DEF going away ?

[Shawn T. W.]

But "my lane" is actually in the industry as a tier one supplier, closely partnered with the OEMs producing internal combustion engines for the CTOHI industry. My employer manufactures a wide variety of engine components, sells to nearly every engine manufacturer, and I manage our engine dynamometer lab to test all of it. So I am deeply integrated within the industry that relies on and sells this emissions compliance technology in all of their engines/vehicles.

I can tell you this: none of the OEMs are talking about warranty concerns, problematic DPF/SCR systems, or anything like that. There were a lot of teething problems 10 years ago, sure. But the broad industry perception is that this is a solved issue.

Maybe you should try a brand new truck instead of driving all those old beaters with early emissions compliance systems.

I'm not bashful and will share my experience with pictures ...

I'm not @Hay Dude , but I drive what most here would consider a "brand new" truck .. or at least it was when our company representative picked it up at the Kenworth plant in Chillicothe, OH, and drove it to our headquarters to get processed into our fleet ... I picked it up at 327 miles on the odometer this spring on May 2, 2025 ... Here it is just today ... A 2026 T680 with a Cummins X15.

This picture is also just taken ... The check engine light is on for the second time! While is probably "only a $100 sensor" it means down time for me, time I can't be taking care of a customer, plus the shop time ...

Here are the stickers in the door jamb ...

And the engine ...

And the transmission can certainly effect the engine!

I have the PACCAR 12 speed automatic transmission (worst thing I've ever driven in over 33 years of driving a truck!!!)

Between the programming of the engine and the transmission it doesn't really allow the engine to "work" in my opinion, it double shifts (skip shifting ) and lugs the engine down ... You can see where this redlines, and at the governed speed of 68 mph, it's just barely over 1200 RPM ... It's just lollygagging along, diesels, especially modern emissions diesels need to work hard to run efficiently, so for all the money they "save" in so called fuel economy, I generally get "mid 8's" ... They more than make up for it extra maintenance and headaches expenditures!

This is not an old beater, by any standard, although I hate driving it! But it is a strangled, compromised truck!!!

 

[EscapedSuburbia]

I can tell you this: none of the OEMs are talking about warranty concerns, problematic DPF/SCR systems, or anything like that. There were a lot of teething problems 10 years ago, sure. But the broad industry perception is that this is a solved issue.

I have no experience in the heavy truck world but do in the diesel pusher RV world and the DEF failures have definitely not been solved. Improved, but not solved. DEF head failures are still a very common complaint in new RVs.