Older Cat engines

[calhoonie]

Hey everyone! Just wondered what the pros and cons are of the Cat 1693 turbo and the Cat 3208. Have been looking around on truckpaper.com and I want to see what others have to say about these engines. Thanks alot! -Calhoonie

 

[Bob Horrell]

Don't know much about the 1693 but the 3208 is one of the best boat anchors ever made.

 

[Freightrain]

1693 is nice motor, but if you need parts.........ummm, well...get the Visa GOLD card out LOL!! But that's typical for anything in yellow.

 

[surfer-joe]

1693's were noisy, but pulled well in lower RPM ranges. They were pretty dependable and not to bad to work on if needed.

Bob says it all on the 3208's. The very last series of those made were not too bad as Cat just about had all the bugs worked out. Still, by that time, there were much better engines on the market that were more fuel efficient, emissions compliant, and quieter, not to mention smaller and lighter with more useable horsepower.

 

[rino]

Hate that engine. Only mistake Cat made was out their name on it! Hate it, and refuse to drive a truck with that engine! Would NEVER own one to run as an engine! As a boat anchor, they slip out of the mud alright!

 

[ben46a]

1693 Were a good engine. The 425 hp versions could pull 550 without much trouble. They were basically a truck version of a D343 dual overhead cam industrial engine and had lots of low end power, much like the 3406 that replaced it.

 

[thejdman04]

3208's tended to be throw away motors, n rebuildable, not a great reputation and not cheap t woko

 

[rino]

The 3208 was NOT a Cat design! Cat marketed these engines and put their name on them! These were V8 diesel engines that produced 170 HP fresh out the crate! If you were lucky enough to get the turbo charged 4 ring engine the HP was 250 fresh out the crate! The non turbo engine like the GM 5.7 liter mistake went into self destruct mode while in every day use! The Turbo version was only good for about 150,000 miles, then you sent it to the ocean for retirement with the rest ot the boat anchors! NOOO 3208 could ever come close to the 3406! The only thing they have in comon is their color, and they both burn diesel fuel!

 

[werkhorse]

Cat 3208 also known as V636 by Ford

And 1145 I think but they had the inline fuel pump not the V pump like the 3208's

 

[John C.]

I maintained a fleet of four 10 yard Ford dump trucks doing short haul and off road work. They all had 1160 motors which were the precurser to the 3208. They were hard to start in the cold, noisy as standing next to a jackhammer and loved all the fuel you could throw at them. They were way underpowered and really hard to work on in the trucks.

But they started everytime you hit the starter, they ran everyday no matter how much you beat them up with kids on their first job. In five years of running I only replaced one engine and that was on a truck we bought at year four of my time.

Any motor can be good or bad depending on the application you put it in. The 3208 did well in intercity delivery or about any short haul work. It was never going to pull 40,000 pound gross loads for any amount of time and live. Anyone who tried running them that way paid the price.

I didn't see many 1693 Cats as most had passed out of use when I started working on equipment. Most were way too expensive for any use in a fleet truck and too heavy to boot. I saw a few in heavy haulers where they worked fine in the mountains pulling lowboy. I never heard any good words out of someone that had rebuit one. The cost just killed the line.

As the Cummins 855s got better with bigger horsepower, the 1693s simply faded away. Then the 3406 came out and trucking started liking Cat again.