Caterpillar's Most RELIABLE V8 Engine

Back in the days... As an electrician I installed 2 a v16 quad-turbo Caterpillars for emergency power generation at a hospital. These power plants were enormous. I can't remember all the specs however the radiators were biggest radiators I have ever seen in my life . The day tanks was 300 gallons x2 with to 15000 gallon tanks underground. That job was really fun. Awesome experience as a young man. I think the output on the generator was 30000 KV each. The sound when they start it up was like no other engine I've ever heard.. especially under load, in the engine-room it was completely deafening.

As an owner operator in the 2000s I would park next to my buddies 3408 W900 Kenworth and another legendary v8 a mack R series from the 90s. The sound these trucks made when pulling out of the yard loaded was viseral. My truck was more practical and less flamboyant as I had mouths to feed lol

All I know is that, when I was a H/D truck mechanic in the late 70's and early 80's, 3406's and 3408's were the gold standard engine options you could get. EVERYONE who had one would never think of repowering to a different brand

We still manufacture and use both the 3300 and 3400 series in some countries with lower emissions standards and even put them in new equipment in those countries. Also, caterpillar itself didn’t really use steam tractors. It was formed by the combination of Best and Holt tractor companies and they were using gas engines by that time. The name “Caterpillar” was from how reporters said the tracked tractors crawled like a caterpillar across the fields. -former Cat employee

Caterpillars Are King!!!

I'm not familiar with the 3408 but the first truck I drove when I started truckin had a 3406 E (6 cylinder) and it had 1.75 million miles and last I saw it had over 2 million. The next truck I drove was a C-15 (updated and improved 3406 I think) and it had 850k miles when I started and 1.35 million last I drove it and in nearly half a million miles other than oil changed and routine maintenance the alternator went out and the number 2 fuel injector mounting bolt vibrated loose and needed torqued down and that was it! It blows my mind that any engine can do a half a million miles without needing parts replaced and even more impressive that it had already logged .85 million miles already!

You can hear everyone that was comforted by the sound of that engine when it's running. From truckers that needed to get from A to B or had to pull over in a snow storm to the people checking on the generator of a hospital.

The sound from these engines are just awesome. Great video as always 🙂

Love the 3400 series, easy to work on , reliable and plenty of grunt , 3406, 3408, 3412’s I have had in generators , wheel loaders, dozers, scrapers, excavators etc. the best service life we achieved with any of the engines was a 3412 in a 600kva generator, 35,000 operating hours before overhaul, and another 45,000 hrs after before it was sold, the lowest hours because of application and demography was the 3406 fitted in the D8N and some R’s of 6,000 hrs, mainly partial seizes pulling pistons apart , but all in all great engines 👌🏻😎

Used to watch the CAT guys testing equipment in Arizona. Amazing company.

We live in NZ and own 3 trucks currently. A couple years ago we had a K104 Kenworth with a C15 550 HP engine. Way more reliable than any other engine. We put 2 million Kilometers in it and rebuilt it once. We also owned a K108 Kenworth. It had the same engine and ran even better with it's larger radiator's.

a nice sounding engine as well

They need to start making these engines again for today’s trucks without any DEF fluid whatsoever and you will make a lot of people so happy. With that sounds on the Hwy . It would be a wonderful sound to hear.

Another great video and cool to see some Aussie footage of road trains too 👍

nice little video and you can't beat the sound of a v8 .👍👍

Man, we need these V8 turbo-diesel engines in general to be brought back into the trucking industry...

This was an excellent video with great choices of video clips and footage! I really enjoyed it! Thanks so much!

Hopefully the diesel people in here can confirm or correct me on this. But, I believe the intake and exhaust valve position in the heads is to help the air "spin" in the cylinders, to keep more of it in the center where the combustion chamber is in the piston, and under the injector.

I'll never forget the day I heard & saw my first Cat 3408. Was in a black Western Star (Owner/Operator), pulling for McCain, hauling potatoes, back in the early 80s. Those engines are Legendary!

THANK YOU!!!!! Please make more Diesel engine story videos