Diesel Particulate Filter Gauge , Is It Working

[H3LZSN1P3R]

it’s just like my friends 21. His would show a regen a few times a day, his gauge would show it at over 50% one day, few days later it’d be at 100 and the go to dealer message. The dealer looked at it 3 times, clean whatever, clear the codes and within a few days it was doing the same thing. After swapping the def fluid out and adding a fuel additive everything cleared up.
If def fluid isn’t a factor why after changing correct the problem? I don’t see the fuel additive helping with that but I could be wrong.

Fuel additive could be allowing it burn cleaner or hotter. That would make a difference the DEF would not

 

[Brutal_HO]

nOX is created in the cylinder during combustion.

EGR drops the cylinder temps to reduce nOX, and when EGR isn’t as active (higher engine load) then DEF/SCR cleans it up.

EGR use is inverse to DEF use, which is why I get 1000 mpg on DEF empty and 500 mpg DEF towing.

Wow, I get 500MPG empty, 350MPG towing.

I'd like to get infinite MPG, just gotta name that tune.

 

[AH64ID]

Wow, I get 500MPG empty, 350MPG towing.

I'd like to get infinite MPG, just gotta name that tune.

That mileage was on my 18. I don't have enough miles on the 22 yet to know what it gets.

I've read they use more DEF than the 13-18 motors, which is fine because that means less EGR use and DEF is cheap even at 350 mpg and still has a good range.

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

That mileage was on my 18. I don't have enough miles on the 22 yet to know what it gets.

I've read they use more DEF than the 13-18 motors, which is fine because that means less EGR use and DEF is cheap even at 350 mpg and still has a good range.

The 19-21s get that the 22s get a little less… but on the EGR front i dont find much difference in EGR use to be honest from monitoring the PIDs for the EGR it still used a ton of EGR on my 19

 

[mboudoin]

Before I deleted, my gauge was always at 0 except for one time where it barely had a line to see and then it regen'd with the message popping up while the gauge was open and 25 hours of operating hit. All above info correct. But if your feeling a little mischievous, you can join us on the dark side and it will never move off of zero and your def gauge will always show full

I am almost to that point. What good is a warranty if they can not fix it in the 2 months they have had mine for a fuel related issue.

 

[joshuaeb09]

Fuel additive could be allowing it burn cleaner or hotter. That would make a difference the DEF would not

I would go with that. Diesel fuel quality here in the states is all over the map and can be rather sensitive to how well fuel stations are maintaining their tanks with the addition of Bio-Diesel in the blends. While it's pretty common to find top tier gas the only brand that can occasionally be found with Top Tier Diesel is going to be some Costco's. Additionally US diesel is only required to have a Cetane rating over 40 while most modern engines/emissions equipment is going to be happier closer to 50. On the other side of the Atlantic where Diesel isn't such a 4 letter word the EU mandates a minimum of 51. Lower Cetane = more soot = more DPF load, something the Europeans have figured out since they started down the emissions path a bit earlier than we did over here.

When I had a side business selling Primrose products, mostly agriculture or industrial, we would notice that we could eliminate a lot of the issues their tier-4 equipment would have with DPF by dosing all of their bulk tanks with a Cetane improver. Since I'm not in that buisiness anymore I run the HSS EDT in every tank of Diesel I get since I can always hit a WalMart for it if I run out when I'm on a trip and I try my best to only hit high volume stations. My old man still runs the Primrose 5007 in his truck as well as in our agg equipment and we haven't had any major DPF issues (knock on wood). I'll also adjust my dosing depending on where I get fuel since TX's TXLed program mandates a Cetane of 48 in more populated Central Texas/Eastern Texas counties.

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

I would go with that. Diesel fuel quality here in the states is all over the map and can be rather sensitive to how well fuel stations are maintaining their tanks with the addition of Bio-Diesel in the blends. While it's pretty common to find top tier gas the only brand that can occasionally be found with Top Tier Diesel is going to be some Costco's. Additionally US diesel is only required to have a Cetane rating over 40 while most modern engines/emissions equipment is going to be happier closer to 50. On the other side of the Atlantic where Diesel isn't such a 4 letter word the EU mandates a minimum of 51. Lower Cetane = more soot = more DPF load, something the Europeans have figured out since they started down the emissions path a bit earlier than we did over here.

When I had a side business selling Primrose products, mostly agriculture or industrial, we would notice that we could eliminate a lot of the issues their tier-4 equipment would have with DPF by dosing all of their bulk tanks with a Cetane improver. Since I'm not in that buisiness anymore I run the HSS EDT in every tank of Diesel I get since I can always hit a WalMart for it if I run out when I'm on a trip and I try my best to only hit high volume stations. My old man still runs the Primrose 5007 in his truck as well as in our agg equipment and we haven't had any major DPF issues (knock on wood). I'll also adjust my dosing depending on where I get fuel since TX's TXLed program mandates a Cetane of 48 in more populated Central Texas/Eastern Texas counties.

HSS is a special order where i am so i stop at my local Canadian tire and buy the Power service diesel clean it has a lube and boosts the cetane levels best of all it is the only additive approved by cummins. The only thing that sucks is for 14$ it only treats 2 tanks

 

[Ktm2smoker]

Great thread. Picked up my 3500 HO in August. Only 1800 miles, about 500 towing 10000 lb TT. My DPF gauge had about 25% from the factory, which makes sense with probably very short stops and starts.

I expected the guage to go UP.... like time/miles to next Regen. Like you all said, went to zero. I have made many short around town trips, and some 200-300 milers, always at zero now.

Every tank has Power Service additive with cetane boost and also the bioKleen because it sat for months and months being delivered. It's really cheap insurance compared to the price of fuel. May or may not be helping, but I'll go with it is and start watching my hours. (My Kubota attests to BioKleens effectiveness, the see through filter got progressively worse with black goo over the first year I had it and now is clean the last 10 years).

Anyways, the guage makes some sense to me now, I'm guessing I'm running clean....whatever the reason. Better fuel, additives, good DEF....

 

[Blythkd1]

I assumed when I spec'd the gauge and paid a few hundred bucks for it, that it would give some kind of status during regen. So far, it's never came off of zero and never shows anything different during regen. Seems pretty worthless. I wonder if it works as intended.

@Ktm2smoker, interesting on the Biokleen used as a maintenance item. I've used it but only to correct a problem, never as normal maintenance like I would use Diesel Kleen.

 

[Ktm2smoker]

With my L3700 if I stop using it the crap comes back in 6 months or so. I'm in Maryland, humidity high most of the year. But, yeah, I could probably use BioKleen quarterly like I do the Power Service Clear Diesel tank cleaner additive.

After 10 years I noticed a little goo sneaking back in so I bought some Biobor JF on the theory that maybe I'm getting a resistant microbial growth and it's time to switch up. Biobor is for off-road only so I'll be looking for another brand to swap back and forth with BioKleen in my RAM.

Sorry, don't want to hijack a great thread....

 

[AH64ID]

I assumed when I spec'd the gauge and paid a few hundred bucks for it, that it would give some kind of status during regen. So far, it's never came off of zero and never shows anything different during regen. Seems pretty worthless. I wonder if it works as intended.

The gauge is standard, no option to add or remove it.

The only option you can add on a C/C truck is the manual DPF regen.

It’s working as intended. Do a bunch of city driving or idling and you’ll see it indicate soot posting. There is nothing wrong with it always staying on 0%, that indicates you have good driving habitats for the trucks emissions system.

 

[Ktm2smoker]

Yep, that's my take also!

 

[Blythkd1]

The gauge is standard, no option to add or remove it.

The only option you can add on a C/C truck is the manual DPF regen.

It’s working as intended. Do a bunch of city driving or idling and you’ll see it indicate soot posting. There is nothing wrong with it always staying on 0%, that indicates you have good driving habitats for the trucks emissions system.

Yeah maybe I misspoke about the option a bit. I paid for the manual regen option, just assumed that the gauge was part of the deal.

I have left it sit idling a couple times lately until it triggered a regen and it still showed nothing on the gauge. So the gauge still seems pretty worthless. At least I can't see the value in a gauge that never comes off of zero. It doesn't regen very often in normal driving conditions. So if it sits an idles for an hour or two and triggers a regen but the gauge doesn't show anything, I'm still at a loss what value it's adding.

 

[AH64ID]

Yeah maybe I misspoke about the option a bit. I paid for the manual regen option, just assumed that the gauge was part of the deal.

I have left it sit idling a couple times lately until it triggered a regen and it still showed nothing on the gauge. So the gauge still seems pretty worthless. At least I can't see the value in a gauge that never comes off of zero. It doesn't regen very often in normal driving conditions. So if it sits an idles for an hour or two and triggers a regen but the gauge doesn't show anything, I'm still at a loss what value it's adding.

This is one of those gauges you want sitting at 0%, its good. That doesn't mean it's worthless, it's giving you usable information.. as a gauge should. Want to talk worthless gauges, oil temp and oil pressure are 100% worthless.

After idling did the DPF gauge show active regen in progress? If so then it was a regen, but it also could have been what was, and probably still is, called Net Zero idling where the idle adjusts to reduce soot loading of the DPF.

The DEF trucks aren't as hard on the DPF at idle thanks to lower EGR use, but do some slow speed city driving and that DPF gauge will likely climb. I have seen mine climb at idle and slow speed driving, thou I've never let it idle longer than a few minutes and the gauge could be increasing from the previous drive cycle.

 

[Blythkd1]

After idling did the DPF gauge show active regen in progress? If so then it was a regen, but it also could have been what was, and probably still is, called Net Zero idling where the idle adjusts to reduce soot loading of the DPF.

The gauge has never changed since day 1. It's got over 15k miles on it now. I typically don't let vehicles sit and idle for extended periods either but I choose that over freezing.

Last week it idled while I was unloading in frigid cold. After about an hour I heard it idle up then could smell "that smell" like it was burning up. I assumed it was in regen but since the gauge never looks any different, how would I know? I guess the other alternative would be that in 15k miles it has never regen'd yet.

Would an iDash show anything any different? I'm used to seeing soot load % and "active regen" through an iDash on a Duramax so this system is totally foreign to me.

 

[AH64ID]

The DPF gauge goes away and turns into a message about active regen in progress when it's occurring.

What does your C&C weigh?

You have done numerous regens in 15K miles, at least one every 24 hours of run time. Divide your total hours by 24 and that's the minimum number of regen completed.

I use a CTS3 to monitor when I am in regen since I don't keep the DPF page up. My CTS3 was out of the truck last week and I was coming up on a 24 hour regen so I did watch the DPF page for that to appear (I take notes on regen completion hours and miles). The CTS3 doesn't show soot load %, but it's not really needed with the DPF screen.

 

[John Jensen]

The DPF gauge goes away and turns into a message about active regen in progress when it's occurring.

What does your C&C weigh?

You have done numerous regens in 15K miles, at least one every 24 hours of run time. Divide your total hours by 24 and that's the minimum number of regen completed.

I use a CTS3 to monitor when I am in regen since I don't keep the DPF page up. My CTS3 was out of the truck last week and I was coming up on a 24 hour regen so I did watch the DPF page for that to appear (I take notes on regen completion hours and miles). The CTS3 doesn't show soot load %, but it's not really needed with the DPF screen.

My CTS3 has a % soot PID which I monitor. The truck regens at 100% and/or every 23-24 hours. The EVIC gauge always dis[lays the regen message but has never gone above Zero.

 

[AH64ID]

My CTS3 has a % soot PID which I monitor. The truck regens at 100% and/or every 23-24 hours. The EVIC gauge always dis[lays the regen message but has never gone above Zero.

I'll have to look again and see if I can find a % soot PID, there wasn't one last I checked.

Some funky things with the CTS3 software right now thou. After the last update my %load went from the 0-100% that it should be to 0-23,000%

 

[Blythkd1]

The DPF gauge goes away and turns into a message about active regen in progress when it's occurring.

What does your C&C weigh?

You have done numerous regens in 15K miles, at least one every 24 hours of run time. Divide your total hours by 24 and that's the minimum number of regen completed.

I use a CTS3 to monitor when I am in regen since I don't keep the DPF page up. My CTS3 was out of the truck last week and I was coming up on a 24 hour regen so I did watch the DPF page for that to appear (I take notes on regen completion hours and miles). The CTS3 doesn't show soot load %, but it's not really needed with the DPF screen.

When I've been pretty sure it was performing a regen (idled up and had that hot stinking smell outside then when I took off my fuel mileage was terrible for a few miles) the gauge didn't change. I've had it up for thousands of miles right after I got the truck and it never changed or showed anything different. I just quit watching it since there was no value to it.

Truck weighs a touch over 10k when fully fueled.

 

[AH64ID]

It's certainly not a gauge you need to keep up, but as I said before 0% is not telling you nothing... it's telling you that your driving style is working well for the emissions equipment and that's beneficial.

Your weight will help keep the gauge at 0%.