Possible Connection?: International & Caterpillar

[RadarRider]

I work on all sorts of machines with some of the biggest names in diesels around. All 3 of our service trucks(including an F-550 w/ 7.3) are diesel. The drillrigs I work on have either Caterpillar, Duetz, or Cummins engines. And then we have vibratory & percussion hammers used to drive sheet or woodpiles with either Cat, John Deere, or Cummins diesels. We use different namebrands of hammers that come from France, England, & of course, USA. The American hammers we use are strictly Cat, & range anywhere from a simple turbo L6, to a twin-turbo V10. One particular hammer we use, which is the smallest, uses a Cat 3208 & is the only one out of the smaller hammers that is an N/A V8. The other day, when we were out in the yard testing it, I listened to the engine idle. I swear, it has an uncanny sound to that of a Navistar IDI. @ full throttle(2500rpm) it sounds even more like the old Navistars. The way it starts also sounds similar, except for the fact the Cat powerpack uses a starting switch called a 'key' & a Murphy button. & finally, the displacement is virtually the same. Is there a connection? Did Cat have a hand in the design of the old Navistar 7.3, or vice-versa? Did one steal the design from the other? Or does it just so happen a Cat 3208 sounds exactly like an International Navistar 7.3? I swear, if you were blindfolded in front of these 2 engines, you would NOT be able to tell the difference when they are running. They're like identical twins!

[TennesseeDuck]

I've worked on ford dump trucks that had 3208's and the ford V-336 and I swear they are the same engine. I can't prove it but I bet they are, the only difference I noticed was one has ford cast into it in certain places.

[RadarRider]

Originally Posted by TennesseeDuck

I've worked on ford dump trucks that had 3208's and the ford V-336 and I swear they are the same engine. I can't prove it but I bet they are, the only difference I noticed was one has ford cast into it in certain places.

It's unbelievalble, isn't it!? It's like they've both built the same engine, painted them different colors, & cast their own insignias on certain parts on the engines. They have to be the same thing!

[TennesseeDuck]

Ford must have built them with Cats blessing. They had the exact same torque specs and patterns and the few parts we did a side by side comparision with looked identical. More importantly they sounded the same and fogged the shop up when they were started cold, you couldn't tell them apart if they were running and you didn't look to see which one it was. Your signature made me laugh, I saw a sign at a gas station here saturday that said "Diesel Beer" and I was gonna snap a pic of it on my way home from work today but they changed the sign, I wish I would have had my camera with me saturday.

[RadarRider]

Originally Posted by TennesseeDuck

Ford must have built them with Cats blessing. They had the exact same torque specs and patterns and the few parts we did a side by side comparision with looked identical. More importantly they sounded the same and fogged the shop up when they were started cold, you couldn't tell them apart if they were running and you didn't look to see which one it was. Your signature made me laugh, I saw a sign at a gas station here saturday that said "Diesel Beer" and I was gonna snap a pic of it on my way home from work today but they changed the sign, I wish I would have had my camera with me saturday.

It HAD to be with Cat's blessing. Glad you like my sig! If diesel beer exsisted, I'd probably drink it!