may2021 - 21

Tampering is illegal and costly

Just like E+CS, Volvo does not condone any activities that seek to bypass or delete an aftertreatment system. " It is considered active tampering
with an emissions system and is against the law, "
Agebrand stated.
As Agebrand pointed out, the environmental
consequences of tampering are also quite clear.
" NOx emissions and particulates would not be controlled
from the vehicle, and the air we
breathe would not be as clean, "
Agebrand said. " When it comes
to a person or company actually tampering with a vehicle,
there are many consequences including voiding of the
warranty, hefty fines from the
EPA (Environmental Protection
Agency) or CARB (California
Air Resources Board), and
possible imprisonment. "
Some OEs have taken steps to
guard against active tampering.
For instance, Agebrand says
Volvo has developed several
functions and algorithms in
combination with hardware
sensors to detect any such
tampering or systems that are
not working. " If any customer
tries to bypass the system, for
example, the truck's 'check
engine' light will activate, and
the vehicle will go into a 'limp
home' state with low speed,
ultimately stopping if this is not
addressed by a service technician, " Agebrand explained.
Detroit Products' Copeland
said it's important to ask
why someone would want to
bypass or remove an aftertreatment system in the first
place. Typical answers are a
perceived reduction in performance or the desire to reduce
maintenance costs and downtime. However, perception is
not reality.
" The aftertreatment device
acts as an excellent muffler,
especially when paired with
a quieter downsped engine, "
Copeland explained. " That
often leads to the perception
of low power, even though
power is tested by the EPA
since most emissions regulations are measured in g-hp/
hr. This means a DD15 engine
with 505 horsepower is truly
producing 505 horsepower,
for example. "
With respect to maintenance costs and downtime,
Copeland said parked regens
and unexpected repair costs

should be minimal when proper use and maintenance of a newer aftertreatment system are
adhered to.
" Those costs are also likely to be offset by the
extended service intervals of modern equipment, " Copeland added. " Some engine oil changes
are 75,000 miles and DPF intervals extend past
600,000 miles. "

The bottom line is that the cost of deleting an
aftertreatment system is often much more than
the cost of proper preventive maintenance for the
life of the truck.
" A standard PM is under $1,000, but a new ECM
(electronic control module) to work with a deleted
truck can be $4,000, " E+CS's Griffith explained.

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May 2021 | FleetMaintenance.com

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may2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of may2021