Finally got bit by the DEF bug

[jagpot]

I dont know about “recalibrating” - maybe its a Spartan thing, but typically you just replace the DEF header and after a few ignition cycles, the ECM recognizes the problem is gone and you are good to go. Mind listing your codes? I hope you are at a reputable shop - sounds questionable to me. Also I hope you didn’t mean an extra $2k for this so-called recalibration. $2K for the parts and labor for the whole job wouldn’t surprise me but really it shouldn’t be more than a couple hours labor soup to nuts.

They still fail but its often because the mechanical DEF level “float” is fouled and that is eaily and inexpensively repairable. Also a bad DEF pump will mimic a bad DEF head. That’s why I’d like to see the codes and hear a bit more about this. Many people have spent a lot of money unnecessarily because of a mis-diagnosis and/or unscrupulous shops taking advantage of unknowing customers and covering up their own mistakes at the owner’s expense.

It’s also entirely possible that the DEF head is bad and Spartan has had more trouble with this problem than Freightliner as they used a different (worse) supplier for their DEF heads. I’ve had my share of emissions problems and I try to learn from every case I read about.

My 2016 coach is on a chassis built in 2015 so it also has pre-2016 emissions, and it has had the DEF head and DEF pump replaced, fortunately while the emissions warranty was still in effect. But the DEF head may not have needed replacement (I’ll never know) and the DEF pump failure (which the shop initially diagnosed as a bad DEF head) might have been avoidable if I had known then what I know now about these systems.

They still fail but its often because the mechanical DEF level “float” is fouled and that is eaily and inexpensively repairable. Also a bad DEF pump will mimic a bad DEF head. That’s why I’d like to see the codes and hear a bit more about this. Many people have spent a lot of money unnecessarily because of a mis-diagnosis and/or unscrupulous shops taking advantage of unknowing customers and covering up their own mistakes at the owner’s expense.

It’s also entirely possible that the DEF head is bad and Spartan has had more trouble with this problem than Freightliner as they used a different (worse) supplier for their DEF heads. I’ve had my share of emissions problems and I try to learn from every case I read about.

My 2016 coach is on a chassis built in 2015 so it also has pre-2016 emissions, and it has had the DEF head and DEF pump replaced, fortunately while the emissions warranty was still in effect. But the DEF head may not have needed replacement (I’ll never know) and the DEF pump failure (which the shop initially diagnosed as a bad DEF head) might have been avoidable if I had known then what I know now about these systems.

 

[purring along]

I actually considered that. Worried it won"t pass emissions.

You're probably right. The concern I have is finding repair shops that won't fix the coach, because of the removal.

 

[Richpatty]

You're probably right. The concern I have is finding repair shops that won't fix the coach, because of the removal.

Yea...I doubt Freightliner would work on it...

 

[Rich W.]

Well the good news is that technology is finally catching up with the EPA mandate (over ten years later) and I’ve read that Spartan has a new supplier and is no longer using Shaw Development for DEF heads, so once this is done it will probably stay that way. I haven't had any emissions problems for about three years and 45k miles after getting mine squared away.