[BMC]

Just bought an 07 W900L. Has a C15 Cat, 475 hp, 18 speed, 3.70 gears, and tall rubber. Finally got it on the road this week and so far I've been disappointed in the fuel mileage I'm getting. I haul grain and have a 50 ft Timothy triple axle and gross 88,000-90,000 lbs per load and have been getting about 4.2-4.3 mph and would really like to get up into the 5-6 range. I started looking into ECM upgrades, tuners, etc. I've looked into PDI Performance, Bully Dog, and Pittsburgh Power. Does anyone have experience with any of these or anything else? I like what PDI has to offer but it's quite pricey. Looking to bump power along with fuel mileage and I guess I'm looking for the best bang for the buck but want a quality product as well. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[skgrain]

You bought a beautiful truck with an awesome drivetrain. But you were not going for mileage. You will spend heavy to get a tiny bump in mileage. I would enjoy the fancy truck until you really get serious about mileage and trade it for one that has it from the start. Take that with a grain of salt cause I'm no trucker.

 

[Chucka]

When I was fixing trucks (02-08) the C15's were always close to 1:1(1 Ltr fuel per Km)...... you want fuel efficiency don't buy a CAT

 

[Showtime]

I know it costs some money but my brother put Full Synthetic Oil in everything. We are AMS oil dealer and We did his rear ends, Tranny, Motor, Everything and I am thinking he gained mileage that way. Since then he quit trucking other than us just at harvest time so the short time we run our trucks we don't worry as much about it.

Might be something to look into and I honestly forget what he was getting out of his W900L. He never had that bad of fuel mileage but then again he had the N14 Cummins and it was 500hp model. Loved that motor.

 

[CRToney]

There are synthetic fluids in the truck from new. It won't hurt to change them though. Everyone always forgets the biggest thing in fuel milage, the guy running the pedals. How you drive is the biggest factor. Not saying you don't drive well just something to reevaluate. Go to thedieselgarage.com to the heavy duty forums and ask what works there. w900s with under cab muffler are restrictive. If you're in the trucking business fuels the biggest expense. So it means either profit or peanuts.

 

[offroadnt]

CRToney is right, it might help to sit back and relax. Tell us a little about your driving habits, what make of trailer are you pulling, smooth sides, make and models of tires, tire pressures? The body style of that truck is going to have very little influence on the milage if your pulling a hopper trailer, it's whats under the hood and behind the wheel that'll have a much bigger effect. Also check your charge air system, your problem might be there, make sure everything is clean and there are no leaks. Very unlikely your exhaust system is plugged but you never know, you could probably hear it if it is.

Remember, if you invest a bunch into fuel economy you have to pay that back too...

 

[Licensed to kill]

I did a pdi tune on my '05 Pete with c15. I can't say what it did for fuel economy because that isn't what I was going for. While there are local guys that do pdi tunes, I sent my ECM to a guy in Virginia to have mine done and if I were to do another truck would do the same. There's more to it than just flashing the ECM if you want the best results. If interested pm me and I will give you his name and phone number. I HIGHLY recommend him for this kind of work. He is extremely knowledgeable and he specializes in cats.