First Regen? New diesel owner

[John Jensen]

So currently I commute 25 miles a day, but won’t be commuting in 6 months. I do not have the TT yet so currently I’m not towing anything. When I get the trailer it will probably be 6-8 times a hear.

What should I be doing to keep the truck healthy when not towing?

Phatboy gave you good advice
The worst thing for any diesel is making short hops where the truck doesn't get up to operating temps. That generates soot that doesn't get cleared and clogs the DPF because the truck can't regen. I have this problem as my 2016 Ram 1500 Ecodiesel is my daily short hop driver. I use an Edge CTS3 to monitor the soot level and when it reaches the trigger % I get on the freeway and let it regen.
I've attached my notes regarding the emissions/exhaust system, hope it helps.

Edit:
Here's how/when my 2020 32500 HO does active regens.
The truck will regen if the soot level hits 80% or every 24-25 hours.
If there is an 80% regen, the 24-25 hour time clock restarts
If there is no 80% regen it will regen at 24-25 hours.
An 80% regen will take up to 20 minutes or 20 miles.
A 24-25 hours regen will take time or miles according to the soot level at that time.
I monitor the regens with an Edge CTS3

 

[JKSchnoo]

Thank you for all this info. But I’m still asking the same question: To make up for short hops, what frequency and duration do I need to get this truck on the highway?

We are an active family, and have lots of short trips to mountains on weekends and such.

 

[AH64ID]

@mbarber84 many of the trucks prior to 2022 have had the diesel supplement incorporated into the manual. AFIK all the information was moved.

Phatboy gave you good advice
The worst thing for any diesel is making short hops where the truck doesn't get up to operating temps. That generates soot that doesn't get cleared and clogs the DPF because the truck can't regen. I have this problem as my 2016 Ram 1500 Ecodiesel is my daily short hop driver. I use an Edge CTS3 to monitor the soot level and when it reaches the trigger % I get on the freeway and let it regen.
I've attached my notes regarding the emissions/exhaust system, hope it helps.

Couple things on your definitions. NOx is not cleared by regenerations, it's only reduced by use of EGR and the SCR. The DPF has nothing to do with NOx.

Also, EGT3 is a good one to monitor as it's the best indication of passive regen occurring. If the exhaust is above 600° on EGT3 then you are getting some level of passive regen, it's a better indicator than EGT2 for passive regen. I monitor EGT1 and EGT3 on my main screen.

Why do you have EGT2 next to 80% soot for the trigger point?

I understood all 19+ trucks to have the same trigger point for soot loading, which is ~45% on the dash gauge (100% on the CTS3).

The percentage after an active regen isn't a fixed number, it's based on how good of a job the active regen did and what you're diving style has been. I've seen it reset as low as ~6% and as high as ~15%.

Thank you for all this info. But I’m still asking the same question: To make up for short hops, what frequency and duration do I need to get this truck on the highway?

We are an active family, and have lots of short trips to mountains on weekends and such.

That's for you to decide if you choose to monitor your DPF gauge. If you see it over 30% frequently then I would consider adding some highway driving (below 15mpg does the best passive regen).

Short trips to the mountains aren't usually a bad thing, as the uphill cleans the DPF and the downhill doesn't add much soot.

 

[John Jensen]

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Good eye AH64ID

NOx is not cleared by regenerations, it's only reduced by use of EGR and the SCR. The DPF has nothing to do with NOx.
Correct, however, I don't believe I wrote that

Also, EGT3 is a good one to monitor as it's the best indication of passive regen occurring. If the exhaust is above 600° on EGT3 then you are getting some level of passive regen, it's a better indicator than EGT2 for passive regen. I monitor EGT1 and EGT3 on my main screen.
Correct. I do monitor EGT3. Will correct my definitions. Do you monitor EGT1 for Turbo temp or ??

Why do you have EGT2 next to 80% soot for the trigger point?
Because that and EGT3 is what I monitor for Active Regens.

I understood all 19+ trucks to have the same trigger point for soot loading, which is ~45% on the dash gauge (100% on the CTS3).
Correct on the CTS3. I don't know what "~45% on the dash gauge" equates to. My dash gauge has never come off of zero. So, is my Active Regen definition incorrect saying the trigger point is 80%?

The percentage after an active regen isn't a fixed number, it's based on how good of a job the active regen did and what you're diving style has been. I've seen it reset as low as ~6% and as high as ~15%.
Correct, however, mine has closed 99.9% at 9% on my CTS3. Could that be because all but one of my regens have been on the 24-25 hour schedule? The one was weird, right after the HPFP changeout, it was short and closed at 43%. It may have been triggered by the CP3 changeout software flash.

 

[AH64ID]

Correct, however, I don't believe I wrote that

Under SCR you have "cleans up the last bits of NOx not cleared by regenerations"

Correct on the CTS3. I don't know what "~45% on the dash gauge" equates to. My dash gauge has never come off of zero. So, is my Active Regen definition incorrect saying the trigger point is 80%?

I think so. Normal active regen is triggered at 24 hours or ~45% soot loading. Both are indicated with a 100% reading on the CTS3. If the soot loading gets to 80% you will get a warning on the dash.

Correct, however, mine has closed 99.9% at 9% on my CTS3. Could that be because all but one of my regens have been on the 24-25 hour schedule? The one was weird, right after the HPFP changeout, it was short and closed at 43%. It may have been triggered by the CP3 changeout software flash.

Interesting, if I am driving when an active regen ends it almost always ends in the 30% range. It's not until I shutdown and restart that it shows the lower number.

 

[JKSchnoo]

Lots of data here and a lot to learn. As a science teacher I’m very into it all.

I’m trying not to be paranoid, and to use this as a motivator to get out on weekends and explore beautiful Colorado.

I will be doing a significant amount of in city driving, and some short hops taking kid to various stuff.

But overall I’m aiming to get at least 30-40 minutes of dedicated, continuous highway driving in every week minimum, in addition to my other random highway driving, just to get the engine some continuous work. Hoping that consistency will keep everything good. Seem reasonable?

 

[John Jensen]

Under SCR you have "cleans up the last bits of NOx not cleared by regenerations"

You do have good reading skills. I will correct that

I think so. Normal active regen is triggered at 24 hours or ~45% soot loading. Both are indicated with a 100% reading on the CTS3. If the soot loading gets to 80% you will get a warning on the dash.

OK, another correction. 45% just seems so low

Interesting, if I am driving when an active regen ends it almost always ends in the 30% range. It's not until I shutdown and restart that it shows the lower number.

Yes, interesting. Does your CTS3 have the latest updates?

Thanks for helping me get my notes corrected. Appreciated

 

[Blackpowder]

Interesting, if I am driving when an active regen ends it almost always ends in the 30% range. It's not until I shutdown and restart that it shows the lower number.

This is interesting. Since monitoring this summer, mine typically ends around 40% after active regen. It stays in this area until I hit around 10 hours. Then increases fairly linear with time until 100% and the next active regen.

 

[AH64ID]

Yes, interesting. Does your CTS3 have the latest updates?

Yea, unfortunately since engine load hasn’t worked correctly in over a year. I update it fairly often hoping load will get fixed.

I’ve found that the CTS3 % really jumps around a lot until 10-12 hours has gone by, which would be where soot loading is driving the %age. Under normal conditions time takes over around 10-12 hours and it smooths out.