Cummins L10 owners, good and bad about the motor?

[luvrbus]

Wow must be a different L10 they used in the trucks than buses like the Van Hool, Eagle and the transits.
They are a good engine but nothing special .
FWIW the cranks were a major problem for the L10 CNG engines even with the lower compression of the gas version

good luck

[Tom Y]

They ran 6 71s before the L10 and were happy with the change. I think this was the only major engine failure in the fleet. It was a 330hp electronic motor the same as mine. My son and a freind tore the engine down and took it to school for a drafting class. They drew up most of it, so it was a good project. I still have the head here but most of it went to the scrap yard.   Tom

[gus]

The only engine Cummins ever made that was not so good was a V8 which was a 903 or something like that.

All the inlines are very good, maybe the best made, especially the 855 ci series.

[luvrbus]

Gus, I will agree with you on 855 but when they changed that engine over to N-14 it had major problems and Cummins has depleted a 75 million dollar warranty reserve on their new engine line they are not that great of a engine now.
The smalls ones like Case helped develop like in the Dodges trucks are ok.I am not bad mouthing Cummins the L 10 was a descent engine but no way is going to pull 80,000 # for 700,000 miles just won't happen and FWIW I have seen those 903 V8's in equipment give good service like  10,000 to 15,000 hrs



good luck

[mikelutestanski]

Hello:    I believe and I may be wrong but Cummins stated that the L10 series was billed as an engine to pull approx 45000 lbs  or a medium duty engine. I don't believe it was ever billed for 80000 lbs.   The N14 on the other hand was an 80K lb motor.
   According to some of the truck sites I have previewed it takes approx 230hp to pull an 80k truck flat with no wind so when you add accessories and wind and road friction and, and, and, you need more hp   how much depends on many factors ,and your foot, and what you want the truck to do .
    My point is a 270hp to 330 hp engine is barely adequate for what trucks are doing now.  Possibly back in the 50s and 60s with 55 mph speeds and roads what they were that hp range was adequate.   
    FWIW 
   regards and happy bussin   mike

[luvrbus]

I argee with you Mike I am not the one that said a L10 would last for 700,000 miles pulling 80,000# read the post by Gus he said it, they were never design for heavy highway trucks

good luck

[Adarian]

Works for me as my bus doesn't pull a load. I think the weight is around 26k, as I have no seats. The two treadmills together weigh 400 lbs and max load of nine people is about 2000 lbs. Add a full tank of fuel at 1350 lbs. I might be at 30k lbs

I should be good to go.
Anyone know why they had problems with the cranks?

[Tom Y]

I did not know they did. I had one (engine) given to me that had a broken crank. It was the only one I heard of. They had a truck roll over going to the plant last year that lost a load, not sure if it was cranks. The plant is 20 miles from me.   Tom Y

[Adarian]

FWIW the cranks were a major problem for the L10 CNG engines even with the lower compression of the gas version

good luck

So was it just the CNG version, that had crank problems?

[luvrbus]

Tom, all I was ever told is that people turn the RPM up for more power and the cranks breaks or throws a rod and that was at Cummins in Houston from a friend that is manger there.
Cummins is great about telling you what problems their engine have and what the lifespan of the engine will be at what weight


good luck

[gus]

The International 9670 I drove had an L10 290 Cummins and always hauled the max, 80K lb. We hauled all around AR and to TN and TX, mostly over narrow two lane roads in the hills. Not my favorite kind of driving.

We hauled eggs, before that it hauled blasting sand for about 500K mi. I figured out one day we were hauling 250,000 eggs per load. That would have made a really big omelet if we had capsized!

The guy who owned the sand business was a cheapo, he never spent a penny more than necessary on his tractors. He got the L10s because they were easy on fuel.

The engine had never was never overhauled. It is now hauling a dump trailer once in a while, but is essentially retired.

It never failed to start in cold or hot weather on the first crank. I loved that engine even if it was underpowered for the job. A better trans would have helped. It never once failed us.

[DaveG]

The only engine Cummins ever made that was not so good was a V8 which was a 903 or something like that.

All the inlines are very good, maybe the best made, especially the 855 ci series.

Hey if we're talking about lame Cummins engines, let us not forget the 265hp triple nickle (555)

[DaveG]

Hello:    I believe and I may be wrong but Cummins stated that the L10 series was billed as an engine to pull approx 45000 lbs  or a medium duty engine. I don't believe it was ever billed for 80000 lbs.   The N14 on the other hand was an 80K lb motor.
   According to some of the truck sites I have previewed it takes approx 230hp to pull an 80k truck flat with no wind so when you add accessories and wind and road friction and, and, and, you need more hp   how much depends on many factors ,and your foot, and what you want the truck to do .
    My point is a 270hp to 330 hp engine is barely adequate for what trucks are doing now.  Possibly back in the 50s and 60s with 55 mph speeds and roads what they were that hp range was adequate.   
    FWIW 
   regards and happy bussin   mike

Back in those days the weight was more like 73,280 or something...less than 80K anyway. My first truck had a 220 in it!

[luvrbus]

Yea DG but that old NH 220 was a horse in it's day 12.2 L my dad had 220's in his Autocars and NH 250's in the cab overs Freightliners

good luck

[JohnEd]

Gus,

is essentially retired...It never failed to start

Machines like that work there way into my heart, also.  I got one now that is 37 years old and thinks it is brand new.

Thanks for sharing,

John