I generally talk with the Branch Manager at one of the outlying branches. He's a horse riding buddy. I have been burned by the service dept at the "main store". You are nothing but a checkbook to them.
And this probably will be. I may have a distorted view of service centers as I've spent my entire life working in/with auto, heavy truck, & RV customers. We always explain, check & verify. A year ago, I took my 289D (300 hours) to the main store for an oil change, diagnose intermittant camera, check clunking noise in front suspension, and adjust door. Told ready in 3 days. In 3 days I called to see what was up. Svc Mgr out sick, no one knew. Took 3 days and several phone calls for someone to get back with me that it was "ready". I go to pick it up, and at this store they load it for you and then mail the invoice. Maybe Covid related, who knows. Anyway, 2 weeks later after asking i get an invoice including a $50 wash job (on a machine I cleaned before taking it), a new $600 camera, $95 to adjust a door that then now won't hardly close (I since fixed it as the wife was livid), $130 to test drive and declare the noise was a lift arm hitting the stop, a new fuel lift pump (Tech said in notes noticed it wasn't working) , and no oil change- said it wasn't due yet.......Why would a 299 D3 with 80 hours be a checkbook with the service department? This DEF code should be covered under warranty.
One question I'd have is have you been running the machine wide open a lot or not?
If I understand correctly, a lot of the regen-ing can happen more passively when machine is running hot, wide open, which helps keep the particulates in the filter lower and less need for the engine/computer to force a harder regen. I have no idea how consistent this is across equipment or if any practice is better than another. I've just been told the compacts like my 299D3 will do better if you run it hot. However I imagine my wallet benefits less with filling up fuel more... also feels like it defeats the purpose of helping the environment if I'm burning more fuel + DEF.
And this probably will be. I may have a distorted view of service centers as I've spent my entire life working in/with auto, heavy truck, & RV customers. We always explain, check & verify. A year ago, I took my 289D (300 hours) to the main store for an oil change, diagnose intermittant camera, check clunking noise in front suspension, and adjust door. Told ready in 3 days. In 3 days I called to see what was up. Svc Mgr out sick, no one knew. Took 3 days and several phone calls for someone to get back with me that it was "ready". I go to pick it up, and at this store they load it for you and then mail the invoice. Maybe Covid related, who knows. Anyway, 2 weeks later after asking i get an invoice including a $50 wash job (on a machine I cleaned before taking it), a new $600 camera, $95 to adjust a door that then now won't hardly close (I since fixed it as the wife was livid), $130 to test drive and declare the noise was a lift arm hitting the stop, a new fuel lift pump (Tech said in notes noticed it wasn't working) , and no oil change- said it wasn't due yet.......
So I call the Svc Mgr, and best I can get is it has been so long we don't remember. But it looked like those things needed doing, so we did them. No other real explanation offered. Did volunteer to send a Tech out to change the oil and waive the service call charge. Yippee.
So anyway- truthfully I have not dealt with heavy equipment dealer repair shops as a customer. But I know from my days on the Class 8 truck alignment rack that if we surprised a Co. or O/O with a set of tie rod ends on the bill, there'd been a very unhappy customer. And maybe I should have held someone's feet to the fire @ Cat, but it is surprising how detailed the Sales chain of command is, but not so much in service. I can promise- there is so much they can learn from a good independent repair shop's communication style.
And this probably will be. I may have a distorted view of service centers as I've spent my entire life working in/with auto, heavy truck, & RV customers. We always explain, check & verify. A year ago, I took my 289D (300 hours) to the main store for an oil change, diagnose intermittant camera, check clunking noise in front suspension, and adjust door. Told ready in 3 days. In 3 days I called to see what was up. Svc Mgr out sick, no one knew. Took 3 days and several phone calls for someone to get back with me that it was "ready". I go to pick it up, and at this store they load it for you and then mail the invoice. Maybe Covid related, who knows. Anyway, 2 weeks later after asking i get an invoice including a $50 wash job (on a machine I cleaned before taking it), a new $600 camera, $95 to adjust a door that then now won't hardly close (I since fixed it as the wife was livid), $130 to test drive and declare the noise was a lift arm hitting the stop, a new fuel lift pump (Tech said in notes noticed it wasn't working) , and no oil change- said it wasn't due yet.......
So I call the Svc Mgr, and best I can get is it has been so long we don't remember. But it looked like those things needed doing, so we did them. No other real explanation offered. Did volunteer to send a Tech out to change the oil and waive the service call charge. Yippee.
So anyway- truthfully I have not dealt with heavy equipment dealer repair shops as a customer. But I know from my days on the Class 8 truck alignment rack that if we surprised a Co. or O/O with a set of tie rod ends on the bill, there'd been a very unhappy customer. And maybe I should have held someone's feet to the fire @ Cat, but it is surprising how detailed the Sales chain of command is, but not so much in service. I can promise- there is so much they can learn from a good independent repair shop's communication style.
Thanks. My Cat guy did respond, and as you guys mentioned asked me to change the DEF. There is purported to be a drain for the tank you see as soon as lift the cab. It is probably time to clean under there again, so I picked up a jug of DEF a few minutes ago. Now to find a shade tree.Not sure if you’ve fixed this yet but their is a recall of sorts where they replace some parts inside the def tank. One was giving the same code and they fixed the issue.