The History af Cummins Engines
The biggest name in diesel engines, known for its color red which is even named after them and it’s insane amount of power puts this engine at the top of the list for the diesel world.
If you haven’t already guessed it this should be a dead giveaway, the most popular engine in the Dodge 2500 and 3500 turbo diesel models. If you guessed Cummins you guessed it right and yes they do have a color red named after them, yep, Cummins Red. Cummins was originally founded in 1919 by Clessie Cummins, a former Indiana mechanic and has since grown Cummins to a fortune 500 company, for those who don’t know a fortune 500 company is 500 of the largest companies in the world. Probably Cummins most famous partnership ever and just over 25 years has been with the Chrysler company in the dodge 3/4 ton and 1 ton trucks. Diesels have an insane amount of torque compared to a gas car but not so much horse power that’s why a diesel gets such better gas milage when hauling a trailer than a car because the engine doesn’t have to work as hard than a gas engine to get it going.
The only real time your engine will work is when you are starting to move or going up a hill that’s why when people say 200,000 miles all highway that’s a good thing because the engine didn’t have to work too hard those 200,000 miles. Diesels get a bad rep on their fuel efficiency and their polluting black smoke also known as “Rollin Coal” which is just unburnt fuel and carbon that’s all it is. the diesel is actually the most efficient engine out there and the black smoke yes they can but with the emission standards on them today you can get them to blow black but you might ask “Then how are all these rednecks getting their diesels to roll coal?” and my answer is simple. It’s just modifications you can do to to like bigger injectors (lets more fuel in), cut the muffler, cut the cat (catalytic converter) which did keep your emissions down, bigger fuel pump, DPF and EGR delete, so on so forth and too be honest most of those people are just jack wagons who think they’re cool because they have a diesel and it rolls coal. Cummins has had a very long history and there just isn’t enough time to explain everything so I’m gonna try to sum up just the major parts throughout its almost hundred year history. (1918) Cummins saw his first diesel engine which was a dutch manufacturer that goes by Hvid, Cummins partnered and got a license to market them here in the states.
(1930) Cummins realizes that diesels have more potential than just farm use so he puts one of his engines in 1926 Packard touring sedan and took it to the New York auto show where he was turned down because he did not have a spot, he traveled 800 miles using only 30 gallons of fuel which is an average of about 26 mpg. (1935) Cummins dropped a 6 cylinder engine into an Auburn 851 Sedan and it got an outstanding 40 mpg which was unheard of for the time and pretty good for todays standards. It also hit a top speed of 90 mph and Cummins happy that he just made a long term partnership Auburn just over a year later goes out of business. Cummins found out that racing was a good way to get his name out there so he decided to try it and his first race was the Duesenburg in the Indy 500 where the car finished 17th qualifying and 13 final. (1955) Cummins retired, where he went to go on to found his own business called Cummins Enterprise.
Cummins is also famed for, in partner with Jacobs Chuck company to create the iconic exhaust brake also known as the “jake brake”. (1968) Clessie Cummins Jr dies and his company is handed off to his son Clessie Lyle Cummins. (1981) Cummins made the biggest move ever by merging with the chrysler company to put Dodge on the board with Chevy and Ford, both having V8 powered diesels. (1983) Cummins requests the engine bay dimensions to check fitment of the new B-series 5.
9L straight 6 Cummins engine. After review and kinks worked out the plan was formally started. The Cummins engine that was going in could create over 200hp and 500lb-ft, the engine had to be detuned to make it so the truck can handle the engine. The final tune, a cummins engine that created 160hp and 400lb-ft. Cummins and dodge to this day are the biggest name in just your average joe’s day work truck and hopefully will be.
Today they offer a 5.9L and a 6.7L Cummins turbo diesel. Dodge has had 3 Cummins engine, and those are the 5.9L 12V, the 5.9L 24V, and the 6.
7 24V. Now you might be asking, “What’s the V stand for?” Valve, Yep that’s it, Valve. Now you’re wondering “Well what’s the difference between a 12V and a 24V?” Well to put it easy, the 24V is more electrical than the 12V. That’s about it minus the obvious fact that the one has 12 valves (2 per cylinder) and the other one has 24 valves (4 per cylinder). The 5.
9L 12V puts out up to 215hp and 440lb-ft. The 5.9L 24V puts up to 325hp 610ft-ft. The 6.7L 24V puts up to 385hp and 865ft-lb which is an insane amount of torque for a 6 cylinder engine. Cummins has 5 series which are the B-series, the C-series, the ISX, the L-series, and the M-series.
The B-series consists of the popular 5.9 straight 6 (in the dodge), the 3.9 straight 4, and the 3.3 straight 4. The C-series is a ISC engine with an 8.3 in a straight 6, it also has a sister engine that runs on CNG (compressed natural gas).
The Cummins ISX is a straight 6 that mostly sees highway or vocational trucks. The power can be up to 620hp and 2050ft-tq. The L series is another straight 6, it began production in 1982 and is an 8.9 and was given the name L10. Finally the M-series, again a straight 6 which has a 10.
8L and named the M11. Cummins has had it’s ups and downs but is now the biggest name in the diesel engine industry, employing over 55,000 people, in 190 countries, through a network of 600 company owned and independent distributors, over 7,200 dealers Cummins has not been just given the right of top dog in the diesel world but has earned the title and is always striving to stay ahead of the pack in new innovations. Whenever you think of cummins, think of Cummins red.
