel engines we experienced a fault with the engine temperature gauge which is one reading you do not want go glitchy on you. Engine temperature and oil pressure gauges are the most observed part of the dash since any kind of low or high reading depending on what gauge you happen to be looking at means certain disaster.
So when we get a report from a driver who happened to be out of town telling us about a faulty temp gauge we take it seriously and get the bus in to the shop asap. Let me tell you a story about thinking everything is alright and carrying on driving. There was a bus we had up north and it had a drip out of a bottom coolant pipe that in time drained down the coolant level but the driver and mechanic thought it was nothing to be concerned about because the glass level indicator showed a heavy green texture. Back in the days of green coolant.
Too our dismay the green glass level indicator was stained and not full of coolant. The coolant pipe in question was patched but it was not good enough. Eventually the engine over heated and cooked itself. The bus came to our shop and the reason why I remember this story so well is I was the one who rebuilt the engine. It was an older Cummins B diesel engine…a beauty with no emissions and a straight forward Bosch injection system. Those were the days!
Enough reminiscing….. forward to today. We have the Cummins ISB engines that use DEF (diesel exhaust fluid) for emissions and a VGT (variable geometry turbocharger) that changes it’s effective aspect ratio as conditions change. This turbo also acts as the engine exhaust brake. My opinion is always positive with these diesels because of the superior design and ability to adapt to any change in driving conditions.
We have been buying these diesel engines since 2009 with a 3 year break using MaxxForce diesel engines. Starting in 2014 we’ve been purchasing nothing but the ISB models and the only issues we’ve had are little glitches like this one that takes a matter of a 1/2 hour to repair. I can’t tell you how much of a relief these engines have given us in other words lots of breathing room to keep up with the PM and vehicle inspection programs. Highly recommended!
