SmokenRam

Hey's guy's been awhile sense i've been on here. I kinda retiered my dodge. or should i say not pulling the huge loads i used to with it. I bought a 2001 Kenworth LowPro T300 with a CAT 3126 in it. it had a 26long box on it, i chopped the frame, shortened it and put a shinny new Hillsbore Flat bed on it, i'm pulling most my big gooseneck loads with it now. Believe it or not, it dont have the power i wish it had, is there anything i can do to this engine to get more power. I did find a programmer for it. i cant think of the name. But any help would be great guys. thanks-Chris

wannadiesel

Edge and TS Performance both sell boxes for the 3126.

I believe you when you say that the power is lacking. It's only a 7.2 liter motor. I drive one every day, truck weighs in around 35k most times. It's the 300 HP version but it feels like 50 of them are riding in the bed...

You can use injectors for an International HT570, or get custom injectors made.

Turning up medium duty engines is risky business, they work a heck of a lot harder than pickup truck motors. There's a reason why 500 HP truck engines are 15 liters.

SmokenRam

yeah, they say you really dont want to do too much to them because of how reliable they are. but silly question, why in a new dodge, say the 325hp motor, you can throw a prgramer in it and the engine is fine to pull these loads i'm pulling. meaning fine they seem to last ok. It just seems like the pick-up had twice the power pulling the same loads. I need to check my gear ratio, being its a truck that had a box, and i know it was an interstate truck, so it may not be geared low enough for wat i'm doing.

PETEDOCTOR

Just my .02 cents but the 3126's and c7's with the higher horsepower flashes do not seem to live long lives. I would second the gearing to compensate for the lack of power.

SmokenRam

so what are some of the problems i could run into?? Would i have them with just this mild turn programmer??

Here are two that i found, or they may be the same not sure. How is there 2 TS performace companies??
-Chris

http://www.tsdieselperformance.com/s...0-225-201-CT-B

http://www.tsperformance.com/agr-power.html

Ocmechanx

I work for the dept of trans in ky and 80% of our single axle dumps have either the 3126b/e or the c7 engines. Granted our drivers are harder on them than most anyone else out there, but in the 8 years I've spent putting them back together I wouldn't chance it. Just in our district (about 40 7.2l) last year we had to replace 5. All with less than 100k, 3 of them blew chunks all set at 250hp. And due to the fact that they are not a sleeved engine has really limited our ability to rebuild or salvage most that have had a major mech failure.

Not knocking your engine, ex. all of our trucks to my knowledge have had at LEAST 3 clutches put in them during their normal service life (100k mi) so they really have a rough life.

This info is dated (back when the 3126e was new) but there used to be a factory 330hp rating designated just for engines that needed short bursts of power firetrucks, ems ect.

Did a little test one day when I was bored on a late model 3126e (2003) 9spd 4.10 diff single axle grossing around 32k at full power topped out at 27mph the egt's pre turbo was slightly past 1400*. The truck was 3 weeks old it is still running without problems today, but as stated above most med and heavy duty motors are made to run at full power 80% of the time so in theory you could go for a higher rating but if you would have to be very careful when operating when at full load.

Sorry bout the random info just thought some of it might help.

SmokenRam

Well thats a kick in the edit, my first truck was more motor than truck, so i buy this, i have more truck than motor!!!. I can win. Truck's going into local shop soon for some work, i'll talk more with him as well, thanks

RAMRODD

How fast did it pull?????

wannadiesel

The high rated (over 250 HP) 3126/C7 engines have steel topped pistons and can handle some killer EGT's. I put gauges on the one I drive for work ('01 Sterling tandem axle, 10 speed, 300/860 rating, gross weight around 35k usually). In the summer it is not unusual to see 1200 degrees post turbo when pulling a long grade with a good load on the bed. It's got 194k on it as of today and still going. Plenty of blowby out the draft tube under load though.

We have 10 3126/C7's in the fleet, so far only one has blown up. That was a '99 in a class 7 Sterling, it blew around 130k for no apparent reason. My '01 has the most miles on it by about 20k, some of the newer trucks haven't hit the 100k mark - but some of them are propane bobtails and log thousands of PTO hours a year. The '00 I was driving at 50 mph on the Schuylkill Expressway when the Allison decided it was going to shift into 1st and stay there is still going strong. I don't wanna know how many RPM it was spinning when I shut off the key - it would not select neutral!

I say all that to say that 3126/C7's are not terrible engines. But the fact remains that the poor things get worked really hard, they are little motors in big trucks where our 5.9's are big engines in little trucks. We can get away with stuff in our pickups that wouldn't last half a day in a medium duty application just because the duty cycle is so much harder.

SmokenRam

so my best bet if i want thing to really to pull these loads with no problem is an engine swap Idk I have spent alot of time and money customizing this truck just the way i want it. i hate to sell it just cause lack of power. I'll try and get a good pic of it for ya's to see

notw

I know your pain. I drive a 330 Pete boom truck with the 3126e & a 10sp Eaton. I have put about 30K on it in the last 5 years. It has always been terribly underpowered for the 47K empty weight of the truck. So disappointed after I drove it up to AK from IN that I took it to Peterbilt and then to Cat just to make sure there wasn't something wrong with the motor. Unfortunately there wasn't, and neither recommended any mods because the motor is already pushing 330hp and that was the max it could handle. I will say it has been reliable as I pull the guts out of it almost daily in the summer getting to our job sites on the hillside. Looks like we might be able to replace it this year. Hoping for 425hp+ and a jake.

jkitterman

I don't know what you are all doing wrong. Mahindra Navistar is using a 7.2L in 25,000 to 49,000 Kg GVWR vehicles (55,000 to 107,800 lbs) I thought everyone would enjoy a link
www.mahindranavistar.com/trucks.html

1-5-3-6-2-4

.....ya at 210hp. not a problem. with gear ratio.

wannadiesel

Oh, don't get me wrong - 7.2 liters will move the truck just fine. The driver just will not be happy with the rate of forward progress.

1-5-3-6-2-4

bingo