Muse of the Day, 10-5, DPF,Stuck Turbos

Do you own one of these EPA designed Trucks?

EPA as Engineers

Time to get off the political rant for a bit… I want to call attention to a post Brian made about his $55,000 truck  investment that the EPA mandated value out of, and my solution to counter the problem.

Some back ground:  Frustrated Dealers are finding it necessary to use solvents to free up ‘stuck’ turbos, These units are often nose bleed expensive to replace, the variable vane units more complicated and expensive than the fixed vane units, and of course Brian’s truck is complicated and more expensive than the 2006 model because of all the poorly engineered stuff hanging off of it..

From Brian:   

Well the turbo problem has returned periodically. Only 41K miles. What I found out was the year 2007.5 is the first year they put on a Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF). And To keep it from plugging up with soot they need to run the exhaust super-hot by some fuel injection during exhaust stroke. Because of the high exhaust temps they had to redesign the turbo to withstand the higher temperatures. Seems they didn’t redesign it well enough. By the way it’s commonly known that the extra fuel needed to superheat the exhaust and DPF reduces fuel economy compared to previous year models by at least 2 MPG. Hey EPA, doesn’t that extra fuel burned increase C02 emissions? Guess they cared more about visible soot than they did about C02 greenhouse gas. Bottom line is consumer like me is left holding the bag. Manufacturer couldn’t design a reliable product to comply with an EPA mandate that actually produces more C02 in the process.

Here’s my DIY idea, instead of finding  yourself on the road with no power towing, and having to go to the dealer where they use aggressive and likely carcinogenic  solvents to ‘unstick’ your obviously untested EPA mandated system, why not do it right on board the truck!

Mount yourself a Five gallon tank in your truck, a pump, and plum in a fitting so you can dump in that solvent while going down the road. Fill it up with an aggressive solvent, and maybe start the pump when you have a tailgater? I bet it would smell worse than driving behind a guy with a stuck float in his carb.

I do wonder where they get the solvents and what they use? Maybe they just walk over to the parts washer, fill a coffee cup, and dump it down the air intake? Once you’re off warranty, it’s probably a $600 charge..

Opps… sorry about the Politics, I guess it so intertwined now that we’ve  given the EPA the authority of a King. We know that the 2006 and prior trucks will be coveted, as we need run far less fuel and solvents through them per mile.

Now you just know it! Here’s a truck designed to use more petrol fuel, and now petrol solvents too! There’s every sign that “BIG OIL” has bought the EPA too 🙂 Political contributions made in exchange for mandating vehicles use more of their product?

Bwaaah!!!!

GB