We just purchased a 1989 Pete with a 3306 in it. It's a 26' rollback truck that weighs 25,000lbs and can carry 26,000lbs. It has a blown head gasket and the motor is in pretty bad shape. ( it has 275,000 miles on it.) Rather than rebuild the 3306, or put a remanufactured motor in it (as recommended by the local cat dealer) I would rather put a 3406 because when it was running it had no power. It also has a 9 spd. Fuller trans so there is not a lot of room between RPMs to downshift when needed. Is this possible to do without a tremendous amount of extra work? Will the 3406 fit in?? Thanks for your help.
I'm not sure if the 3406 would be a drop in, but I'd look hard at the 9 sp mixer. It maybe only a 9509 and the shafts won't handle the torque of the 3406. Again, this depends on the power output of the engine. But no one goes after B,C,E engine for under a 400hp plant. Even then, it'll make 1300 pd ft of torque at a minimum. The 3406E can be rated up to a 550hp without mods. This will give you at or near 2000 pd ft of torque and this truck will be doing wheel stands. Also look at the driveline rating. A noob may get in this truck at capacity, try and start uphill in 2nd and he'll remain at the starting line with you buying the repairs
357pete Thank you for your reply. I was talking with a gentleman about the swap over and he said everything should go except maybe the rear mounts , throttle linkage on the opposite side and a few other minor things. He also has an older 3406b, 350 with 60,000 on the rebuild. I Believe the 3306 was only about 270 hp.? He mentioned some of the same things you said. I will check out the trans today and see what it is. I am going to be the only driver and have been driving CDL for around 38 years so I'm not new at it, just new to the mechanical side of it. I definitely do not need anything like the 550. It was also mentioned that a NTC 400 Cummins would do nicely , but he said stay away from the Cummins.
My preference would be the 3406, but there is nothing wrong with a good old NTC 400 and you may be able to find one for less than the Cat.
Engine swap from 3306 to 3406 should be easy, fuel linkage and lines, trans, radiator, possibly aftercooler if its air to air, mounts, driveshaft, air intake. Maybe find truck in junkyard with 3406, for all the doner parts. Would be nice to follow your project.
Might be easy to replace with a 350 hp 3306. Quicker and probly cheeper. A 13 speed would help also.
At this point I don't care what goes back in except another 3306.
I did not know there was a 350 hp. 3306. I will look into it to see if there are any out there. I like the junk yard approach for the 3406 swap. Thanks and I will keep you up dated as things progress. I need to get going on this as it has already been down for 2 weeks. No money made that way!!!
Yep, down time is the worst, thats why i suggested same engine with more hp. When my service truck is down I don't make any and it's going out.
Do you know anything about the 3306 350hp.? I did not know they were out there. Must be an older year.
I got one for my service truck, have not had time to change it yet though, I'll try to get serial and arrangement number over the holidays. Its out of a tri axle, air to air and jakes.
Thank You. I just looked at a mid 90's Pete with a 3406b, and a 8LL (?) trans. excellent tires, practically brand new alum rims. fronts are super singles, etc. No body. The guy was going to make a tri axle out of it but ran out of time and ambition. It's in really nice shape and is a runner. I could take the slider body off of my '89 and put it on this one, put on a few cosmetics that it needs, and away I go. It will need paint and a few other things. I did not get to talk with the guy until he calls me, but I was able to look quickly at the truck. He also has a running 3306 thrown in with the deal. About a year ago a friend of mine went to look at the truck cuz he wants to add a tri axle to his fleet and the guy wanted $20,000.00. Then he dropped it to $15,000. about 6 months ago, now he is down to $10,000. He has other trucks he uses for his business and just wants to get rid of a few things. He will start it up for me and move it around. I can't go wrong plus my friend knows him well so it won't be a rip off. Then I could put the 3306 in my '89 and sell that with out a body. What do you think? Like I said I'm new to this end of the game.
Sounds like a winner. You will have lots of options buying this truck.