Cat C7 Replacement?

[wrenchtech]

I took a quick look at the adept ape caterpillar channel on YouTube. He calls the caterpillar C7 the worst medium duty engine that caterpillar ever made.

I have seen a few ads for rear engine buses with the Cummins 8.3 from the late ‘90s and early 2000s. If cooling is a problem in rear engine buses, how did they keep the nearly 2000 pound Cummins cool?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=igDWcKX-a-4

[wrenchtech]

Maybe a retrograde swap from C7 back to an early 3126 is the way to go. It would meet all the Skoolie prerequisites. The engine could probably be sourced for next to nothing, And except for the wiring harness, it would be a bolt-in swap. It would be illegal in terms of emissions regulations, and so it wouldn’t pass inspection in places that require that kind of thing, But of course, neither would anything else we talked about so far.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by wrenchtech

I took a quick look at the adept ape caterpillar channel on YouTube. He calls the caterpillar C7 the worst medium duty engine that caterpillar ever made.

I have seen a few ads for rear engine buses with the Cummins 8.3 from the late ‘90s and early 2000s. If cooling is a problem in rear engine buses, how did they keep the nearly 2000 pound Cummins cool?

He also says its not a horrible engine and that they can serve pretty well if you know how to take care of them.
They keep the 8.3 cummins cool by using lower rated engines than you see in other applications. usually 250-275 hp tops.

[wrenchtech]

Good points both of them. Until recently I had two buses with C7 engines that both had roughly 225,000 miles on their odometers. I had the service records for the buses. The only major repair was that one of the buses needed a single new injector, which cost about $1000 installed. And even that engine made it to 210,000 miles before the injector was needed. So there are two examples of C7’s that performed well. What to expect going forward is what worries me.

[cadillackid]

there are lots of C7 engines out there running lots of miles and doing it well.. thyey dont have the onherent physical issues like the navistar Maxxforce 7 has. (they dont generally have weak pistons that break)


I wouldnt hesitate to own a C7...

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

there are lots of C7 engines out there running lots of miles and doing it well.. thyey dont have the onherent physical issues like the navistar Maxxforce 7 has. (they dont generally have weak pistons that break)


I wouldnt hesitate to own a C7...

The higher rated (over 210) 3126's have steel top pistons. I wonder if the C7's are the same in that regard. I wana go ahead and take my 190 to 210 but I wana freshen up the cooling system and add a trans cooler before I worry about that.

[Truthseeker4449]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

The higher rated (over 210) 3126's have steel top pistons. I wonder if the C7's are the same in that regard. I wana go ahead and take my 190 to 210 but I wana freshen up the cooling system and add a trans cooler before I worry about that.

Welp that confirms what that one rerate chart said, I wasn't sure what rotating assembly meant on the chart but I do now. Maybe I'll buy another 210HP some day and throw 250HP parts at it and see how long it lasts before it melts the pistons.