I review a 6.7 Cummins and talk about it's aftertreatment emissions system and explain how it works as a heavy duty diesel mechanic and explain how these DPF and DEF systems may be ruining your diesel engine. These emission systems work very well when working properly but can also be very expensive to repair when they fail. So are these emission systems worth it, should you delete your truck?
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I wanted to talk about this subject involving diesel aftertreatment system because I came across an issue this week with a Cummins engine in a truck and found that the whole truck was de-rated because of engine emissions fault codes. I ended up finding a shorted out connector that caused this whole truck to be put out of service. these connector had nothing to do with the engine or the actual driveline but with these modern emission aftertreatment system is any sensor or electrical component fails the truck is rendered almost useless.
I do appreciate when these emission systems are working well because it does make the shop air I breath much much cleaner and healthier and I can imagine it makes city air much cleaner as well. but at what cost?
first you have your EGR or exhaust gas recirculation and that is mainly in place to lower NOx gases by lowering the combustion chamber
next you have your DOC and that is basicly like a catalytic converter
your DPF is next and that is your diesel particulate matter filter and that stops almost all particulate matter and soot from going out the exhaust
finally you have your SCR or selective catalytic reduction and that is combined with DEF fluid Diesel exhaust fluid to minimize most of the NOx gases into harmless gases.
so firstly having these complex aftertreatment emission systems can cost a lot of money when they break. it may take a mechanic hours to find which electrical connector or which component failed because he even starts on the repair. and usually the components are also very expensive to replace. I said about 90% of all engine work these days involves aftertreatment issues which is kind of amazing. they break on new and old trucks.
the other major downside is fuel consumption. your going to use about 20-30% more fuel with and emissions system on your truck. its like trying to breath through a straw. it makes the engine work harder. there is also extra fuel used during regen periods where raw fuel is dumped into the exhaust system to help burn up the soot in the DPF.
your are also going to see a pretty good power loss from an emission system. once again an engine that cannot get air out easily is going to loose power.
so I guess the question is are these emission systems ruining diesel engine?