Well Howdy!

[Rich W.]

Good Day All,

I was invited over here by another member (actually more of a suggestion) because he thought it might be a better fit. He might be right. Anyway here I am, a 2016 Newmar Ventana owner. It is my first DP, second class A, fourth motorhome, and I guess 8th RV including truck campers, a 5h wheel, and a toy hauler. So I’ve had a little experience and also do my own maintenance and some repairs depending on how serious and how much work it looks like.

Presently I’m struggling with DEF issues, and since I’m still under the emissions warranty, I’m refraining from ripping into it and fixing it myself, although I’m pretty sure I could. I’ve been waiting exactly one month for my appointment with a local Freightliner shop, and today I set off in that direction, giving myself an extra half day or so in case I end up arriving behind a tow truck. I dearly hope not, but I’m already in derate and it will only get worse. The good news is I only need to get 48 miles out of the thing - wish me luck!

I don’t know of course, what the outcome will be, but I’m going to put 5-6k miles on the thing before April 29 when the emissions warrany expires. It will either prove reliable, or I’ll be visiting a lot more FL shops. I’m plotting them on the map the way other chart nice campgrounds and POIs.

Meanwhile I’m making noises in other areas (govt and commercial) trying to direct some attention to the fact that it is unsafe to allow an unreliable emissions system to arbitrarily strand a vehicle used to transport persons. This would include busses as well as motorhomes. It’s equally stupid to have it strand haz-mar loads. There are exemptions for emergency vehicles and agricultural harvesters, and it is nothing more than a software download and while I probably won’t be successful, I’m going to keep pushing for this modification for diesel motorhomes. Again, wish me luck.

Well that’s probably enough for now. Hopefully I have a perfectly boring drive to Sacramento Truck Center. I’ll have an update later today or tomorrow.

Cheers!

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

Welcome to RVF, @R. Wold; glad to have you here. Keeping our fingers crossed that the 48-mile trip will be uneventful. We had a DEF issue with our previous coach (a 2014 Newmar Ventana LE) and it was a faulty sensor in the supply tank. We were "debated" for about a hundred miles and never went into crawl mode. Sure hope that is the case for you.

TJ

 

[Neal]

@R. Wold welcome to RVForums.com. You could also consider a local Cummins shop?

 

[Rich W.]

Welcome to RVF, @R. Wold; glad to have you here. Keeping our fingers crossed that the 48-mile trip will be uneventful. We had a DEF issue with our previous coach (a 2014 Newmar Ventana LE) and it was a faulty sensor in the supply tank. We were "debated" for about a hundred miles and never went into crawl mode. Sure hope that is the case for you.

TJ

Well this is my fourth episode and third derate. Never got down to “crawl” and I hope I don’t okay either. The coach got a new DEF header in November in N. Las Vegas, but it could easily be bad again. I have a lot of ideas on what is wrong, and some ideas to correct it. If they can’t fix it this time, and if I can’t get my emissions warranty extended (unlikely) I’ll file a lemon law claim, although I’m sure it will go nowhere either. But it will make some noise. Then I’ll embark on my improvements and if that doesn’t work, either delete the system or sell the coach. Very disappointing to be experiencing this. I was really excited about the coach. I bought it last June, it was a low miles unit, and I put over 10,000 miles on it before all this started.

 

[RandyB]

Welcome. I’ve read many of your posts elsewhere. Very helpful. Your expertise is very welcomed.

a suggestion to provide info in signature and profile

 

[Rich W.]

I called the Cummins shop in North Las Vegas the first time this happened and they said “not our problem - it’s a chassis thing”. So I haven’t bothered with them since, either on the road or here at home. But there’s a “Cummins Care“ shop in Reno I might look up. Also a Velocity Truck center in Reno. But right now Reno is out of the question because of the distance, grades, and weather. I guess I should talk to the local Cummins shop in Sac but I was pretty put off by the one in Vegas and the FL folks are very nice to deal with. But definately, before I rip all the emissions stuff out I’ll consult Cummins again.

 

[Neemer]

Glad you made it over, Mr Wold. Best of luck with the DEF issue. It's an albatross around the neck of many owners.

 

[Rich W.]

Since this was supposed to be an introduction here‘s this (just have the DEF thing on my mind):

My career was 40+ years in the Fire Service - every rank and position (other than prevention) from seasonal wildland FF in 76 to Chief, and now a fire board member in our local fire a district.

I’m a life long hobby mechanic, have a forestry background, spent over 30 years in rental real estate and property improvement (done with that now), and currently have a few acres of grapes as part of a very local vineyard and winery. Also have horses...

I used to sail and had a 2002 Beneteau 50 - fun times, but that’s behind me now. Future plans are to do some serious exploring in the coach including Alaska and Northern Canada, if I can ever make it reliable.

Cheers!

 

[AbdRahim]

Welcome. I don’t have a diesel, but am glad to see someone fighting for a good cause. I wish you victory.

 

["EZ"]

I was really excited about the coach. I bought it last June, it was a low miles unit, and I put over 10,000 miles on it before all this started.

Sorry to say but now I think you've figured out why it was for sale?

 

[Neal]

It's a great coach and I'm sure once you get the problem solved you'll love it. Just needs someone to get to the bottom of the issue and all will be fine.

 

[Germanrazor]

Welcome aboard!

 

[Rich W.]

Sorry to say but now I think you've figured out why it was for sale?

If the emissions system (or anything other than maintenance) had been worked in before by FL it would have been done under warranty and there would be a record of it. I checked this early on. Also all warranty work from Newmar and all recalls, including Daimler campaigns are on record - there were a few minor ones from each and I checked on this before I bought it.

So maybe if they paid to have it worked on somewhere else, but that seems unlikely since the emissions warranty is still in effect. The story at the dealership was that they traded it in on a new 45’ Entegra, but i have no way of verifying that although through a little bit of investigative effort I did get the name and contact info of the original owner. But I haven’t really felt the need to contact him.

It’s more likely that time, and either acts or omissions on my part (or both) contributed to the failure of what has proven to be a faulty, unreliable system. Contributing factors may have been driving in sub-freezing temps and buying bulk DEF, old “expired” DEF, or DEF that wasn’t stored properly. There are so many variables that can be affected by the owner because this is a fragile system, and variables that can cause mechanical or electronic failure because the engineering and manufacturing of the components are inadequate and/or substandard.

So it’s still guess work for now. I made it to the shop yesterday and I’ll find out today about this latest malady, and when I do I’ll post it in the Cummins or Freightliner forum.