Regen Cycles 2023 RAM 3500 6.7 HO

[Av8r7]

Sorry if this post should go in a different section. What is normal regeneration cycle frequency. My truck seems erratic. Sometimes 2-300 hundred miles then 50 miles. I had the Banks Monster Ram intake with the rest of the power bundle.
Larger intercooler, and the Banks Intake filter system, and the Pedal Monster. Truck runs great just this regen cycle is getting annoying. Does not seem to be any reasoning behind the the regen. The DPF gage only shows about 25-27% when it goes into regen.
IO hae been doing idle downs to an EGT of 380 degrees or about 3 mins (which Cummins nor MOPAR techs will committ to giving me guidance on idle down on these new 6.7s). Would this be too much idle time? Thinking of dumping this regen system.

 

[flan]

your truck is regenning excessively. Really anything more than the 24hr timed regen seems excessive to me, as that’s all that mine has ever done.

 

[PRS]

What year is your truck?

Says 2023 in the title.

 

[flan]

Says 2023 in the title.

Eww got me before edit. I was going with a guess of a 2022, seems like they get most of the excessive regen fun.

 

[AH64ID]

The DPF gauge should show ~45% before going into a soot based regen, but it can sometimes rise quickly from 25% to 45%.

Otherwise it should go 24 engine run hours between regens.

There is a chart in the owners manual for turbo cool down time. The 6.7’s aren’t new.

You should avoid excess idling as much as possible.

What are your idle hours and total hours?

 

[mbarber84]

Very possible that your truck is having a regen frequency problem. It’s very common, and becoming more and more prolific with the 2022+ trucks. We need a little more insight as to how you use the truck, and what kind of drive cycles the truck sees. Repetitive slow speed, stop and go, or idle time is going to shorten the interval between active regeneration cycles. More highway driving and/or towing should decrease the interval of active regeneration cycles.

Also, how many miles on the truck?

 

[Av8r7]

Thanks for all the help.

The DPF gauge should show ~45% before going into a soot based regen, but it can sometimes rise quickly from 25% to 45%.

Otherwise it should go 24 engine run hours between regens.

There is a chart in the owners manual for turbo cool down time. The 6.7’s aren’t new.

You should avoid excess idling as much as possible.

What are your idle hours and total hours?

As far as the 24 hour cycle I don't think that is even close. I drive 30 miles to work about 3-4 times a week. The idle down chart I have not found yet. I used to use 3 minutes, and later went to EGT when I had gages installed on my 5.9. Now the EGT will not come down in 3 minutes during a regen, but idling adds to the soot build up. Catch 22 here. Do you guys know if the dealer can adjust the regen cycle? Also the regen seems to take a very long time and fuel efficiency plummets.

All this emissions stuff just seems wrong and illogical to me. We are going to burn more fuel to reduce CO2? Meanwhile we trash the engines. There a some videos online showing the soot and carbon buildup in the intakes which in turn destroy efficiency. What I also find interesting is that Cummins Techs and MOPAR Techs will not give difinitive answers on what is best practice for avoiding trouble with this eco stuff.

Thanks again for the inputs.

 

[Av8r7]

BTW 7.400 miles on the truck and it shows 60 idle (which I guess is minutes) vehicle info page. I'll check total time.

There is some around town time followed by 30 minutes of freeway at 75 mph.

 

[mbarber84]

BTW 7.400 miles on the truck and it shows 60 idle (which I guess is minutes) vehicle info page. I'll check total time.

There is some around town time followed by 30 minutes of freeway at 75 mph.

If your on the engine time screen that’s hours. Should show drive hours, idle hours, and total engine hours

 

[Av8r7]

Gotcha, I'll look tonight when I get back.

 

[mbarber84]

As far as the 24 hour cycle I don't think that is even close. I drive 30 miles to work about 3-4 times a week. The idle down chart I have not found yet. I used to use 3 minutes, and later went to EGT when I had gages installed on my 5.9. Now the EGT will not come down in 3 minutes during a regen, but idling adds to the soot build up. Catch 22 here. Do you guys know if the dealer can adjust the regen cycle? Also the regen seems to take a very long time and fuel efficiency plummets.

All this emissions stuff just seems wrong and illogical to me. We are going to burn more fuel to reduce CO2? Meanwhile we trash the engines. There a some videos online showing the soot and carbon buildup in the intakes which in turn destroy efficiency. What I also find interesting is that Cummins Techs and MOPAR Techs will not give difinitive answers on what is best practice for avoiding trouble with this eco stuff.

Thanks again for the inputs.

Everything you’re saying makes me think you have an issue on your hands.

 

[Av8r7]

From vehicle hours 227 total and 60 idle which seems excessive. Maybe too much? This could be the problem? However the truck did a regen for about 30 miles just the day before this last one. The DPF showed 0. When I headed home which is 27 miles another regen started about 1/3 of the way. Shutdown for the night and the cycle lasted after start up the next day for another 10-15 miles.

 

[AH64ID]

That’s 26.4% idle time, and is considered excessive. Cummins defines excessive as anything over 10 minutes per hour of operation, 16.7%.

I’m not sure which version of the owners manual you have, or if there are multiple versions, but the chart is on page 129 of the current version of the manual from ramtrucks.com.

 

[firemansdiesel]

BTW 7.400 miles on the truck and it shows 60 idle (which I guess is minutes) vehicle info page. I'll check total time.

There is some around town time followed by 30 minutes of freeway at 75 mph.

That’s alot of idle hours with that low of miles. For reference my truck has 17,500 and have 57 hrs of idle.

 

[Av8r7]

Thanks I found the chart, I will be more mindful o the idle time. I live in Eastern Idaho, and we get a few weeks of -10 to -15F, so I was letting idle while refueling. I do
wonder if that 60 was mostly on the previous owner since I am only doing an idle down of 3 minutes, but I will watch that and see if the regen cycles settle down.

 

[mbarber84]

Thanks I found the chart, I will be more mindful o the idle time. I live in Eastern Idaho, and we get a few weeks of -10 to -15F, so I was letting idle while refueling. I do
wonder if that 60 was mostly on the previous owner since I am only doing an idle down of 3 minutes, but I will watch that and see if the regen cycles settle down.

Highly recommend you to utilize your engine block heater as much as possible when it’s below 40°F. The automatic warm up strategy on these trucks has a tendency to be a little “dirty”. The faster you can get the truck up to operating temperature, the better for both the engine and the emissions system. You really don’t want to idle these engines more than is necessary. It isn’t good for in-cylinder combustion of the fuel, and it’s terribly bad on the emissions system.

 

[56ram2500]

That’s 26.4% idle time, and is considered excessive. Cummins defines excessive as anything over 10 minutes per hour of operation, 16.7%.

I’m not sure which version of the owners manual you have, or if there are multiple versions, but the chart is on page 129 of the current version of the manual from ramtrucks.com.

The 2500/3500 owners manual I downloaded from FCA for my 2022 has the cool down information on page 143, I have this on page 129: GETTING TO KNOW YOUR INSTRUMENT PANEL 129

 

[AH64ID]

The 2500/3500 owners manual I downloaded from FCA for my 2022 has the cool down information on page 143, I have this on page 129: GETTING TO KNOW YOUR INSTRUMENT PANEL 129

You have a 2022, the OP has a 2023.

 

[Av8r7]

Highly recommend you to utilize your engine block heater as much as possible when it’s below 40°F. The automatic warm up strategy on these trucks has a tendency to be a little “dirty”. The faster you can get the truck up to operating temperature, the better for both the engine and the emissions system. You really don’t want to idle these engines more than is necessary. It isn’t good for in-cylinder combustion of the fuel, and it’s terribly bad on the emissions system.

Been a RAM Owner for 22 years. This bogus emissions system is new to me and from what I am learning worsened the emissions from diesels and added a lot of negative issues to the best diesel engine made IMHO. Cummins have never smoked all that much unless you are over fueling. That's one thing I agree with Gale Banks on. Tons of black smoke indicates incomplete combustion on gas rigs as well as diesels. I have some over the road experience on the larger Cummins, the 350 and 400. They didn't smoke much either, not like CATS and Detroit diesels. This is kind of like putting a choke collar on a thorough bred horse and asking him to win the Triple Crown.

I plug in every night till the overnight lows are averaging above 50F. Only time I don't is in our hangar where we keep the temps at 65F. Personally the issues on the EGR system i due to backward logic. More fuel to clean a DPF does not truly help the CO2 emissions. I don't know what can be done about NOX, but I'll bet there is a better way to reduce NOX and run combustion temps and compression back to where you get more efficiency from your fuel. Thereby reducing emissions. I had friends in the late 60s that could get 18-22 mpg (freeway) from 327 Chevy blocks by running 11:1 compression and turning 450 or better hp from those blocks. Just simple pushrod engines, with 4 barrel carbs. We have come along way since then with fuel injection and cam shaft technology.

So to sum it up thanks for the advice, I will see where this goes over the next few weeks, probably have the dealer look at it to make sure everything is in spec, and go from there. VOTE in November!!!!!

 

[AH64ID]

@Av8r7 DEF allows the engine to run more efficiently and then deal with NOx downstream. Higher DEF use means less EGR use.