Got a call about a piece of equipment having some codes and warnings: 550K / Cab 1T05500KKHJF332211 What I have been told so far: It is throwing codes - Def concentration low, 15min of operation until limp mode, low soot I have not had a chance to look at it (hook a computer to it) and was thinking regen, but was hoping for some possible insight before sent out to the field to work on the machine. Any help/insight is greatly appreciated.
Bad DEF fluid, try adding some new DEF fluid you know is good.
I would personally flush the tank. there is a potential the def has been cut with water. The systems I am familiar with (Cummins, Komatsu) use ultrasonic measurement to determine the quality of the DEF. Contamination in this system is a son of a bitch and leads to expensive head aches down the road. You can always check concentration if you don't believe the sensor by using a refractometer. Def concentration should be 32.5% Urea to 67.5% de-ionized water.
Tested the concentration and it was watered down. Drained the tank put in fresh DEF and it fired and ran fine for a short period of time then went immediately into limp mode. The next day went out to start it and load onto truck and there were no codes or limp mode and it ran fine for several hours. My thoughts: 1. The sensor is going out and is causing the problem 2. The sensor is good, but picked up some of the old contaminated DEF and went limp Client kept the unit and has been using it with no problems since. They are going to bring it back to the shop when client is done and want me to look it over. My questions: 1. Drain and flush the whole system with Distilled water and then refill with DEF 2. Leave fluid and switch sensor out for new 3. Flush and swap sensor Thank you ChuckRock and as always appreciate any feed back.
You are welcome, and I am always happy to help if I can. Just another bit of info regarding def fill. The best time to fill def is with the key off and any system lamps off as well. My experience with this also helps with giving an adequate level measurement once the sensors read again at key on. Do not over fill, the head space is for freeze expansion. In some cases key off DEF fills are a variable tracked by the ECM, crazy I know. Because DEF is integral in Tier 4 final machines for NOX reduction it is possible for DEF related faults to put the machine into Levels 1-5 inducement. 1 being a warning level 1, 2 warning level 2, 3 25% power reduction, 4 50% power reduction and 5 being locked low idle. DEF tank levels below 10% will start putting the machine into inducement which could explain the water addition to the tank to increase the level. Lower tank levels will increase inducement severity. Potentially, when that happened the quality was judged to be poor concentration putting the machine into a time based inducement - 4 hours to fix it or get locked at level 5. If the DEF quality sensor is reading adequate quality after the flush I expect the system to be operating normally.
For what it is worth, that machine is still under emissions warranty (unless it has over 3000 hrs on it).
Or you can just emulate the whole process and forget about those problems in the future
Well, they don’t serve good food in prison here.
LOL, good one. You don't have to remove anything. From outside everything looks exactly as it should. Texas/Oklahoma are big part of our market so I bet one of your neighbours is using it without you knowing But it was just a suggestion so no hard feelings.
Seems like you are wanting to sell some hotbox engine calibrations/Arduino kits - Yes, we know about them. What you are peddling is nothing new or earth shattering. I have had the luxury of dealing with them when they fail. They fail in level 5 inducement mode - locked low idle. I expect you haven't had to deal with this on the job site. For any readers coming across this thread interested in what this gentleperson is offering - If you do not know how to get your machine out of this level of inducement you are the fool on the job site who paid some dude from Poland 2000$ to bypass your emissions equipment, that is not going to go over well at all. I suggest you peddle your wares elsewhere, it is rather rude to do so here.