Hey guys, Have not been around awhile, good to be back. Hey, I am looking at buying a 1992 Chevy Top Kick with 3116 Cat motor. I know this is not a power house but, the truck has only 126k miles on it. It is a former city truck and is in pretty good shape. The price is VERY good. A friend of mine says that that particular engine is not a good engine. What do you guys think? I dont think anyone could get hurt with a cat powered vehicle. especially with low miles and also a allison auto.
truck What is the truck? dump, flat bed, single, tandem?????????? I had a 95 Topkick, with a Cat 3116, 8LL, tandem dump. As stated it wasnt a power house, I kept it about 8 months and got chance to sell it and let it go. I heard too many bad things about the engine. I never had any problems, when I had it, but the guy I sold it to, had to rebuild it about a year after he got it. I heard its sister engine 3126, was not a very good engine either. A friend of mine, has had to rebuild his 3126 twice in 3 years. Cat really loves to sell parts. I didnt notice where you are from, but if you are in any kind of hills, you need to stay away from this truck. Just my 2 cents worth, good luck
Yeah, it is a tandum dump truck
Oh come on, I know there is more wisdom out there!
Try putting 3116 in the search feature at the top of the page and see if anything turns up. I don't have any personal experience, but that engine has gotten a lot of bad press, it might bear looking in to.
Yeah, I have been doing a lot of research as of late about this engine. I have everything from each end of the spectrum. From very good to very bad. I think a lot of it has to do with operator and maintenance as with any other engine out there. I think it is a crap shoot and I am swaying towards leaving that truck alone.
The 3116 were very common engines that GM used in the trucks of these years. I'm not sure why you've chose to run away from it. You said it was in good shape, and 126K is low miles on a truck. If it starts right off, doesn't white smoke excessively, and runs smoothly, I don't see it being a bad buy. Yes, the 3116 ain't the best Cat engine, but they're not that bad. It's kinda like the old 3208...ain't the best Cat, but have moved tons of materials over the years.
I need to mention that it started fairly hard and smoked bad at first then mellowed out. The owner blaims it on setting for a year. I read that the injectors had a problem leaking but, was a fairly straight forward fix with the knowledge and proper tools.
If it started hard, then I'd be suspicious of it. If I remember correctly, the early 3116 used a common rail rocker actuated injector. The later engines, I think, went to a HEUI electronic injector. The rocker injectors are a little cheaper to work on, the HUEI can get a little spendy, seems like they're around $180 - $200 apiece. The labor to do both types can be several hundred dollars, and it could have problems with the copper injector inserts in the head, then it get's real good and expensive. You don't want one that starts hard.
I got a brand new 1995 Top Kick service truck at the Cat dealer I worked for. The engine was no power house, but always ran good. The main problem with these engines was crappy tooling to remove and install the injector sleeves, and the design of the bottom of the injector body. Also, alot of the service guys were not good at synchronizing the injectors which caused rough running, smoke, and power problems. Myself and one other guy were the two that ended up repairing all the 3116 engines in the equipment. The engine is ever bit as good as the 3208 it replaced. I would not be afraid to have one. I put 226,000 miles on mine, when we replaced the whole truck.With the beter tooling to work on the engine and several design changes on the injectors, Cat took most of the problems out of the engine.
That's been the experience I've had with them LonstarCobra, you did a better job of saying it. Good to hear from someone who has worked on them. And I agree, the engines did have some issues, but they really weren't bad motors.
The biggest problem I see is that this engine is pretty small for a tandem dump truck. Even if it was the best engine ever made, it would have to work hard to do the job in a tandem dump. The 3116, although better than the throw away 3208, isn't the best engine Cat has made. Couple that with how hard it has to work to do the job required by the loads a tandem carries, and you are asking for frequent rebuilds/repairs. Even the 8.3 Cummins, which is bigger and far superior to the Cat 3116, gets a tough workout in a tandem.
I had a topkick with a 3116. The biggest problem I had was not the engine, but the fuel line connections from the tank to the engine. GM used a plastic/nylon tube with an 0-ring fitted to a push lock connetor. I experiences numerous engine shut downs in traffic with it until I replaced those connections with the old tried and true rubber hose and clamp lines. That also was and can cause hard starting as the fuel would drain back into the tank from the engine and lose it's prime. At about 80K miles it started to use oil and smoke a little blue. The power also started to drop. Rather than overhaul it, I replaced it with the 3116 Ambulance/Emergency Vehicle version. A bit more HP and I all for more HP. I put about 20K on that engine and then sold the truck as I had no need for it. The guy that bought it to my knowledge is still running it, although I'm not sure if he has the same engine in it now or not.