Another lawsuit has been brought against the truck and engine manufacturer Navistar over earlier model engines using exhaust gas recirculation technology, following other litigation that was filed earlier this month.

This one is a federal class-action filed on behalf of Washington-California based trucking company Par 4 Transportation that seeks to recover all losses suffered by trucking companies resulting from their purchasing or leasing Navistar truck models 2008-2013 equipped with Navistar's MaxxForce Advanced EGR diesel engines.

The law firm of Finkelstein & Krinsk, based in San Diego, represents the plaintiff.

According to attorney Mark Knutson, the MaxxForce engines contain a defective emission system that causes trucks to underperform, break down or falter without good reason.

“These Navistar engines have cost buyers and lessees, from large fleet owners to small businesses, millions of dollars in damages,” the law firm said in a release. “The practice of Navistar threatens the livelihood and reputation of innumerable businesses. The firm intends to hold Navistar responsible for the poor quality of its engines and reimburse all those damaged by excessive down time, repairs and tarnished good will.”

The firm also claims  the MaxxForce engine defect has led to repeated engine failures causing constant repairs that, coupled with a lack of help and direction by Navistar, is a constant business detriment.

“Navistar never did repair the emission system, replacing the engine defect with an equally defective and failure prone system” the firm said. “Some truckers have spoken about dangerous road situations arising as a result, and some have spoken of the noxious coolant and exhaust fumes that migrate to the passenger compartment.”

When contacted for a response about earlier lawsuits Navistar spokesperson Elissa Maurer said, “As a matter of a company policy, we don’t comment on pending litigation.”

In early July lawyers for trucking companies filed lawsuits in three states against Navistar claiming it failed to disclose known defects and problems with its EPA 2010 MaxxForce engines. This was soon followed by what’s believed to be the first federal class action, representing three trucking companies and involving similar claims.

In July 2012, Navistar announced that it was ceasing the production of all 15-liter MaxxForce Class 8 heavy-duty diesel engines and was abandoning the use of its EGR-only technology on all other Class 8 engines.