Symptoms of bad DPF Sensor? 100% full suddenly and nothing on CTS Edge 3?

[Thorvald]

Got our first tow in to see how things behaved with the CTS onboard. The DPF gauge was at zero but truck had only been driven a few Kim’s over the week so it should have been “ripe” for sot. Sure enough after driving only a short ways towing it quickly went up to 25% on the EVIC and over 50% on the CTS. As the DPF EVIC reached 50%, the CTS worked its way to 100%. As soon it hit around 100% (and 50% on EVIC) an Automatic Regen started.

It took quite a while but slowly the CTS showed the number going down (damn I love this feature as the EVIC always shows “Regen in process” and you have no idea if it’s working). Monitoring the EGT sensors was also great as I knew it was doing something. When the EVIC finally came back (Regen over) the CTS read 47%. So not sure how these two PIDs are aligned but at least got an idea now (I managed to log it as well so should be neat to view).

Through the entire 2+ hour tow over lots of hills it never seemed to passively Regen, the CTS slowly started to climb again into the mid 50’s and once we arrived the EVIC suddenly showed 15% or so. Will monitor on the way back home.

 

[Thorvald]

Well the saga continues, it's only been a week and it's pretty much regen'd everytime we drove any far distance. Today it threw a code after a regen, P2459, Diesel Particulate Filter Regen Frequency (no guff.., that one I figured out for myself).

I'll do some digging, check the forum here (and check the air filter part#) and then if I can't figure it out, into the dealer it goes again (gotta love warranty).

 

[AH64ID]

Well the saga continues, it's only been a week and it's pretty much regen'd everytime we drove any far distance. Today it threw a code after a regen, P2459, Diesel Particulate Filter Regen Frequency (no guff.., that one I figured out for myself).

I'll do some digging, check the forum here (and check the air filter part#) and then if I can't figure it out, into the dealer it goes again (gotta love warranty).

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Odd that your exhaust pressure is negative.

 

[Thorvald]

True, it was idling after starting to get the code# so maybe it just hadn't been run? I'll keep an eye on that one in case it's just a CTS bug / bad PID.

Following all the air filter threads, I decided why not, lets swap that out and see if it helps. My filter was not terrible dirty but had lots of bugs/large debris in it but what caught me was the color (black edges) and the lack of a part number on it! Made in China? This should have been the factory built filter as I think the last time they just cleaned it (will have to check paperwork, should have been changed at 48,000km by manual).

By the way, who designed this? It's a HUGE pain in the ass to get this filter out since the housing hits a cross support in the front and you can't simply lift it out. No wonder lazy techs don't change it.





I'm also curious why all this lube (looks and feels like White Lithium grease) is all over my intake and inside??? Might be some spray the last tech used when diagnosing the banjo clamp issue but still odd.

 

[Thorvald]

I went to the local dealer and specifically asked for the AB part number which thankfully they had in stock:





Will go put this in, reset the code and monitor. I'll also check for any leaks I can spot which may explain why it soots up so quick.

Cheers
Tim

 

[mbarber84]

True, it was idling after starting to get the code# so maybe it just hadn't been run? I'll keep an eye on that one in case it's just a CTS bug / bad PID.

Following all the air filter threads, I decided why not, lets swap that out and see if it helps. My filter was not terrible dirty but had lots of bugs/large debris in it but what caught me was the color (black edges) and the lack of a part number on it! Made in China? This should have been the factory built filter as I think the last time they just cleaned it (will have to check paperwork, should have been changed at 48,000km by manual).

By the way, who designed this? It's a HUGE pain in the ass to get this filter out since the housing hits a cross support in the front and you can't simply lift it out. No wonder lazy techs don't change it.

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I'm also curious why all this lube (looks and feels like White Lithium grease) is all over my intake and inside??? Might be some spray the last tech used when diagnosing the banjo clamp issue but still odd.

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That is not a factory filter. It is a Wix 46930 and those typically have glue strips on the bottom. They have been known to cause issues.

 

[mbarber84]

I went to the local dealer and specifically asked for the AB part number which thankfully they had in stock:

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Will go put this in, reset the code and monitor. I'll also check for any leaks I can spot which may explain why it soots up so quick.

Cheers
Tim

If your dealer had that filter in stock, your dealer gets a pat on the back for being on top of things.

 

[Thorvald]

I downloaded the log from when I towed the trailer last week after the dealer repair/visit. Interesting how the PM11 sensor follows (more or less) the regen soot level status but is a little off. Wonder if that is normal?

 

[Thorvald]

Well color me surprised! Drove the truck for a good 2-3 hour drive (not towing) and by god the DPF behaved! It didn’t Regen and in fact the % soot never went above 52% (which is still zero on the EVIC). After each stop and start, the % went back down to 20-30% and then climbed to 50% slowly but stayed there. Huge difference from last week where it regened every time we drove it.

So the air filter seems to have been the magic bullet for my current issue, either dirty or the WIX filter.

We will be towing the rig back tomorrow so I’ll monitor and see how it goes.

 

[mbarber84]

Well color me surprised! Drove the truck for a good 2-3 hour drive (not towing) and by god the DPF behaved! It didn’t Regen and in fact the % soot never went above 52% (which is still zero on the EVIC). After each stop and start, the % went back down to 20-30% and then climbed to 50% slowly but stayed there. Huge difference from last week where it regened every time we drove it.

So the air filter seems to have been the magic bullet for my current issue, either dirty or the WIX filter.

We will be towing the rig back tomorrow so I’ll monitor and see how it goes.

The wrong air filter in these trucks can definitely cause issues. So much so that a little birdie told me Ram is actively investigating this problem in connection with regen frequency.

 

[I Love Grits]

Thankfully it got posted by theStuart’s in the TSB thread:

Post in thread 'TSBs'
https://hdrams.com/forum/index.php?threads/tsbs.3028/post-276890

i just need to verify that the “DPF Replaced” feature in AlphaOBD is the same as resetting the regenerative timers.

I also wish AlphaOBD would display the Soot level in g/l like the wiTECH tool does.

Not sure what interface you like, but I run the obdlink with gauges in the “dashboard” page and can pull in g/l

 

[Thorvald]

Looks like it is confirmed, towed back the RV for a few hours and had zero issues again. DPF EVIC never moved, CTS never went about 48% and I am fairly sure (logs will tell) that the exhaust temp was able to reach into the 400c range to allow for passive regen which I did not see before with the bad/old air filter.

*phew*

 

[John Jensen]

Thorvald,
You mentioned me in your first post to help verify your readings. Sorry, I haven't responded because my truck has been at the dealer for an ECU problem they are unable to resolve. It's still there waiting for a new ECU and hoping it will fix things.

 

[Thorvald]

All good John, now that i seem to have solved (with this forums help) the issue I now have a few logs of “a happy truck” myself lol. If things start to go sideways again, I should be able to catch it with the CTS3.

Hope yours gets sorted as well!

 

[Thorvald]

Well it’s now October 1 and with terrible driving habits letting the wife drive it basically 2 km to work every day (I drive my summer toy until I have to put it away for the winter), we haven’t had any issues yet. These are pretty much the worst driving conditions ever mentioned on this forum (no load, morning warmup, very very very short drive, repeat on afternoon).

I decided today to have a good look and take the truck out for a long drive since we’re towing in a couple of days. CTS3 DPF Load shows 57% on the filter and the EVIC shows about 1/4. Will post back after the drive and see if it regens.

Only item I’ve noticed is the exhaust seems to always smell like the truck is regenning But we seem to have had the smell ever since the filter got full so possibly it’s still not happy inside. Unfortunately, we only ever notice the smell when we first start the truck and walk around it. I’ll try to pay more attention after the trucks been running for a while or temp parked somewhere to see if the smell goes away.

Still nice to see that the air filter seems to have been a major contributor.

Cheers
Tim

 

[flan]

Well it’s now October 1 and with terrible driving habits letting the wife drive it basically 2 km to work every day (I drive my summer toy until I have to put it away for the winter), we haven’t had any issues yet. These are pretty much the worst driving conditions ever mentioned on this forum (no load, morning warmup, very very very short drive, repeat on afternoon).

I decided today to have a good look and take the truck out for a long drive since we’re towing in a couple of days. CTS3 DPF Load shows 57% on the filter and the EVIC shows about 1/4. Will post back after the drive and see if it regens.

Only item I’ve noticed is the exhaust seems to always smell like the truck is regenning But we seem to have had the smell ever since the filter got full so possibly it’s still not happy inside. Unfortunately, we only ever notice the smell when we first start the truck and walk around it. I’ll try to pay more attention after the trucks been running for a while or temp parked somewhere to see if the smell goes away.

Still nice to see that the air filter seems to have been a major contributor.

Cheers
Tim

On cold start only odor from my tailpipe is the pungent DEF smell. My hypothesis is the scr catalyst isn’t fully up to temp yet and the def isn’t fully burning off when it hits the scr causing the smell. Any chance that is what you are smelling?

 

[AH64ID]

On cold start only odor from my tailpipe is the pungent DEF smell. My hypothesis is the scr catalyst isn’t fully up to temp yet and the def isn’t fully burning off when it hits the scr causing the smell. Any chance that is what you are smelling?

Interesting you smell DEF on a cold motor since the DEF injector isn't firing on a cold exhaust.

 

[Ionicbrick]

Interesting you smell DEF on a cold motor since the DEF injector isn't firing on a cold exhaust.

This. If you monitor DEF pressure you’ll see on a cold motor it’s around 2psi, once it’s warmed up it goes to 12psi.


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[AH64ID]

This. If you monitor DEF pressure you’ll see on a cold motor it’s around 2psi, once it’s warmed up it goes to 12psi.


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The commanded rate is also 0% until it's around 12 psi.

 

[flan]

Interesting you smell DEF on a cold motor since the DEF injector isn't firing on a cold exhaust.

I don’t know for sure what it is but it smells like ass