Gave up on the 6.7 diesel now back to gasoline

[tempforce]

yea, with your operating conditions, you were definatly not working your truck. the gas engine will be a better choice for you.

i now have 60,000 trouble free miles on my truck.

6. 7 auto...

 

[GaryCarter]

Seems to me that DMosby made a good call under the circumstances. Even the 5. 9's I've had did not perform well from an efficiency POV with my 7 mile commute. Not enough heat and load.

And the 6. 7 does not like short hauls or creeping around, it can't ever complete the regen. One recent day we spent most of the whole day on unpaved forest roads, stop and go. When we finally got back on the highway it kicked into a regen that took about 40 miles, which is 3-4 times longer than usual for mine. I figure it was sooting up all day.



It's a great workhorse, but not well suited for low speed intermittent driving.

 

[PaulGray]

After reading all of this i have a couple of questions. first why did you not buy a Power wagon?? would have been great for you. . winch, low gear ratio plus the ability to tow a little extra weight(vs half ton). . second. . i do not understand why the members on here try to convince people that bought a cummins diesel, and were unhappy about it, to not sell it. . most people that don't know anything about diesel trucks want one because everyone else wants one. Nothing against you DMosby but these trucks were out for a year before you bought yours. . so you had every opportunity to look at all the complaints against these trucks. . you should not have been surprised by the emission problems. . the cummins is an engine that is made to be worked if you can't work this engine and are looking for a daily driver buy a duramax. (i would never recommend anyone buy a ford unless it is a 7. 3 with under 100,000 miles)

 

[DMosby]

Yes Paul, I readily admit that I did not do enough research before buying the 2500. I thought diesels were these long lasting rigs that could sit and idle forever. Boy was I wrong.

I got the rig on the recommendation of a good friend that ran a 4 wheel drive shop and had a model year 2007 RAM 2500 diesel. I thought I was getting the same great rig, just a one year newer model. Had I gotten that same 2007 model year I'm sure I would still be happily driving it.

Considering that Dodge had warranty claims for replaced turbo and replaced EGR in less that 6K miles (followed on by more shop visits under warranty) it might have saved both Dodge and myself some money had they added a warning sticker on the window telling me I could not use the truck as a daily driver. After all the warranty work they did while I owned it (and no telling what is yet to come) I can't see how there was any profit for Dodge in this truck.

If you want to lay the blame on me for lack of research and thinking that I could have a modern diesel that could both tow a trailer and putter around in the woods that is fine with me. Personally I'm more likely to blame the EPA for forcing the auto makers to kill what would have been such a great engine if it didn't have to breath soot.

 

[macdaddy]

You know I got to say I was a little nervous about my son buying an 08. He has had it over a year now...



*Not one cel

*Not one DPF regen



He uses the truck as a daily driver and logs about sixty miles a day. Each time the truck is started it gets driven a minimum of 25 miles.



Remarkable



Mac

 

[KLauber]

You know I got to say I was a little nervous about my son buying an 08. He has had it over a year now...



*Not one cel

*Not one DPF regen



He uses the truck as a daily driver and logs about sixty miles a day. Each time the truck is started it gets driven a minimum of 25 miles.



Remarkable



Mac

He got a gem then! It regens whenever it needs to but it wont tell you unless you have gauges or happen to have the MPG on the display. WHats his current MPGs? Mine sucked until I unplugged the EGR. Got 3 MPG increase right off the bat.



Ken

 

[tempforce]

Yes Paul, I readily admit that I did not do enough research before buying the 2500. I thought diesels were these long lasting rigs that could sit and idle forever. Boy was I wrong.

I got the rig on the recommendation of a good friend that ran a 4 wheel drive shop and had a model year 2007 RAM 2500 diesel. I thought I was getting the same great rig, just a one year newer model. Had I gotten that same 2007 model year I'm sure I would still be happily driving it.

Considering that Dodge had warranty claims for replaced turbo and replaced EGR in less that 6K miles (followed on by more shop visits under warranty) it might have saved both Dodge and myself some money had they added a warning sticker on the window telling me I could not use the truck as a daily driver. After all the warranty work they did while I owned it (and no telling what is yet to come) I can't see how there was any profit for Dodge in this truck.

If you want to lay the blame on me for lack of research and thinking that I could have a modern diesel that could both tow a trailer and putter around in the woods that is fine with me. Personally I'm more likely to blame the EPA for forcing the auto makers to kill what would have been such a great engine if it didn't have to breath soot.

i totally agree, that if the government had kept out of the diesel market. we would have trucks that would still have the ability to do everything an owner wanted to do. unfortunately we are stuck with what we get, along with a fuel mileage loss. my salesman at dave smith motors, had me read and initial a notice that i understood that idling and low load conditions would probably cause drive-ability and component failure issues. so when-ever i hook up a trailer, i use the fast idle feature. and i try not to use the truck for short runs, less than 20 miles... .
for hunting and exploring of trails or low speed driving. i have little smoke, a '83' ford ranger with the mazda built perkins diesel in it. (30-38 mpg).
cc

 

[PaulGray]

I agree 100% the EPA is to blame. . Ask any cummins engineer that if it was not for the EPA would they still have put the egr and dpt filter on? The answer: "absolutly not".

I bought a cummins for much of the same reason that you did: reliability and longevity. Do i wish i would have bought a 5. 9 yes but i got a heck of a good deal on my truck, and i am unable to afford a $50k truck, so i bought it knowing all the potential problems. But i also am willing to address the potential problems and i also know that I can't just putz around in this truck.

On a side note seriously why did you not buy the power wagon? it sounds like it would have been perfect for you.

 

[HBarlow]

He got a gem then! It regens whenever it needs to but it wont tell you unless you have gauges or happen to have the MPG on the display. WHats his current MPGs? Mine sucked until I unplugged the EGR. Got 3 MPG increase right off the bat.

Ken

It's not the truck, it is the duty cycle mac's son uses his truck for.

 

[DMosby]

Paul, in retrospect I think the power wagon would have been great and had I been able to get the same delta between MSRP and actual price paid on the power wagon as I did on the diesel 2500 this would have worked out better. At the time I was under the belief that a diesel engine would far outlast a gas engine. So I thought that by going with diesel this just might be the last pickup I would ever need to buy. I think the current RAM 1500 was less expensive than the power wagon which is why I went that way this time. If money was not a consideration I'd be driving a power wagon or at least something bigger than the 1500. Heck if money was not a consideration I could have just kept the 2500.

I still think that a diesel engine will last a long time. But with my rural location offering little opportunity to work it hard, and my desire to putter around the woods at slow speed, I think the expense of replacement turbos and EGR would have proven unaffordable. No way to know how that would really have played out, but I was unwilling to see.

In my last post I said "... not use the truck as a daily driver". That, of course, was a poor choice of words. The truck is fine as a daily driver, the issue is the type of driving.

In my opinion the 2008 RAM is not able to drive around slowly without a heavy load. Also in my opinion my use of the truck was not at all unreasonable. One dealer service advisor told me (after an EGR replacement) that I was not working it hard enough. When I told him I was driving back and forth between Portland and the coast he then told me that still was not working it hard enough as the road has too many curves and downhill stretches. No kidding! I protested that when I bought the truck no one told me that I couldn't use it to drive to the coast and then on the much slower coast highway. His reply was "no one knew when you bought it".

I bailed out due to fear of out of warranty costs. My guess is that Dodge figures it is cheaper to fix these things under warranty than to come out with a statement that they won't survive a light duty cycle. I no longer have any financial stake in the deal but I'm quite curious to see how this all plays out -- if the later models have the same problems and if there is ever a real fix for the 08's. Certainly if I had kept past the warranty the only option would have been to go with the deletes. But my preference is for something that a dealer can repair and guarantee. I am not aware of a local dealer that will perform the DPF/EGR delete and stand guarantee the performance.

 

[Cosmo]

It is illegal to do the EGR and DPF deletes, which is why NO shop will perform the deletes without you signing a statement saying that you're using the truck for off-road competition use only.

 

[LBARTLETT]

I just got a EGR and DPF delete done on my son's truck while he was in Afghanistan and I was not required to sign any statement

 

[KLauber]

My local diesel shop in Greenville does delete packages using H&S products and does not require any signatures.

Ken

 

[tempforce]

just depends on if you care about warranty and where you live...

 

[Cosmo]

Those shops you guys are going to are risking their businesses. If the EPA decides to crack down, they can expect fines of several thousand dollars PER VEHICLE if they get caught. It's stupid for them to do the work without requiring the customer to lie to them in writing.

 

[Nyoest]

Those shops you guys are going to are risking their businesses. If the EPA decides to crack down, they can expect fines of several thousand dollars PER VEHICLE if they get caught. It's stupid for them to do the work without requiring the customer to lie to them in writing.

If I load a gun and you shoot and kill someone with it am I guilty of murder?

 

[HBarlow]

Those shops you guys are going to are risking their businesses. If the EPA decides to crack down, they can expect fines of several thousand dollars PER VEHICLE if they get caught. It's stupid for them to do the work without requiring the customer to lie to them in writing.

Your statement is not inaccurate but in many regions of the US auto emissions, emissions controls, and emission control inspections are not very important to the overall routine of life. Out here in rural west Texas where we enjoy wide open spaces and a breeze is always blowing and we have very few liberals blowing hot air auto exhaust emissions are not something we pay much time or attention to.

 

[macdaddy]

It's not the truck, it is the duty cycle mac's son uses his truck for.

HB.....



When I asked you about the 08 before we bought it you said this would probably be the case... .



You were right!!



The truck has been an absolute gem... .



Mac

 

[HBarlow]

HB.....

When I asked you about the 08 before we bought it you said this would probably be the case... .

You were right!!

The truck has been an absolute gem... .

Mac

Mac,

I'm pleased your son is a happy owner. I think your son's experience is the most common among owners. We only hear about the ones that have issues.

It would be great if none of the ISB6. 7s had sooting issues but sadly, thanks to the EPA (Economic Destruction Agency) it is not the case.

 

[macdaddy]

HB... .



I totally agree about the EPA. But the 08 6. 7 G56 combo is truly a dream to drive. If I didnt already know about the issues associated with it (the G56), I would prefer it over the NV 56 honey.



Mac