Cat 3208

[Deathdeelr]

Anyone ever thought about putting a 3208 in a W200? I may be able to get my hands on one attached to an Allison trans out of an '85 Brigadier and thought that would be an interesting project. I know the motor would fit physically (barely) but I don't know if the frame could handle the weight of the motor and trans. My thought process hasn't gotten past the tail of the trans yet.

[Jeff in N.Tx.]

Well, the 3208 was Cat's "cheap" engine. They were used in a lot of low budget trucks, like those GMc's and in many Fords. They are ok, but considered a throwaway by many people. Meaning, you do not rebuild, you just replace when they give out.

[712edf]

The Cat 8 cylinder engines don't seem to have as good of a reputation as their 6's. Even a throwaway Cat engine is expensive! I have a relative in the heavy construction industry who will NOT consider even using a Cat product because dealer service/parts is horrible & downtime = loss of $$$.

Bucky

[Ron in Indiana]

Do yourself a favor and forget the Cat. A 6BT Cummins will be less headache and cheaper in the long run, The 3208 is at the top of the list for THE worst engines ever contrived in my book. They are LOUD they are expensive and the Cummins will run circles around a Cat. Besides most everything you would need for the swap is on a good donor truck with a Cummins.

[Deathdeelr]

Thanks guys. It was just and idea, you know if it's free I'll take three. We're stripping the truck for scrap and with the nose and clip off that big yellow V8 looks like the meanest kid on the block. I could probably get the same effect from a big block with some yellow and black paint :)

We've been using Cats in our fueling trucks for a while now with no out of this world headaches. This Jimmy's been around the block a few times. This particular is the third motor this truck's had. The first one had an internal lock up after the oil plug mysteriously disappeared and the second motor had a piston and rod that decided it wanted to see what the outside world had to offer after only 5K hours; blew the left side fender to bits and took a chunk out of the tire (the rod is sitting on my desk as a paper weight). This motor has less than a thousand hours on it. I think we spent close to $10G's in the crate from the dealer when we did swapped it.

We do most of our Cat work in house and we've been getting our money's worth from our 3126's. They average 15-18K hours between rebuilds but I will agree that if you compare the prices of parts and dealer labor to the same costs of our older L10's being rebuilt about every 8-10K then the Cats are definitely more expensive in the long run.