If emissions trucks are bad why are 90% on the road emissions trks

Emission issues are not common with new trucks even those under 2013. The big company I used to work for sells its trucks after 2 years or after about 350k miles. The trucks are also covered by warranty, so not much of a loss if something were to happen.

I never had to deal with emission issues until I bought my 355k truck. I would get the check engine light pretty much every 1-2 months. It was crazy. I’ve learned a bit on how to manage check engine lights, so it’s not as bad anymore.

What many people don’t know is that getting a check engine light (on a Detroit engine) is not a reason to visit the dealer. The manual says to wait for three driving cycles. If the check engine light is still on, then you have to go to the dealer. If you get two amber check engine lights you must visit the dealer right away, unless one of the check engine lights disappears, which usually does.

 

I think it was Harvard and Purdue that did the studies linking the two together one was done in the 60's and the other in the late 70's. One thing for sure is the amount of lead in water was higher than it should have been if we didn't have leaded fuels.

 

The new emissions trucks aren't as bad as everybody makes them out to be. I haven't had major issues with them. Sometimes alerts come up on the dash, but that doesn't always mean hurry up and get to the shop. You have to pay attention to how your truck runs and it's tendencies. Many people who have problems with emissions trucks are due to not operating the right way. Many drivers will keep driving if it needs a Regen, or they run it low on DEF fluid frequently, or they simply don't take care of it. I've had mechanics tell me this on more than one occasion. Then you have DPF maintenance, which the owners manual will tell you when to service it. It's all in getting to know your truck. They can make you just as much money as a pre-emissions truck. Also some people just take the whole system out

 

It seems idling is a big culprit in most of the problems with these new trucks. How much idling is to long. Say a guy does local drop and hook work everyday. Half hour trips back and forth with about half of it interstate and the other stop and go. Would they be asking for headaches?

 

That's the going rate for turbos in New trucks these days. I was so surprised when a guy at peterbilt told me that, and that's for trucks 07 or newer

 

Biggest problem I see on equipment when I download histograms is hot shutdowns. People hear idling is bad, don't ever idle etc. What most people don't realize is DEF is reactive to a lot of materials, that's why most components that are in contact with DEF are plastic, including the DEF injector. If you don't let the exhaust temperature cool down and let the coolant circulate through the DEF injector, you are doing damage to that nozzle. 5 minutes of idle when hot is not harming anything.

 

A mechanic with a labor rate around those numbers is not unheard of. They won't be a chain shop, but a local shop with big business.

 

Sooner or later all 50 states will adopt. I would bet on many states on the east to be next as well, especially since they have policies about idling, Pennsylvania and New Jersey come to mind

 

You would be surprised