Brand new f$cking trucks with TONS of problems

[BRICKNICK]

What happens too this country???? I feel I live in the greatest country in the world, but I'm ashamed sometimes that we have gone from the ultimate super power and industrial giant to a mediocre joke of engineering. We allow our government to restrict our equipment and abide by these awful legislations that are put in place by a bunch or suit wearing pencil pushers in Washington who don't even know how to change a tire, but they know what our vehicles emissions levels should be????? PLEASE.

So here's why I'm so pissed, I work for the Brick Township Public Works. I'm a mechanic specifically on the trucks . We just ordered (over a year ago) 8 new Peterbilt 320 cabover garbage trucks with Cummins motors and Labre automated garbage bodies. We received the trucks 3 months later then the promised delivery date. (Another bullshit scam in its own, but anyways). We planned to put 7 of the 8 new trucks on garbage and one of the new trucks on automated recycling. Well before the trucks seen the road everyone of them were at the Pete dealer multiple times for the check engine lights being on ....wtf already? Then on Tuesday we attempted to send 7 trucks out for there maiden voyages, most of them didn't leave the yard and they had engine lights and other issues. 5 went out that day and four had to come back and couldn't go back out. The one actually worked the entire day , but came in and on the way got a " hydraulic oil temp warning" light and buzzer.

So we had to have a Cummins tech come out with software, labre tech and a Pete chassis guy who was familiar with the chassis harness, to chase these gremlins. When I spoke with all of these guys they told me yeah you guys have problems here. One truck has a bad blade piston, one truck has a bad ecu, one truck has a short in the body control harness,etc...... The techs told me " yea the factory knows of these issues, they're common. " Why would our manufacturers put out a product that is flawed and not completely functional?

I would rather them tell me sorry this year has issues can't sell them yet or else we look like idiots giving you something that is in the shop more then on the road. Its just heart breaking , its not just our petes either, its our ford pickups and ambulances, our internationals that we officially we never purchase again, and our stupid durmax junk chevys. Icant stand it all of these companys are American icons of manufacturing and engineering, where did we stop giving a **** and start excepting junk from these guys??? WTF??? I took a few pics of the trucks lined up outside my shop, sorry for the crappy cell phone pics, and sorry for my extremely long rant. Especially if you read the entire thing....

[Lmackattack]

First problem is its a Pete garbage truck....they should stick to what they know...OTR TRUCKS....

The other issue is our government putting there hands in everything and messing up ...seams every truck mfg has endless electrical issues...

[Dieselchopper]

My view......take out the CPU crap. Trucks and everything ran 20 years pus before the on board computer screwing everything election up. Now 5 years and you are ral lucky. Nothing better than the old stuff.

[JoseFL10-4]

jajajaja, I just back home after breakdown in Jacksonville fl wait for 4 hr tow truck to bring me back to Orlando because the new REGIN system cant perform, brand new international.

[MACK Daddy]

Our freightliner work trucks are a disaster....The regen on my truck specifically has been an issue since day one...they have switched out every sensor on it twice and it still needs to be taken to the shop to run a manual regen

Alfy

[civic83]

We had an 08 freight liner ( bought in early 10 ), and within a year it began running terrible, loosing power, DPF not working, shifting erratically, you name it. Sent it in under warranty, they fixed "wiring issues", a few weeks later was doing it again, reprogrammed ecu, ran 2 days then started acting up again. Basically it was doing a regen every run! this truck puts on 200km a week tops! (only gets driven friday and saturday) This went on for close to a year, every time we took it in they said "computer shows no errors, theres nothing wrong with it!", this went on for about a year, finally it began running so bad it became unusable. Took it back in, this time they replaced a turbo, and a bunch of other crap, reprogrammed the ecu and transmission control unit, charged us about 5 grand, because its now out of warranty!

This worked for about a month and it started doing a regen again almost every time it went out. Blah Blah Blah, freight liner tells us theres nothing wrong with it and to stop bringing it to them because they are done working on it! We took it to a couple other shops, they replace a bunch of crap, a few grand later still a broken truck.

Finally I get on the horn to Cummins Canada, they offer some advice but nothing really helps. In the end we submit a letter to them via a paralegal service asking for a service centre they recommend since freight liner no longer wanted to help us. They reply back and tell us they will look at it at their head office in mississauga.

We got to talk to one of their main engineers, he was super nice and offered to personally look at it. We arrived and he listened to the truck run and had looked over all the service reports and receipts we submitted for tall the work. He didn't even open the hood and said " I know whats wrong with it, I have the parts here to fix it, come back tomorrow it will be fixed"

Turns out, that particular engine had left the factory with defective injectors, the early 08's were all supposed to have been recalled and fixed, but somehow this one had been missed. Was dumping too much fuel, hence burning out the turbo and DPF system. They replaced the turbo, DPF and EGR systems, and a couple other things along with the injectors, has run like a top now for almost 2 years! Basically he said the service techs should have checked the list of recalls and fixes in the computer and noticed this one hadn't been done, could have all been avoided if they replaced the injectors back when it was under warranty!

Funny thing is we have a friend who has an 08 perterbilt with the same engine, had the exact same issues, and same fix was required!

In the end Cummins refunded us a bunch of cash in good will and performed all the final repairs to us at no cost! they were great to deal with. Freighliner on the other hand, not so much!

[doodlebug]

I'm done with Cummins truck engine's! Between the N-14 and the ISX I had last winter, Well I'll just keep my 97 Mack! Anybody who run's in the snow belt need's to pay attention to all ground's on the engine block and frame rail's. I got towed into Cheyenne (99 interbinder gear grinder)
in Feb. Nobody could fix the truck, it got towed back to Utah, they brought me a 09 Pete, ARRRRRRG!!!! Back to the ground's, if your state use's liquid magnesium chloride ice melt before storm's, well it is the most toxic @#$$ ever, for ruining truck's! It destroys electrical harness's. And yes the Pete let me down too! Had to clean cable's in
Colorado, after stopping for dinner. And then there's the EGR...............................
Cheer's, Neil.

[BRICKNICK]

Fellas I'm staring to see a pattern here, and what I'm taking away from this is give us back our old stuff and leave us be. I don't care what anyone says ill take a cat 3406 with 425 horse and running till she needs a rebuild, rebuild it n do it again. We are seriously watching uncle Sam and his cronies kill the American truck manufacturing and trucking in itgis country. We can't even get trucks to be reliable. WTF....GOD HELP US ALL

[Espeefan]

I think the biggest problem here is emissions equipment, and the EPA cracking down on the diesels. Most, if not all of the problems come from the emissions equipment. It's not any different with the diesel pickup trucks. Things are getting better, but they aren't quite there yet. It's still new technology. The same thing happened back in the late '70 with gas engines. They were poor performers, got worse mileage, and ran like crap.

All this just seems pointless. The diesel engines are burning more fuel due to regens, so that they can burn cleaner. Wouldn't it just be better if they got better mileage and didn't burn the extra fuel to begin with? You can't tell me burning more fuel, doesn't make more emissions then a truck that gets better mileage because it runs the way it's supposed to. Maybe the emissions savings comes from trucks that sit in the shop because they don't run with all the particulate filters all clogged up!

[BRICKNICK]

Here's my question....why must we abide by all these rules and regulations for EPA guidelines when CHINA the world's leading industrial and manufacturing super power has no pollution or emissions guidelines ???? Why do we have to go above and beyond and they dont even have to do there part at all cause we the Americans are doing it for them???? It's BS, I'm sick of always being the good guys.

[Lmackattack]

One problem with older trucks is that today's drivers are pretty useless for trouble shooting simple fixes...steering wheel holders know how to release the brakes and press drive, beyond that they get lost.....i100% agree that older trucks are more reliable. and if you have a small fleet it's the way to go. My last job we ran 98' internationals. Pretty good otr trucks...I drive a 97 Mack now and it has 840,000 miles. Engine has been rebuilt,basic maintance repairs have been done but thats it....simple repair costs are much cheaper vs a truck payment. The other truck is a Mack rd glider with a E7 mechanical. That truck blows black and just makes money...the rears in that glider are from a mid 70's r model that hauled steel all it's life......100% stock never been opened up....

[Supermario]

One of our field service guys got a new service truck. Older trucks used to be Ford 4x4 F550 or Sterling 5 ton trucks like my last one I had but I was heavy. Full tools and fuel I could only haul 500kg of cargo. So the company had the bright idea of go big to haul more.
The new truck is a International 4X4 Workstar. $265,000 rig The thing is an absolute Monster! He needs a ladder to reach the top drawers in the service box!
Nothing but trouble since day one. It was delivered 3 months late due to " electrical problems". Same thing others are suffering.... regen issues. About every 3 days it needs a manual regen done. The best part is, he has to bring it to the International dealer across the street! A CAT truck at a IH shop....priceless!
It drinks fuel like crazy, has absolutely no power. his top speed on the worst grade hill along the shores of Lake Superior was 45km/hr he gets passed by transports like he's standing still. All this for less emissions ??
I'm currently rebuilding a older 30 ton underground rock truck. I just dropped the fresh 3406E into it yesterday. No regen and all the other crap, nice to work on and it puts out 600HP.
It's not highway trucks that need more emission's controls....it's them poor guys working 2,000ft underground! And don't forget, all that smoke and carbon has to go somewhere ..... Up to surface and pumped into the atmosphere of course! a perfect example of " out of sight , out of mind " where's the crack down on mining equipment? Oh that's right, mining production could be affected, can't have that now can we

Mario

[Radio Control Trucker]

Global warming, emissions control, eco-friendly... ugh!! When will enough be enough???

The governments want to blame the problems in the environment on the working-class when, in fact, it has NEVER been mentioned that all of the nuclear testing over the years by the different countries has had to have made a devastating impact on the world.

If you ask me, global warming (as you know it) has most likely been effected by the years of testing of WMD's and is only perpetuated by the follow-up of emissions from man in the past hundred years to change the weather patterns.

As evidenced this past year, the weather patterns are changing and we are possibly going into a cooling trend. The emissions alone couldn't have this dramatic an effect in such a short time, as per: http://www.globalresearch.ca/global-...-is-here/10783

I apologize if I've spoken out of place, but I thought that I would share this info.

- RCT

(This is only an opinion)

[ihbuilder]

they all gettin that bad never owned newer then a big cam III once set right ran like a champ . same with IH 466B . Oh and them lil kittens are tier 2 0r 3 can't remember still no engine issues well starter on the 303cr at 1000 hrs same thing went wrong on the 247B at the same hrs . 1st electronic pump motor i had pump crapped out last year . 1 thing on that truck that is holdin up is the trany considering most say it needs rebuilding at 70k 160k keeps on tickin

[BRICKNICK]

Im just pointing out the obvious here but, this I belive is the first time in history that we are seeing our technologies go backwards....they are less affective and less reliable/dependable then the last series. Something has got to give. I would love too see all the manufacturers band together and say "there will be no further production until the US government loosens there strangle hold they have put on us with these EPA guidelines we have to abide buy." But they never would because of C.R.E.A.M. ( cash rules everythingaound me) We all know greed powers this country. One of the Cummins techs informed me that one of the largest producer of DEF fluid is owned by a parent company that is owned by two congress men and senator. Conflict of interest? I think so, they say we need this fluid now, its the law. And coincidently they are also the same people that make the fluid.....too coincidental for me.

[ihbuilder]

I know Nick , funny how we gotta burn something to eliminate soot My dads old IH DV550 gets better fuel mileage then my dodge but looks like a steam engine goin down the road .

PS DON'T get me started on them critters

[1985 kenworth]

i need to chime in here about the new crap .our highway service contract with the post required 5 yr or newer trucks .the guys all went out and bought new trucks and have had nothing but problems with them .it is the government trying to look good to the voters that they are doing something for the environment and in reality they are not .i have an 85 kenworth w900b with a 3406b model cat motor .its original and has been rebuilt twice..once with the original owner and once so far with me .the odometer has turned over 3 times now ..over 3 million and i did an e-test(emission test) last year we have to do every 2 years depending on your readings in ontario .if it blows half or less then the maximum limit you test every 2 years if it blows bad over half the limit you test every year .my last 3 tests were 5 then 3.2 and the last one was 1.2 .my limit is 40 i service that truck better than myself regular oil changes grease and top end valve adjustments when needed and it goes to tormont cat dealer only.not the "authorized cat dealers".which makes a difference..trust me ,you spend abit more but it gets done right.my company is trying to put me on some runs that require 5 year or newer truck just to prove a point to some big wigs .my point is its not the age of the truck its the maintenance (in older trucks) unfortunately the new stuff has too much electronics and other stuff that belongs in a bldg away from the elements ..i love my old truck and its pushing 30 years old and still runs like a clock .i agree let people decide for themselves whether they want new or old .but government legislation will in the end force everyone to comply because its good for the economy to buy new and spend money ..i say i have a shovel for that thought .

[1985 kenworth]

oh yea my truck smokes only when i put my foot in the tank and hammer it otherwise its clean

[Bigrigger]

Because I'm too young to have any extensive experience with the older trucks you guys are talking about, allow me to play devil's advocate!

Now, you all have valid points, and I don't mean to say any are wrong or worthless, because they aren't. We're all friends!

However, just because new tech and emissions controls are not preforming exceptionally from the get-go doesn't mean they are worthless, and especially doesn't mean that we are going backwards. Remember that even failed technology and experiments are still advancements in our knowledge and understanding.

Likewise, emissions controls shouldn't be thrown under the bus just because the machines that try to abide by them fail (or cause other things to go wrong, as indicated by Espeefan). Time will bring the necessary changes, and the technology will improve.

Perhaps the reason factories are not as good as producing quality goods is because of this "crack-down", but just like everything, they will adjust with time. When they break down, no one will buy any, and they lose money. They will then improve their product so that they do not lose money.

Somebody mentioned China... Well, they do limit child births and have other ridiculous government controls, so that sucks... Plus we don't have drivers that are as bad...

All (terrible) jokes aside, our solution is not to back-date. We could very well re-incorporate old tried-and-true tech, and refine it and equip it with more tech. We are always making progress, even in our failures.

I believe that if we, as a nation, are unhappy with our products, they will improve. We are a nation of people, and every voice has a chance to be heard. I don't know if you guys heard of SOPA or ACTA, they were bills attempting to censor websites according to big businesses and organizations. Well, we petitioned NO, and we stopped each bill from passing. So don't lose hope in your representation, because it does exist, and we can use it.

Well, that is patriotic enough I think. Let the flame war begin! Jk Anyway, I've said quite enough, but I have to reply to this RCT!

Global warming, emissions control, eco-friendly... ugh!! When will enough be enough???

When we are all dead. It may not be so far away, my friend...

I can see the friends list shrinking now!

Catch you guys later, hope you liked the 2 cents + tax!

[Lmackattack]

The only better thing with today's diesels is that the tighter machine tolerance and testing abilities have made engines last and perform better. Force things on anything or anyone and you have what we have today. And if we are talking Eco friendly what is worse
An truck engine that emits more poulition has minimal dowtime and components but lasts 20+ years or a engine that is slightly more eco friendly yet has 50% more parts and failures and lasts only 10 years. Accounting for everything that old engine in the long run is likely just as clean as the new one and costs half as much.

There was a story like this about cleanest car production in the USA.

The jeep grand Cherokee was the most Eco friendly ,a hybrid was the most damaging when taking into account where all the parts came from, hiw parts were made and products used, trucking all those parts,how far workers traveled to work.

When you step back and look at the whole picture the K.I.S.S rule seams to always win.

Let mfg do what is best and if they build a 15mpg diesel people will buy it over the old 6mpg diesels...


That's my .02