I will not hold back in saying of all the tools Navistar provides their software is excellent. The NED (navistar engine diagnostics) works very well to maintain and troubleshoot all of the engine models. When an engine code pops up out of the blue you want to get on it and see what is going on. If it’s something in the emissions area it has to be dealt with immediately. I will say emissions is the biggest problem the MaxxForce diesel engines have with constant soot build up blocking flow, plugging up sensors and creating other issues. A parked regen as you saw in the video is a very common maintenance step just to keep the DPF (diesel particulate filter) clean.
The DPF is a bundle of channels that capture soot and eventually (in a perfect world) turns it to ash that gets ejected into the atmosphere. That being said a lot of times it does not work out that way. Sometimes the soot load is too much for the system to handle and it backs up triggering an engine code. The DPF is monitored by the on board engine computer which reads temperature and pressure. If temperature rises or restriction goes beyond the set parameters the engine code lights up warning of a restriction in the DPF.
This is what leads to a parked regen. The average time for a parked regen is 30 minutes or more depending how much restriction there is. Another way the engine gets rid of soot build up is while the vehicle is driving which is called a passive regen. If this was the only process needed to keep the DPF cleaned up there would a lot of happy truck owners out there. However the overwhelming flow of exhaust through the system is way too much for the emission system to handle. Unfortunately Navistar could not keep up to the demand for less emissions and could not continue to manufacture their own engine brand.
Along with distasterous premature failures and not being able to install their own engine in their trucks really hit them hard financially. The cost to Navistar and their customers was catastrophic for some time and they had a tough period trying to get back on track with production and customer satisfaction. It’s at the point now where we have the experience to know what to do regarding preventing major issues. A lot of our older MaxxForce engines are now spare buses to keep mileage down and keep the revolving parts replacement door closed.
