Ran into an old Cummins ISX at a truck stop in Amarillo last Tuesday

I was grabbing coffee at a Pilot in Amarillo, and this beat-up 2011 Peterbilt rolls in. The owner popped the hood to check oil, and I spotted an original ISX with that old fuel pump setup still running. No DEF delete or modern ECU swap, just running steady at 800k miles. Made me wonder how many of those old engines are still out there earning a living, anyone else see a survivor like that lately?

3 comments

3 Comments

thomas_martinez11d ago

Hit up a yard in Kansas City a few months back and found a 2008 International 9900i with the original ISX still in it, but get this - the owner had been running it on a mix of biodiesel and waste motor oil for the last 150k miles. Said he got the idea from some old timer and just started dumping in whatever he could filter. The engine was caked in grime but still fired up cold, no smoke or anything. Makes you wonder how much abuse those things can really take before they give up, especially with that kind of fuel.

william_henderson11d ago

I saw a 2007 T600 with the original ISX turning 900k outside Little Rock last month. The driver said he still runs 15w40 in it and never touched the high pressure pump. Those old CUMMINS motors just chug along if you leave them alone. It's wild seeing one that survived the whole emissions era without being ripped out or rebuilt twice. Respect to the guys who keep them turning.

gracewebb11d ago

That 2007 ISX is a gem if you keep the oil changed and don't mess with the EGR too much. Have you ever had to swap out the coolant filter on those older motors?