Ok, I am not sure if all are aware of this. Back in November of last year was the chip fire in Japan. See 1st link below. This chip fire made chips for all kinds of things related to electronics, and those same electronics are in most likely the DEF Head Units. Additionally the 2nd link below is an additional chip factory in Japan which also caught fire. They supposedly resumed production in April. The PDM recall on certain Newmar Coaches/Freightliner chassis was cancelled because the replacement parts kept failing a a higher rate than the original parts that needed replacement. This recall has not been rescheduled and will not be until the replacement parts meet more rigorous testing criteria. So if you Rear PDM fails, there may not be any parts to fix that either. Lots of things which today break, may not be repairable for quite some time.
And ladies and gentlemen, this is the primary reason, our manufacture's should keep critical parts made in USA. It does not help that governors of states where the bulk of imports arrive and are inspected by customs, shut down their port for months due to covid, where science has shown shutting down did not make a hill of beans and did not save/protect mitigate the virus one iota. So we, to a lesser degree, but think OTA truck drivers, by the possibly of thousands are in the same boat, bad DEF head units and no parts. I think it was Sweden which kept everything open, with the same across the population of infections and their economy did not suffer.
FWIW-I ordered a Ham Radio Power Supply and SWR meter back in Late January, they both arrived last week. I have a extra power cable and PC cable from Kenwood on Order, and has been on order since March, with no idea of when it will be received by the vendor, nor when they will ship to me. Many, many business up till COVID used the 30 day stocking/replacement window for keeping parts/supplies on hand. Because of facts above, that " stocking model flew out the window" and all of them are rethinking stock/inventory levels in the new environment.
The last report I read on RV deliveries for this year was that thousands of almost finished RV's are sitting at lots near Point of origin, awaiting the parts to finish them and ship to dealers. One report herein said all Newmar 2021 models' are spoken for, and another article said THOR 2021 units are also sold out. I think the new model year begins in August for the 2022's, this assumes parts to start, build and complete units are available. Since I am anal, and saw the handwriting on the wall in late 2019 as we were traveling home from Yuma, AZ, we stocked up on critical items needed around the house and did not want for those items hard to find this past winter/spring. Critical shortages of other things are yet to be determined but read another report, chicken is going to go way up because more and more restaurants are using it, and the roosters are not working 24/7. The severe extreme heat in mid and western parts of USA is not going to help alleviate these problems, especially if CA/OR/WA is facing severe water shortage and the bulk of materials arrive at seaports in those states. Electrical brown outs are already being reported and that will not help. If you have not seen pictures of Lake Shasta or Lake Mead, do an internet search, they are at historical low levels with no rain in sight.
My advice is, learn to camp in your driveway if, your rig is broken, as I am not sure (comments above reflect this) when this situation will get better. Spartan/Freightliner/Cummins parts systems are all showing backorder, etc. Although, I would still call around to various places and see if they got "one" sitting in back, not allocated for anyone. Computers make mistakes all the time. Since I believe Cummins makes all the power plants in our coaches, just different models of engines, you might luck out calling a shop in a smaller area to see if they got one.
Its my guess, things are going to be hard to get for various end assemblies until end of year possibly longer. One article said the chips needed for automobiles and their backlog will not be realized before December 2021 or end of 1st Quarter 2022.
And how this relates to DEF is, why those parts are not available. I also believe it proves my point to NOT use the DEF supplied at Truck Stops, due to (not proven) possible contamination of the product, and, although DEF can be tested, it's hard to do it standing at the island with five big rigs trying to get fuel/def with you. For a while, Walmart did not have either of their brand nor the BlueDEF in any size at our local store. That has now been alleviated. And finding quarts of Delo 400 15W-40 Engine oil has been impossible since January 2020. Not sure they even make that size, but I cannot find them anyplace. Amazon wants over 70 a case if the person selling actually has them. To rich for my blood. It's for my small engine diesel Kubota's and the genset in our RV, hard to pour gallon of oil into those small places, even using funnel.
I am trying to see light at end of tunnel to help you, but it seems you are doing everything I would be doing to find parts. Oh, you might check with repair places run by other than the big boys, some smaller private shops keep some stock on hand, but that would mean you might have to pay for the part and then try for reimbursement.
1. -
Fire Destroys AKM Audio Chip Factory: Can 2020 Get Any Worse?
2.
Fire takes out Japanese chip plant, owner Renesas warns of more silicon shortages.
www.dailynews.com
