mercedes diesel

[BarnYardCamp]

anyone have knowledge or experience with mercedes diesels?
I'm looking at a 2004 freightliner with a mercedes engine. I've been told that they have injector problems.
Thanks.

[Sleddgracer]

Originally Posted by BarnYardCamp

anyone have knowledge or experience with mercedes diesels?
I'm looking at a 2004 freightliner with a mercedes engine. I've been told that they have injector problems.
Thanks.

I'd like to find out more about Mercedes as well

[CHEESE_WAGON]

If it's similar to or the same engine that was used in Freightliner Century / Columbia-class semis, it's not necessarily a bad engine so much as impossible to find parts to rebuild when necessary.

[SolomonEagle]

From what I have been told, parts are ridiculously expensive.. especially in the injection system. That's just hearsay though, so take it with a grain of salt

[M1031A1]

Originally Posted by BarnYardCamp

anyone have knowledge or experience with mercedes diesels?
I'm looking at a 2004 freightliner with a mercedes engine. I've been told that they have injector problems.
Thanks.

Having experience with this engine, it's expensive to rebuild due to the engine is no longer in production and OEM parts are not being produced in adequate quantities either. Solid engine so long as nothing goes wrong. However, if ANYTHING goes wrong, have some seriously deep pockets full of Benjamins to repair what failed.

This is why school systems stopped ordering these buses with this engine, and have surplused them out.

M

[BarnYardCamp]

Thanks.
I wonder how difficult it would be to swap out the mercedes for something else when/if it dies.

[CHEESE_WAGON]

Originally Posted by BarnYardCamp

Thanks.
I wonder how difficult it would be to swap out the mercedes for something else when/if it dies.

Biggest factor is the bellhousing pattern. Next, finding something suitable with that bellhousing pattern. Last but not least, making it work in a vehicle that no doubt is going to want to 'talk' to the engine's sensors, and will complain vehemently when it cannot. The easiest route in such a swap is to swap the original engine's sensors to the replacement engine, however, in cases of throttle position sensors and such, there is no guarantee that the original engine's sensor for a given function can be used on a different engine.

If you haven't purchased it yet, honestly, I would pass. At this stage in the game, anything being surplused with a diesel built after 2002 or so is going to be expensive and troublesome when repair is needed, especially the MB engines. Though not as plentiful as they used to be, there are still plenty of units pre-dating Obama's Eco-Nazi reign that effectively crippled otherwise perfectly good engines.

*** THREAD DRIFT WARNING ***

As an over-the-road trucker, I can honestly say the least troublesome emission-equipped diesel rigs I've run were Freightliners with the Detroit DD-series engines. The DD15 is the stuff of legends. I can say that since the introduction of the DD5 and DD8 engines around 2016, in about 8-10 years, these engines might be worth looking for in the C2 chassis buses. Both have been available in Thomas-Built cheese wagons since last year.

In four years, I had a Freightliner require dealer intervention twice. Navistar, many, many times. Volvo? Don't even get me started. If Volvo gave me a brand-new truck, I would drive it straight to the Freightliner dealer and trade it in (if they would take it LOL). If available, I'll take Detroit power over anything else, including Cummins.

And yes, I am aware that Detroit is or was owned by Daimler, as well as being briefly soiled by Volvo's ownership. The proof is in the pudding, however. The MB engine is nearly impossible to repair when needed, while the Detroit DD15 has been powering commercial semis for YEARS, and in my experience has proven quite reliable. Hopefully the DD5 and DD8 prove to be more than one-half-to-one-third the engine its big brother is, but with 90,000 units on the road before it was even offered in skoolies, I'd say these will be a good pick for the years to come.