The emissions webinar was moderated by (clockwise from top left) Overdrive‘s Todd Dills with panelists Gary Buchs, an Overdrive blogger, and diesel shop owners Jeff Gray and Bruce Mallinson.
If certain aftertreatment system problems seem mysterious, that’s often no accident. Much of the discussion among panelists in an Overdrive webcast last week centered around misdiagnosis – by the truck owner as well as by some technicians – and insufficient communication among those parties. Both failures too often contribute to unnecessary repair costs and prolonged mechanical problems.
The hour-long event, “Dealing with diesels’ aftertreatment demons,” was moderated by Overdrive Senior Editor Todd Dills with panelists Gary Buchs, Bruce Mallinson and Jeff Gray.
Buchs, a longtime owner-operator who now coaches owner-operators, cited an example of successive stabs in the dark experienced by a client and longtime friend of his, John Osinga of Lynchburg, Virginia.
Osinga’s trouble started as his 2015 model truck, which he bought in 2019 with 377,000 miles and a new diesel particulate filter, approached 500,000 miles in 2020. Dash warnings led to getting various sensor replacements, which in retrospect were only “Band-Aids,” Buchs said. Soon after, the de-rate warning lit up. Facing an imminent shutdown, Osinga had the truck towed for computer analysis at the last shop that had worked on the aftertreatment system.
The webcast was streamed live May 20, 2021, via
“It really got me thinking about how many times we get ill-diagnosed or misdiagnosed, and how much money that’s costing,” he said.
