Cummins 300hp 6CTA 8.3

FordGuy100

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So, my parents are buying a 1997 Country coach RV. It was a steal for the price, and they were looking to buy one anyways. So they found this one for real cheap and its actually in really good condition for its age. So were going to be picking it up on Saturday.

So I told them it'll be slow as crap with the 300hp 8.3 cummins, and told them they needed to upgrade it. So were looking at around 425-450hp, maybe more, just as long as fuel milage doesnt go down to much. My understanding is this is basically a 12 valve 5.9 cummins, except with 8.3 liters. So I found a guy on ebay selling performance injectors that he claims add 60-80hp. Does a fuel plate from a 12 valve 5.9 work in this 8.3's IP? If so which one should we be looking at buying, or are they even offered? Should we unhook the wastegate, or upgrade/buy a bigger turbo?
 

tonkadoctor

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Drive it before you condemn the HP rating, the L10 Cummins 8.3 engines are used in a lot heavier rigs than a class A motorhome.

HP isn't everything, personally I don't pay attention to HP ratings but I always look at TQ ratings, My last class 8 truck only had 500 HP Cummins...... but it had 1850 ft lbs of TQ;Sweet . Torque is what you need to get moving.

My brothers 35' Daemon Class A diesel pusher has a 275 HP 860 TQ 7.2 liter CAT 3126 in it and it flat gets down the road. Gets 10 mpg running about 70 - 75mph.

Accelerates very well and will run over 90mph all day...... He got a high speed driving award in Michigan this summer to prove itLOL
 

FordGuy100

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Yeah the torque rating on it is right around 850ft lbs or torque. Its a 40', and weighs around 30K pounds. But that still doesnt seem like enough to me, maybe it is though. My grandparents have a Prevost motor home, and it has a DD 8v92TA, that thing is rated at just north of 400hp, and it seemed like that thing was super slow.

Thats what they said though, they will drive it around on a trip to see if they like it, then they will upgrade a little.
 

nevrenufhp

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The fuel plates, gov springs & most all the pump parts do interchange between the 5.9 & 8.3s. For a turbo, you would be wise to look in to something like HTT's HTB series. True, no matter what you do, 400hp isnt going to haul 30k pounds like it's nothing. You would need more like 1200hp/3000+ tq to make it feel like it's fast, but that's not too realistic. I drive an 06 IH at work with 300hp, and I like it. It weighs just over 30k empty. I would call it, just enuf hp to not complain about it. Not that more wouldnt be nice.
 

tonkadoctor

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This thing is tiny and light compared to a Big ol Greyhound bus style Prevost conversion, that screaming Silver 92 Jimmy is doing all she can, they are not know for being high torque engines but they sure do sound great.

Did a little digging around out of curiosity. A 1997 Country Coach with a 300 HP 8.3 Cummins should be an Intrigue model or a Magna Model. Here's a link to all the 1997 Country Coach Brochures. This will let you drool for a whileLOL Sharp looking units;Sweet

Magna PDF Here
Intrigue PDF Here

30k will be approximatly the GROSS vehical weight or GVW on these models. They shouldn't weigh that much but can handle it. IIRC my brothers '97 Daemon only weighs about 18k empty.

The 4 quad axle Pete 357 dump trucks we used to have when I wrenched for Interstate Fleet Service in Norfolk, VA all had 8.3 250 HP Cummins grossing 65k and did fine. Had about 30 or so trucks with that engine in tandem and triple axle dumps too. We beat the snot out of them every day and never had a problem with them.
 

FordGuy100

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This thing is tiny and light compared to a Big ol Greyhound bus style Prevost conversion, that screaming Silver 92 Jimmy is doing all she can, they are not know for being high torque engines but they sure do sound great.

Did a little digging around out of curiosity. A 1997 Country Coach with a 300 HP 8.3 Cummins should be an Intrigue model or a Magna Model. Here's a link to all the 1997 Country Coach Brochures. This will let you drool for a whileLOL Sharp looking units;Sweet

Magna PDF Here
Intrigue PDF Here

30k will be approximatly the GROSS vehical weight or GVW on these models. They shouldn't weigh that much but can handle it. IIRC my brothers '97 Daemon only weighs about 18k empty.

The 4 quad axle Pete 357 dump trucks we used to have when I wrenched for Interstate Fleet Service in Norfolk, VA all had 8.3 250 HP Cummins grossing 65k and did fine. Had about 30 or so trucks with that engine in tandem and triple axle dumps too. We beat the snot out of them every day and never had a problem with them.


Yeah its the intrique model. It only has about 40,000 miles on it, and it has most of the options. It has a few minor things wrong with it, but the people that were buying it off of are going to fix it. I think were paying right around $50,000 for it, which is really low compared to some that we have seen. And sorry Tonka, your right it doesnt weigh 30k dont know what I was thinking cookoo .

I'm glad there good motors. We'll see how it does on the hills and everything, then see if it'll need some upgrades, but I was telling them they would be happier :D .

And yes those DD sound fricking sweet ;Sweet
 

tonkadoctor

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40k ain't barely broke in yet;Sweet

Looked at NADA online for the '97 Country Coach...... $47k - $50k is low retail for a 40' 300 HP base model Intrigue depending on if it has the great room or not, without even adding the options in. Avg retail for the same is $56k - 60k.

$50k for a loaded model is gonna be a pretty nice price for something that should book about $60-$70k. Hope it's as nice as your folks expect it to be.

Have a good night man, I'm going to bed.
 

FordGuy100

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40k ain't barely broke in yet;Sweet

Looked at NADA online for the '97 Country Coach...... $47k - $50k is low retail for a 40' 300 HP base model Intrigue depending on if it has the great room or not, without even adding the options in. Avg retail for the same is $56k - 60k.

$50k for a loaded model is gonna be a pretty nice price for something that should book about $60-$70k. Hope it's as nice as your folks expect it to be.

Have a good night man, I'm going to bed.

Way ahead of ya on the sleep thing ;Sweet.

Yeah, it was really cheap compared to some of the others we have seen. We had my grandfather and his friend (both of whom had truck fleets, the friends still does, and the friend also buys and sells things and said that if we didnt want to go for it he would buy it hands down). Hopefully it will be good to us.
 

FordGuy100

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Well my parents are over there doing the buying process right now. I went to look at it/test drive it today, and it definetly needs to be cleaned up a bit, but other than that its a pretty nice rig. We went for a test drive, and Tonka you are right, it actually gets up and scoots stock, it merged with traffic perfect. But there is always room for improvment :D, I'm thinking my dad is thinking along the same lines ;Sweet. So they are down there buying it now.

On another note they also bought a trailer today off of a friend, a 18'er with a 7000 pound load rating. I haul that home with my truck, and I gotta say boy am I glad I have a turbo, it makes such a huge difference when towing, even with my one crappy injector.....
 

h2odrx

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i saw a write up in one of the Diesel mags last year about an intake and some exhaust upgrades for a pusher that gave more HP and MPG! The old more air in and out thing will work wonders.
 

tonkadoctor

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Well my parents are over there doing the buying process right now. I went to look at it/test drive it today, and it definetly needs to be cleaned up a bit, but other than that its a pretty nice rig. We went for a test drive, and Tonka you are right, it actually gets up and scoots stock, it merged with traffic perfect. But there is always room for improvment :D, I'm thinking my dad is thinking along the same lines ;Sweet. So they are down there buying it now.

On another note they also bought a trailer today off of a friend, a 18'er with a 7000 pound load rating. I haul that home with my truck, and I gotta say boy am I glad I have a turbo, it makes such a huge difference when towing, even with my one crappy injector.....

;Sweet That awsum. I wish them all the best with it...... Just don't melt it down with some of Bob's special fuel plates & injectors:peelout
 

FordGuy100

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;Sweet That awsum. I wish them all the best with it...... Just don't melt it down with some of Bob's special fuel plates & injectors:peelout

I dont think we will go that crazy. The power is good enough that they wont do all of the things I asked about before, probably just the injectors I was talking about.
 

PTC_POWER

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8.3 cummins is a 6ct engine
nothing from a 5.9 fits that engine
l10 cummins is not a 8.3 it is 10 litters

there are many things that you can do to the fuel pump itself

if you can give me serial # i can tell you what you can do and how much horsepower you can get out of it
 

FordGuy100

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Sorry PTC_power I would have replied sooner, but I didnt see that you posted. I'll get that serial number later for ya to run ;Sweet.

And its a go, were officially on the hunt for some mods to do :D . They pulled the boat over the mountains to the coast, and it just wasnt enough for my dad. So I'm thinking something like IP tweak, injectors, boost, pyro and trans temp gauges.
 

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