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Diesel exhaust regen set bumper on fire!

Stock exhaust tip?

The exhaust temps exiting are surely not 900 degrees.
 
Amazing! Glad nothing worse happened than what did happen. I see this only as an insurance claim - your truck was damaged for some reason, whatever that reason might be. Legally speaking, I don't see you have any legitimate claim & disagree with what you wrote your lawyer said. To me, it's not how much money would be involved, rather it's about how do you prove FCA/Ram was at fault? As you wrote, it was a "perfect storm" of circumstances that created the situation. The situation created by the weather is not FCA's fault.

Thanks for posting this - I often drive with some serious side winds here in the SW.
 
To my eye it looks plausible. It appears that if the wind was extreme in the direction described, that the superheated gas was collecting inside the rear bumper as it blew sideways and back. Likely only took just enough of it before some of the thinner plastics caught fire and eventually the bumper itself. It appears the side of the hitch itself is discolored in the direction the exhaust would have come from as well. I believe it.

@RamCares
 
jetrinka said:
To my eye it looks plausible. It appears that if the wind was extreme in the direction described, that the superheated gas was collecting inside the rear bumper as it blew sideways and back. Likely only took just enough of it before some of the thinner plastics caught fire and eventually the bumper itself. It appears the side of the hitch itself is discolored in the direction the exhaust would have come from as well. I believe it.

@RamCares
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I would have to say...the exhaust exiting would cool rather quickly as there is no way to keep it heated.
 
g00fy said:
Any chance some carboard or some other sort of flammable trash, got picked up on the highway and wedged in the right (wrong) spot and your regenning hot exhaust ignited that? Another improbable but not impossible scenario. I've heard a few stories of trash on the highway getting wedged in the wrong spot near a hot exhaust and causing problems ranging from an annoying burning plastic smell in the cabin (Plastic bag melted to the cat on my grandparents car), to an entire medium duty truck going up in flames (Cardboard found it's way between the cab, body, and stacks).
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Tumbleweeds are notorious for this.

I recall a short video story/skit/youtube of a tumbleweed stalking someone. Or it was part of a larger movie. Memory is failing me ATM.
 
g00fy said:
Any chance some carboard or some other sort of flammable trash, got picked up on the highway and wedged in the right (wrong) spot and your regenning hot exhaust ignited that? Another improbable but not impossible scenario. I've heard a few stories of trash on the highway getting wedged in the wrong spot near a hot exhaust and causing problems ranging from an annoying burning plastic smell in the cabin (Plastic bag melted to the cat on my grandparents car), to an entire medium duty truck going up in flames (Cardboard found it's way between the cab, body, and stacks).
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Definitely a good thought.
I didn't see any evidence of that. I had done a walk around at a rest stop prior to it happening. (It occurred during the last 79 miles/1+ hour of the trip)
 
Brutal_HO said:
PSA for everyone.

CARRY AT LEAST one ABC fire extinguisher in your rig. I carry three in the truck, 2 driver side and 1 pass side, and two road accessible in the camper.
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Mine were in my toolbox in the bed. Definitely the wrong place this time.
I'll add one in the cab.
 
Crazy! Glad everyone is ok.

It is odd though, that the bottom plastic bumper trim did not burn, but the top plastic trim did.
 
Jimmy07 said:
I actually find this very plausible in a “perfect storm” situation (no pun intended). Probably easier to let insurance comprehensive take care of it, and they’ll decide if they want to investigate far enough to go after the manufacturer for reimbursement.
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There are some who pull 5th wheels who have claimed that the regen has melted trim etc under the cap around the bottom edge of the 5th wheel...most posts I have seen are from several years ago and Duramax owners...

Must be a common denominator but not that common.
 
sstoner911 said:
Stock exhaust tip?

The exhaust temps exiting are surely not 900 degrees.
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It's the stock exhaust tip.
I've never put a pyrometer on it during a regen so I used the numbers I was given. The numbers I quoted were from the FCA engineering consultant and the mechanic.
My reading suggested it was closer to 600° at the tip.
 
sstoner911 said:
There are some who pull 5th wheels who have claimed that the regen has melted trim etc under the cap around the bottom edge of the 5th wheel...most posts I have seen are from several years ago and Duramax owners...

Must be a common denominator but not that common.
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I definitely found reports of trailers getting trim melted while being towed from the regen process. I would never have guessed it would happen to the truck itself, but it was a unique driving circumstance with the sustained winds.
 
SpotonJ said:
I definitely found reports of trailers getting trim melted while being towed from the regen process. I would never have guessed it would happen to the truck itself, but it was a unique driving circumstance with the sustained winds.
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With the trailers - I suspect this happens when the trailer is being backed in and the truck exhaust is to close to the corners(when truck is 45 degrees)of the trailers and perhaps left idling for extended period of time. All the melting seems to happen on the passenger side but this doesn't mean it happened while towing - its just to far away.
 
flan said:
I don’t think fuel is dumped down our exhausts to clean the filter. I believe you are referring to different technology that our trucks don’t possess?
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Fuel is injected. Not to clean the filter, to raise the exhaust temps.

Active regeneration - is triggered when the DPF exhaust back-pressure reaches a certain back pressure point and is interpreted as 80% soot for the 6.7. Then the ECU initiates a fuel injection designed to increase the exhaust temperature in the DPF to over 662 degrees F in order to oxidize the particulate deposits. When completed, the ECU assumes a some small amount of residual soot and resets the value to 9%.
 
I can believe it - although I do want to see more pictures that have already been requested.

When I first got this truck, I was driving it around the pastures before parking in the barn. This was after it's first regen and I could smell something burning. So much so that I pulled the truck back out from the barn because I had no idea what it was.

The exhaust was still hot enough to burn some pasture grass that got picked up under the truck.

Stuff like this is all by chance. Could've been a lot worse.
 
John Jensen said:
Fuel is injected. Not to clean the filter, to raise the exhaust temps.

Active regeneration - is triggered when the DPF exhaust back-pressure reaches a certain back pressure point and is interpreted as 80% soot for the 6.7. Then the ECU initiates a fuel injection designed to increase the exhaust temperature in the DPF to over 662 degrees F in order to oxidize the particulate deposits. When completed, the ECU assumes a some small amount of residual soot and resets the value to 9%.
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Injected into the cylinder, and burned there. As far as I know the only diesel that injects diesel into the exhaust post turbo is the (junk) caterpillars with the ARD head.
 
John Jensen said:
Fuel is injected. Not to clean the filter, to raise the exhaust temps.

Active regeneration - is triggered when the DPF exhaust back-pressure reaches a certain back pressure point and is interpreted as 80% soot for the 6.7. Then the ECU initiates a fuel injection designed to increase the exhaust temperature in the DPF to over 662 degrees F in order to oxidize the particulate deposits. When completed, the ECU assumes a some small amount of residual soot and resets the value to 9%.
Click to expand...
Not on these trucks its not injected into the exhaust
 
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