What would cause DEF pump failure?

[Darontorres]

Hello, i am planning to buy a bus and do a conversion, i want to do the alaska to patagonia route.



I found a bus, 2013 Blue Bird School Bus. 91,773 miles. 8.3 Cummins Engine
Runs good but the mechanic said that it goes through a lot of DEF pumps.


Does anyone know if this is fixable? and what could cause this?



Mechanical is going to be the biggest make or break for me in any purchase, i cant afford for my bus to break down in the middle of anywhere.



If someone could give me some advice i would greatly apreciate it

[s2mikon]

If the DEF gets contaminated or is stored improperly it can cause problems.

[Darontorres]

Originally Posted by s2mikon

If the DEF gets contaminated or is stored improperly it can cause problems.

Is there a fix to this? or is it somehting that will always be a problem? since im planning to travel through central and south america. i need to factor this in.

[s2mikon]

I don’t know if I would take one of those high tech wonders to south or central America. Hell the stealerships here in the states couldn’t keep them running, with factory support. Some of the emission crap on it may not even be used there. I would look very close at what they use there and copy that. I’m guessing a C type bus with a DT 466 and a manual gear box pre emissions and rebuild it before the trip.

[EastCoastCB]

I'd hold out for something simple and mechanical if going that long route.

[Booyah45828]

Originally Posted by s2mikon

I don’t know if I would take one of those high tech wonders to south or central America. Hell the stealerships here in the states couldn’t keep them running, with factory support. Some of the emission crap on it may not even be used there. I would look very close at what they use there and copy that. I’m guessing a C type bus with a DT 466 and a manual gear box pre emissions and rebuild it before the trip.

I'm quoting this because I can't say it better, but it needs repeated.

Don't buy an emissions bus and plan to take it to Central or South America. It'd be like buying a Lamborghini and looking for service in the south pole.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by Booyah45828

I'm quoting this because I can't say it better, but it needs repeated.

Don't buy an emissions bus and plan to take it to Central or South America. It'd be like buying a Lamborghini and looking for service in the south pole.

I wonder if mechs down there would at least know how to delete the stuff.

[s2mikon]

If you don’t know the laws down there it could turn out real bad.

[Booyah45828]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

I wonder if mechs down there would at least know how to delete the stuff.

I'd consider it very improbable. If he's interested in doing that, he's got more of a chance of finding someone to do it here in the states. 2013 is new compared to most of our buses, but it's still 8 years old. I'm sure someone has a delete tune for it.

The hard part of a delete isn't the hardware, but software. Anybody can go in with a sawzall and straight pipe the thing. It takes the software to eliminate the monitors and keep the engine running after you do so.

In the old days, a person could swap in a calibration from another continent that didn't have epa mandates, and that would allow you to eliminate the devices. They also had the ability to spoof sensor values and fooling the computer into thinking everything was hokey dokey. Some of the very early ones had a check box that you could select and deselect for compliance.

A lot of your recent engines have the emissions monitoring hardwired into the core calibration, making it impossible to remove the software, requiring an entirely new calibration to be created and installed. The guys who are capable of doing that kind of programming like to remain as anonymous as possible, because they have a big target on their back, and it's not just from the epa. Many people can connect to the bus and download a new file. I'm talking about the guys that actually write the file.

[Seb1]

DEF needs to be heated to avoid chrystalization @-12F. Heating system can be either electrical or with engine coolant. Check if the DEF lines to and out of the pump are properly heated. This is crucial for the route you are planning to do. If your DEF injection system is chrystallized somewhere, your will have the emission system trigger engine de-rating at one point, by design.

[cadillackid]

dont sell the south americans short.. les we forget these are the guys that build some technologocial and mechanical wonders out of busses. .

first you find these guys, then you make friends with them...

then you embark on your journey and have your bus deleted as long as you live in a non-inspection state you'll be fine with a deleted bus. if you live in a Climate-nazi state like california then dont delete it as you'll end up in trouble at home during inspection.. on some of the "dark-side" vehicle forums the south americans are the ones with awesome smarts when it comes to emission related "enhancements".

[cadillackid]

its darn near impossible to delete anything with gear from europe or the states anymore.. the authorities are going after companies that sell software / computers and after individuals that buy the gear to do it.. esp in the west coast and Northeast / east states.. not so much in the middle of the country or southeast where the states dont have annual emissions inspections..

[buslivesmatter]

Originally Posted by Darontorres

Is there a fix to this? or is it somehting that will always be a problem? since im planning to travel through central and south america. i need to factor this in.

Are you shipping your bus from Central to South America? You can't drive through the Darrien gap in Panama to Columbia.

Also, I just left Costa Rica after being there for 3 weeks and many of the cars there are older vehicles. The few buses I saw were also older. They keep and maintain older vehicles because parts are more in circulation and cheaper to import. Just something to keep in mind. CR is one of the more wealthier Central American countries too.

[Mr4btTahoe]

That's just DEF pumps doing DEF pump things. Lol.


Considering the lack of support for deleting anything emissions related these days.. I'd pass on it.


The newest models seem to be doing decent with their emissions systems now... but early days of DEF were no good.