I hate new computer controlled vehicles! Rant!

[Bamamav]

My Freightliner suddenly went into a derate situation last week, it wouldn't pull the hat off your head. Had the fuel filters changed thinking that was the problem, nope. Had to take it to Freightliner to be put on the computer. Find out my diesel exhaust particulate filter, or DPF for short, was at the end of it's "serviceable life", in other words, worn out and had to be replaced. Also found a couple of sensors not doing their job, so they had to be replaced. Then they discover the main engine ECM is shorting out. All this adds up to $7500 and it still isn't fixed! Now they say the main sensor harness is bad, another $500, and $1500 to install it! Damn! Those parts won't be in until Monday, so maybe Tuesday they will have it going. Bill will be around $10,500! Double damn! The truck ain't worth but about $10,000 on the market, I still owe $14,000, so no way I can trade it, I'd be way upside down on anything and you never know you get when you buy one, it might be good and it might be another headache.

Just glad I had it saved up, but it's gonna wipe out my savings. Got to pay myself back. But what gripes my tail that I'm having to sink all this money into a truck I've hated since first saw it. It would be different if it was a truck that holds value and is easy to resell and I really liked, these trucks are cheap company trucks that get worn out and thrown away. Pete or KW long hood, heck even a Freightliner long hood at least have good resale value. I am not going to let it be repo'ed though, I have worked hard the last 6-8 years to build my credit up and don't want to destroy that. On a better note, I should have enough repair bills this year to show a net operating loss, so maybe I can get a lot of it back from Uncle Sam!

Just had to get that outta my system. And 6 months before I was hoping to semi retire this crap pops up without warning. Oh, the fun of being self employed! When it's good, it's good, when it's bad, it sux bigtime!

End of rant. For now, anyway.....

 

[Sam_Fear]

What year?

I talk with our shop guys all the time at UPS. The new tractors the last few years are a nightmare for them and it's just getting worse. UPS likes to run theirs at least 2.5 million miles before scraping them. The wiring harnesses aren't making it to 750k. Same with the DEF systems and nanny sensors. Used to run the old Macs until the back windows rusted out of them. I remember one International had 3 mil on it. All the new ones are money pits by 1 million miles. Kenworth, Freightliner, Macs, and International. Of course, UPS buys the barest bones equipment you can get.


I feel for ya.

 

[Bamamav]

Mine is a 2010, has 1.7 million on it, supposedly built around 1 mil to 1.3 mil. I wish I had just rebuilt my 02 IH with the C15 Cat in it, drove that truck for 5 years without a major problem. Everything I've bought since then I got a high of 3 years out of, one only lasted 2 years. My engine seems fine, doesn't use a ton of oil, it's just all the electrical and smog crap going bad. If it'll last 9 more months, it'll be paid for, don't plan on buying another although I might do a walk away lease so if I get ready to hang it all up I can turn it back in and not owe anything.

 

[DozerII]

That really sucks Bama, I agree these new trucks are horrible, so many electrical gremlins in them, you add the salt they put on our roads to the wiring connections and the problems start in two years

 

[kenny c]

Same problems here. Dpw trucks go bad in a hurry. We don't put on miles, we rack up hours. Salt was the main problem. Now we have added trouble with DEF issues. We can't diagnose them. and a truck wit 37,000 miles shouldn't be this much trouble.

 

[Old Iron]

A friend of mine went through the same exact thing with a KW with a Cat engine.
It's called Remove and Replace Parts until you fix the problem or bankrupt the owner because, they've made it impossible to know what the hell is wrong with it.
I bought a 2014 Ram 6.7 diesel 142,000 on the od in January. Within the first tank of fuel the NOX sensor went out and the countdown to limp mode began. $500 for a Dorman NOX sensor and I'm back on the road (for about a month) out again, this time I bought a Mopar OEM NOX sensor, $900 and so far it's working fine. Dealer wants $1,700 to do the job so I'm still $300 to the good.
I have since found someone to do a complete delete my truck for $2,200 which I will do if the sensor goes out again.
I hear this crap all the time about the exorbitant repair bills on the newer stuff.

 

[Bamamav]

A friend of mine went through the same exact thing with a KW with a Cat engine.
It's called Remove and Replace Parts until you fix the problem or bankrupt the owner because, they've made it impossible to know what the hell is wrong with it.
I bought a 2014 Ram 6.7 diesel 142,000 on the od in January. Within the first tank of fuel the NOX sensor went out and the countdown to limp mode began. $500 for a Dorman NOX sensor and I'm back on the road (for about a month) out again, this time I bought a Mopar OEM NOX sensor, $900 and so far it's working fine. Dealer wants $1,700 to do the job so I'm still $300 to the good.
I have since found someone to do a complete delete my truck for $2,200 which I will do if the sensor goes out again.
I hear this crap all the time about the exorbitant repair bills on the newer stuff.

At least you can do some of your own work OI, I've done a few sensors and bolt on items, but without the computer to tell you what's wrong, it's shop time. And their rates are outrageous! $1500 to put that sensor harness on, ridiculous! Used to be the labor was about the same as what the part cost, not any more, it's about 10X. I don't begrudge anybody making a living, but come on, they are killing us.

I wish I could delete mine, but after the EPA started fining folks everybody quit. If anybody is still doing it, you gotta know a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy.....I don't know anybody!

 

[DozerII]

Our 09 Pete Cummins powered tandem bulk truck kept going into engine shutdown, would just shut off while driving down the hwy. Took it to the shop they said it was the turbo actuator after $1500. In diagnostic labour. Waited a week for the new actuator to arrive, they installed it and I picked the truck up loaded with propane drove 50 km and it shut down. Had it towed back to the shop, turned out it wasn't the actuator it was the short 24" extension harness that feeds the $2000 actuator. All they could say was sorry that's what the computer said was wrong

 

[lazarat]

I am sorry to read about these troubles, and expenses and I am assuming these computer trucks you guys drive are governed. At what speed?

Sometimes in my travels a governed semi will try to overtake another semi in a two lane passing situation, like Florida's turnpike, and it might take 10 miles to complete, meanwhile in back of me it looks like the lineup for the green flag at Daytona

I once had the idea to be doing this OTR. I drove semis (Ford 850) but they were construction site 55 footers moving huge concrete slabs to the building du jor through mud roads when they were building Cemetery (Century) Village retirement condo community in the late 70's, a real blast!

But my lead foot would never have the patience for OTR, and I am betting the patience it takes overflows into the need for speed. Having said that, I watch a lot of youtubes with the dash cams and brake checking, and I have a lot of respect. But I do see some situations with the hot dogs also.

No longer for me. (but I wouldn't mind trying out a locomotive....)

 

[Bamamav]

Mine is wide open, it will run out of numbers on the speedometer.

After the harness, now they say it needs a fuel pump, another $5000. I told them to forget it for now, I'm just going to have to chance it. I can't just keep throwing money at it I don't have. I'm going to try and run it a few trips and see how it does . Too far into it to trade it right now, and don't really want to get into three more years of payments....

 

[Toad]

I may be a wuss but the thing I really don't like about the new computer controlled cars & trucks is the drive or fly by wire gas pedals! Not a big fan!

Toad

 

[MercuryMac]

The newest truck I had was a '96 KW, so not real new but it had the 'drive by wire' gas pedal that Toad speaks of. It was alright when it worked, but the re-astat was down in the dirt and salt at the bottom of the gas pedal, collecting troubles, but now the trucks have the re-astat and hinge at the top of the pedal; much better.
That '96 was electronic injected, so had an electronic governor, Lazarat. It was on the speed of the engine not the wheels, but the rev limit of the motor did influence the trucks top speed. My '96 was governed at about 1600 revs which gave the truck top speed of maybe 60 miles per hour. After a few weeks of that I took the truck back to the dealer and got it changed to 1725 revs which then let me go 70 miles and hour. It was an easy electronic change. At that time I was hauling logs partly on a four lane highway so I was a pain in the a$$ going 60 mph when the speed limit was 70.

 

[Bamamav]

Got my oil changed yesterday, was talking to the tech that did it, he worked at Williams Detroit for 20 something years until he just got tired of the long drive to work. Just listening to him, I figured out that Freightliner was a bunch of idiot parts changers running the bill up. This guy knows his stuff on Detroit Diesels, and told me a few things that I suspected were true. We were talking about the engines when he proceeded to describe what mine has been doing, without me even mentioning it. He also told me it didn't need a fuel pump, it would run just fine like it was. The part causing it was a quality control valve, about a $600 job. He even said it probably didn't need all the stuff Freightliner put on it, he said he had fixed several of their "repair" jobs after they couldn't figure one out!

Looks like I'm gonna have to find a new shop, again. Last independent shop I used were good for a long time, but got crappy, so I quit using them. Seems like good help is hard to find anymore.....

 

[Dr Crankenstein]

Put the oil change guy on retainer.

.

 

[kenny c]

Put the oil change guy on retainer.

.

X2. Maybe you can get him to work on it on the side

 

[Bamamav]

X2. Maybe you can get him to work on it on the side

There's a good possibility of that! Only problem is I'm usually not close to him when it tears up....