Mercedes MBE904 and MBE906

[droppler525]

Hello. Does anyone have any experience with the Mercedes 904 or 906 engines in the Freightliner buses? I'm looking at a 2007 this weekend. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Johnny Mullet]

The Mercedes engines are pretty reliable, but expensive to maintain, expensive to repair, and hard to find mechanics for. A 2007 engine will have emissions on it which will or may cause more expensive repairs.

[Truthseeker4449]

What makes them expensive to maintain? I understand they're not the most pleasant engines to work on, I work with a guy who works on them frequently in salt trucks and he hates them. The last thing he complained about one of them was how the air compressor is driven off the rear of the engine. Does the Detroit Diesel software work on them?

My school district owns a lot of them, and must like them enough to keep them longer than their International powerplants. I'm now considering one myself, doesn't seem like it has an EGR cooler based on the later ones I glanced at this evening in a school parking lot.

[slickwillytfcf]

My buddy is a bus mechanic for the local school district and I went to his lot yesterday. I keep hearing the Mercedes engines are expensive to maintain, repair, and hard to find mechanics for.

I'll take the word of a guy that works on them everyday and he says the maintenance is almost non-existent, the parts aren't overly expensive, and the most common fixes are easily done with a few hand tools. I wasn't sure about a pusher, but after he explained they're the easiest ones to work on and showed me why, I think that's what I'll be looking for at the upcoming auction.

[brokedown]

I always say that any drivetrain is going to be great if you've got a team of fleet mechanics and a discount credit account with the upstream parts vendors. That doesn't reflect most of our situations. Added to that the reality of EPA2004 DPF/EGR systems, the BME just isn't on the list of drivetrains we recommend to average Joes.

[WIbluebird]

Originally Posted by brokedown

I always say that any drivetrain is going to be great if you've got a team of fleet mechanics and a discount credit account with the upstream parts vendors. That doesn't reflect most of our situations. Added to that the reality of EPA2004 DPF/EGR systems, the BME just isn't on the list of drivetrains we recommend to average Joes.

Can't say this enough, we have many buses in the fleet at work that have drivetrains that are on the bad skoolie list but they work well in a commercial setting since we have full time mechanics and accounts at all the wholesale parts suppliers in the state.