Navistar Unveils 15-Liter Engine; EGR Unit Uses Caterpillar Block
This story appears in the March 23 print edition of Transport Topics.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Navistar Inc. said it soon will introduce a 15-liter engine, which combines the fuel-induction technology of its 11-liter and 13-liter MaxxForce models with the block and other basic components of a Caterpillar C15 power plant.
“We are leveraging the assets of what we have and what others have,” Daniel Ustian, chairman and chief executive officer of Navistar, maker of International Trucks, said during an extravagant event here at Freedom Hall, home of the University of Louisville basketball team.
The March 18 event was held in conjunction with the Mid-America Trucking Show.
Ustian said the new engine was a continuation of Navistar’s strategy of combining its expertise with that of other companies, such as its cooperation with MAN AG to develop its first big-bore engines — the MaxxForce 11-liter and 13-liter models — which went into production late last year.
“We’ve created an engine from the block and other components of the C15, which is a reliable and proven engine that has millions of miles of use . . .” said Eric Tech, vice president of Navistar’s engine group.
Tech said the new engine will be built at Navistar’s heavy-duty engine plant in Huntsville, Ala., where the MaxxForce models are assembled.
The company did not specify when the engines would be ready for sale but noted it would not be before January, when new Environmental Protection Agency emission standards take effect.
However, James Hebe, Navistar’s senior vice president for North American sales, displayed a working model of the engine. “It’s alive, and it’s a running engine,” Hebe told the audience as Navistar employees opened the hood of a ProStar tractor on the stage.
A Navistar technician climbed into the cab and turned on the ignition, which immediately fired up the truck’s engine.
“The MaxxForce 15 big-bore engines will feature a high-pressure common-rail fuel system,” Navistar said in a statement. “This technology has already been proven on millions of diesels in Europe and North America. It is the same system used on the MaxxForce 11 and 13, but with more robust injection pressure capability. With a high-pressure common-rail fuel system, the method of injecting fuel into the engine improves combustion efficiency while reducing noise and emissions.”
As with its other big-bores, Navistar said the MaxxForce 15 features twin-series turbochargers, which allow the engine to “combine immediate response and strong top-end power to maintain highway speeds.”
Hebe said the 15-liter model, which will be rated at up to 550 horsepower, was built for specific severe-service and other specialized applications.
When the engine is available, Navistar will offer what Hebe called the longest warranty in trucking for the Caterpillar components — engine block, crankshaft, camshaft, pistons and connecting rods — and he predicted the engine would have a life span of at least 1.2 million miles.
He said Navistar would build the truck and other components around the 15-liter engine for maximum performance and fuel efficiency, rather than “just throwing any engine into a truck.”
Caterpillar said last year that it was withdrawing from the heavy-duty engine market after 2009 because the costs of investment to meet the new regulations and would seek an agreement with Navistar on cooperation in the North American and foreign markets.
Navistar previously said it will halt selling Cummins Inc. engines beginning in 2010, because it would sell engines with only EGR emissions technology. In 2008, Cummins reversed its previous decision to use EGR for 2010 and said it would adopt selective catalytic reduction, which all other engine producers also will offer in 2010 (click here for related Premium Content story).
The Cummins decision, however, left Navistar without a 15-liter engine.
All other truck manufacturers except Mack Trucks Inc. will be offering Cummins engines in 2010 alongside their in-house models.
