jpaeth
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2019
- Messages
- 182
- Reaction score
- 272
So my new RAM 3500 is my first ever diesel truck. So all I know about the regen process, I have heard from friends or read online. I was under the impression that the trucks had to maintain at least 50 mph during the regen process to be functional.
I love having the gauge in the instrument cluster that show the level of the DPF, as well as when it is actively in regen mode. I watched the first couple regen cycles and it happened to kick off when I expected, the filter was about half capacity, and I had hit the highway and held speed for about 15 minutes when it started regen. 20 or so minutes go by, and the gauge pops back up showing an empty filter. All is good and as expected. Then on the 3rd or 4th cycle, I was driving down the road and it said it was in regen mode... hmm, well I did get up to 50 back there a minute ago, maybe that initiated it and now it has to finish, even though I'm in stop and go traffic.
I made a few stops and stopped and started the engine in the process. I expected the regen to cancel , after all the filter was less than half full.. its not critical at this point, right? Well the message stays on the dash through about 30-40 more minutes of stop and go. Its still up so I figure on my way home I will swing out to the freeway and make a little 20 minute loop to let it do its thing. Once I make it to the freeway, I'm at highway speeds for 3-4 minutes and the regen message goes away and Im showing an empty filter again.
I was thinking that it wouldn't be able to do any regeneration while in stop and go traffic, at idle essentially. But it must have... it took no time at all to finish when at highway speeds.
So that cycle was not what I was expecting, but I thought at least I must have gotten up to speed enough for the truck to think it was good to do it and then just committed to it once it started.
Now, the most recent cycle, I havent been over 40 mph in the past 2 days. I was driving yesterday and while stopped at a light, the message came up saying regen in process. I have been in stop and go all afternoon yesterday, and then this morning and its still going to regen as soon as I back out of the driveway. The filter gauge is coming up when i start it so I can see I'm under 1/4, so it is actually burning out some soot, just slowly. So for this cycle I am going to stay under 50 until it finishes just to see what it does.
I guess what I'm getting at, is, that it would seem these trucks can regen the exhaust system at low speeds around town, contrary to what I believed was the case.
I love having the gauge in the instrument cluster that show the level of the DPF, as well as when it is actively in regen mode. I watched the first couple regen cycles and it happened to kick off when I expected, the filter was about half capacity, and I had hit the highway and held speed for about 15 minutes when it started regen. 20 or so minutes go by, and the gauge pops back up showing an empty filter. All is good and as expected. Then on the 3rd or 4th cycle, I was driving down the road and it said it was in regen mode... hmm, well I did get up to 50 back there a minute ago, maybe that initiated it and now it has to finish, even though I'm in stop and go traffic.
I made a few stops and stopped and started the engine in the process. I expected the regen to cancel , after all the filter was less than half full.. its not critical at this point, right? Well the message stays on the dash through about 30-40 more minutes of stop and go. Its still up so I figure on my way home I will swing out to the freeway and make a little 20 minute loop to let it do its thing. Once I make it to the freeway, I'm at highway speeds for 3-4 minutes and the regen message goes away and Im showing an empty filter again.
I was thinking that it wouldn't be able to do any regeneration while in stop and go traffic, at idle essentially. But it must have... it took no time at all to finish when at highway speeds.
So that cycle was not what I was expecting, but I thought at least I must have gotten up to speed enough for the truck to think it was good to do it and then just committed to it once it started.
Now, the most recent cycle, I havent been over 40 mph in the past 2 days. I was driving yesterday and while stopped at a light, the message came up saying regen in process. I have been in stop and go all afternoon yesterday, and then this morning and its still going to regen as soon as I back out of the driveway. The filter gauge is coming up when i start it so I can see I'm under 1/4, so it is actually burning out some soot, just slowly. So for this cycle I am going to stay under 50 until it finishes just to see what it does.
I guess what I'm getting at, is, that it would seem these trucks can regen the exhaust system at low speeds around town, contrary to what I believed was the case.