N.C. district begins test of Mercedes engine

With the movement toward integration of chassis and body (and, in some cases, engines) in the school bus manufacturing industry, it should be no surprise that Daimler-Chrysler, which owns Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp. and Thomas Built Buses, has begun testing one of its own engines, the MBE900, with its FS-65 school bus chassis. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in Charlotte, N.C., recently had 10 MBE-900 engines installed in 2001 Freightliner FS-65 buses. Maintenance Manager Dave Epperson says his district will begin the first nationwide testing of the engine beginning this school year. The engine being pilot-tested by Charlotte-Mecklenburg is an inline six-cylinder of the parent bore design. Following are the engine specifications provided by Freightliner for the MBE900Õs school bus applications: models 904 and 906.

Features and specs

MODEL 904 Design. Water-cooled four-cylinder inline diesel engine with three-valve technology (two intake valves, one exhaust valve); turbocharging and charge air cooling; available with constant throttle engine brake (option); fully electronic engine management with individual unit pumps and centrally arranged eight-hole injection nozzles; injection pressure up to 23,200 psi. Number of cylinders 4 Bore 4.02 in. Stroke 5.12 in. Displacement 4.25 liters Weight 869 lbs.

Engine performance MODEL HP @ RPM TORQUE @RPM 170 170 2,300 420 1,400 190 190 2,300 520 1,400

MODEL 906 Design. Water-cooled six-cylinder in-line diesel engine with three-valve tech-nology (two intake valves, one exhaust valve); turbocharging and charge air cooling; available with constant throttle engine brake (option); fully electronic engine management with individual unit pumps and centrally arranged eight-hole injection nozzles; injection pressure up to 23,200 psi.

Technical data Number of cylinders 6 Bore 4.02 in. Stroke 5.12 in. Displacement 6.37 liters Weight 1,168 lbs.

Engine performance MODEL HP @ RPM TORQUE @RPM 190H 190 2,300 520 1,200 210 210 2,300 520 1,200 210H 210 2,300 605 1,200 230 230 2,300 660 1,200