How to turn up a cat

[Coalman]

I know it was probably told a 100 times but could somebody help me out It is a Dog on hills Thanks Kevin

 

[Westech]

Looking to blow it up are ya? its is not recommended to play with the junky cat engine in the A3's

 

[armytruck63]

Are your fuel and air filters nice and clean? Try changing the filters if they're not clean and this should help some.

But don't expect miracles...

 

[AceHigh]

Mine does great on the hills, compared to the A2. Mike (Mktopside) did a write-up about cleaning out the plumbing in the exhaust to increase power. Are your filters clean? Yours should do better then it sounds like it is doing.

 

[mktopside]

Yea....because there are tons of guys who have had issues with the 3116 in their a3's.....

Please, point to one on this website... I'll be waiting.

 

[Coalman]

Could you tell me what you mean about cleaning the plumbing I just picked it up and drove about 50 miles but it is really bad on the hills I was thinking about straight piping it

 

[AceHigh]

Here is Mike's post on the plumbing.

http://www.m35a3.net/forum/index.php/topic,5.0.html

Now quit dissing our engines! They have a long and successful history in marine applications, school busses, fire trucks, and many more. The one issue is the block is solid making rebuilding a tough proposition. Many have gone hundreds of thousands of miles, so they should do just fine in our trucks.

 

[mktopside]

Nobody on here turns them up, In the civi world there not great engines. Not as bad as the 3126 but as said, check all your posible restrictions, Fuel too.

They're not bad engines in the civi world by any means. When you get down to brass tacks, the only thing people really have to complain about is the cost of repairs by CAT. Is it reasonable to call it a bad engine because guys have had them fail at 300k miles? Or because it's not resleavable? Go look up total production numbers for the 3116 and tell me it hasn't been a successful motor.



Ace,

I straight piped mine last weekend, it sounds great and isn't any louder than a 5.9 with an exhaust. I'll get some pics up this weekend as soon as I paint over the chrome stack. I'll take some pics of the inside of the stock muffler too, pretty restrictive.

 

[SMOKEWAGON66]

ever notice how the guys that dont have them (not always) have nothing but bad things to say about something, and vis versa, the guys who do have them (not always) have nothing but good to say....either way, My opinion of the A3 as a former Army 88m, i dont care for A3's at all. they were a waste of govt money. trying to modernize something that worked fine the way it was so todays generation of kids who were raised to beleive everything should be easy (automatic trannys) for them, could operate them without having to go to school to learn them. Im not sure the amount of money the govt wasted on these abomonations,but i think they shoulda just went with a whole new design that was made for new technology rather then just upgrading old equipment. the A3's my units had were all garbage...never ran, always in the shop. Worthless. thats my opinion anyway. No offense to you guys that have them in any way...im just a bit of a purist when it comes to trucks.

 

[General Mcgregor]

Smokewagon, you have no idea what you have just unleashed.. HAHAHA

 

[ODdave]

Engine wars aside,

Is it posible the "rack" is adjusted wrong? Posibly not delivering full fuel?

 

[ODdave]

.

OP, google has ALOT of info w/ vidios on what you want to do. Less bias as well.

 

[R Racing]

Everyone knows if you want to make a cat run you lift up its tail and wipe gas on its butt !!

 

[mktopside]

ever notice how the guys that dont have them (not always) have nothing but bad things to say about something, and vis versa, the guys who do have them (not always) have nothing but good to say....either way, My opinion of the A3 as a former Army 88m, i dont care for A3's at all. they were a waste of govt money. trying to modernize something that worked fine the way it was so todays generation of kids who were raised to beleive everything should be easy (automatic trannys) for them, could operate them without having to go to school to learn them. Im not sure the amount of money the govt wasted on these abomonations,but i think they shoulda just went with a whole new design that was made for new technology rather then just upgrading old equipment. the A3's my units had were all garbage...never ran, always in the shop. Worthless. thats my opinion anyway. No offense to you guys that have them in any way...im just a bit of a purist when it comes to trucks.

What exactly kept them from running?

Your opinion of them and their worth to the military is irrelevant. Nobody was talking about if it was a good decision to build them or not. What specifically did you have fail on them that kept them off the road?

 

[mktopside]

Yup they made alotta 6.2's and 6.5's as well. Guess the gooberment picked them because they where the BEST engine available too.......

Sorry, had to say it.

OP, google has ALOT of info w/ vidios on what you want to do. Less bias as well.

Apples to oranges. Is the CAT unreliable compared to a OTR Cat with a million miles on it? I guess. Compared to a multifuel? Lolololol Or a 6.2, 6.5 or any modern medium duty diesel? How are DT466s past 500k? Everything has to be repaired at some point, the 3116 is no different. It can just be more money to fix.

 

[abh3]

@ Smokewagon: Sorry about your unit's luck but I love my A3!

First thing I'd do is the above-mentioned air & fuel filters, then some diagnostics if it's still a dog. I had an ex chicken company FL120 Freightliner w/ a Cat turned up from 'idiot-proof' a few years back by Cat and computer time wasn't that expensive, if the distance isn't too bad it's worth considering...

 

[Travis89xj]

neither an A2 or an A3 are going to make it to 500k. I have a friend that works his A2 all the time, has about 35k on it and it already had to have the valves done, and the turbo is worn. Sad part is he does his oil changes and preventative maintenance all the time.

As far as the Auto tranny. My m135 has an auto, its a 1953 and Im a huge fan of the allisons been used for a long time. Same truck mentioned above has also had flywheel and clutch issues.

Guess thats the price for working his truck hard everyday, dont think they were ever meant to be worked long term

 

[big block 88]

Nobody on here turns them up, In the civi world there not great engines. Not as bad as the 3126 but as said, check all your posible restrictions, Fuel too.

These statements are based on what facts???? You know little on this subject. The 3116 and 3126 are both very reliable engines with the ability to make decent power. So what they can't be resleeved... With today metalergy there are no reasons to worry about the blocks casting or bore wear. The B50 life of a 3126 is over 250K miles that is ecelent for any medium duty diesel.

As with any turbo diesel add air and fuel and the power will go up.

Let me know when your MF hits even 150K, and see what it has cost you.

 

[big block 88]

Yup they made alotta 6.2's and 6.5's as well. Guess the gooberment picked them because they where the BEST engine available too.......

Sorry, had to say it.

OP, google has ALOT of info w/ vidios on what you want to do. Less bias as well.

LOL you also think the 6.2/6.5 detroits are junk... That would also be false, as with any IDI Diesel they will be problematic than the modern DI and CommonRail diesels. Are all Common Rail diesels (6.4 and newer powerjokes, 03 and newer 5.9 Cummins, and all Duramax's) junk because the injectors have more issues than the old 12 valve cummins? No you hear about more issues with these motors because there are WAAAAAAAAAAY more diesels on the road today then there was 10 years ago. Same with the 6.2/6.5 Detroits there are literally million still on the road and off the road and running great.

They may be loud, smelly, crude and under powered when compared to the 5.9 of the day but the price difference at original purchase and repairs will in most aspects be cheaper all around to own and mantain.

 

[SMOKEWAGON66]

Smokewagon, you have no idea what you have just unleashed.. HAHAHA

lol's...actually i did.

What exactly kept them from running?

Your opinion of them and their worth to the military is irrelevant. Nobody was talking about if it was a good decision to build them or not. What specifically did you have fail on them that kept them off the road?

I know my opinion is irrelevant...it always is. Because im American and have the right to voice my opinion, it doesnt mean anyone has to listen to it or agree, but i can still say it

as for what kept the A3's from running? I've no idea..i was never a mechanic...just a dumb@*# driver. All i can say is what i saw. Which is that ALL of our A3's were always in the shop...simple observation.