Looking for experienced opinions... Exhaust system regeneration in process.

[Vt Redneck]

I have a 2013 2500 with 172,xxx on the clock. I have owned it for 4.5 years. I got the "exhaust system regen in process, filter 100% full" message on my 26 mile, mostly highway, drive to work today, for the FIRST TIME since i have owned the truck. It went thru to 70% and then completed within that time frame. I'm having an anxiety attack now, as im scheduled for a 600 mile, towing camper, family vacation this coming saturday, and wondering if this means my DPF is on its last legs. Anyone have any similiar experiences??? Trying to decide how to approach this in my limited time frame to react right now. Praying it doesnt do it again on the way home tonight!

 

[AH64ID]

What have your last 1000 miles of driving been like? Any short trips or excessive idling? As long as the message doesn't come back on the way home I wouldn't be too worried.

The 600 mile trip with the camper will be great for passively cleaning the DPF. Even the 260 miles of towing I did this last weekend was enough to completely clean my DPF and bring the delta pressure down to 0.00psi from 0.10 when I left.

 

[Ltngdrvr]

I have a 2013 2500 with 172,xxx on the clock. I have owned it for 4.5 years. I got the "exhaust system regen in process, filter 100% full" message on my 26 mile, mostly highway, drive to work today, for the FIRST TIME since i have owned the truck. It went thru to 70% and then completed within that time frame. I'm having an anxiety attack now, as im scheduled for a 600 mile, towing camper, family vacation this coming saturday, and wondering if this means my DPF is on its last legs. Anyone have any similiar experiences??? Trying to decide how to approach this in my limited time frame to react right now. Praying it doesnt do it again on the way home tonight!

Your truck is operating totally normally.
It did exactly what it was designed to do as far as the regeneration process.
It does sound like you need more extended highway trips to keep the DPF cleaned out more.
But, I really don't think you have any issue with the DPF.

 

[sag2]

Keep in mind that the useful life of the DPF was supposed to be around 180k back in 2007.5. The newer trucks make far less soot than the 7-12 trucks did so you should expect more miles out of one today assuming there are no other problems with it building soot. If you have a monitor to watch regens, as the truck ages you should see them occur more quickly as the DPF fills with ash. Because the ash is what finally fills the DPF, as the ash load increases there is less room to store soot before a regen burns it to ash, so it has to do them more often to keep it clean.

 

[Ltngdrvr]

Some last over 600K miles...

 

[Vt Redneck]

Thank you all for the replys. I am very familiar with the regen process and how it works, as I am actually a cummins certified tech in ISB, ISC, ISL, & ISX engine products. However I work on the heavy duty side and am not familiar with the automotive side well... So until this morning I had no idea this was a thing my Ram could display. As I stated, first time ive seen it, and i have put 70,000 miles on it. And my driving habits have had no real difference over the past 1000 miles, other than maybe more frequent towing with it being the camping season. Thus my anxiety attack, with the over all mileage im wondering if its reaching end of capacity for ash storage. And the timing could not be worse. Good old Murphy's Law . Also curious, does anyone know if they can be cleaned, or if they are replace only? On the bright side, it did not throw the message on the way home. So I'm hopeful it was a fluke thing, and really is just doing a normal clean up.

 

[gsbrockman]

as I am actually a cummins certified tech in ISB, ISC, ISL, & ISX engine products........Thus my anxiety attack,

Hard to visualize a certified Cummins Tech and anxiety attack.......all within the same post.

 

[Vt Redneck]

Hard to visualize a certified Cummins Tech and anxiety attack.......all within the same post.

Thats why im having the attack... Lack of blissfull ignorance! It's what the gut feels that has me worried...

 

[sag2]

I have heard of people removing them and washing it out with water in the reverse direction of exhaust flow. You are supposed to catch anything that comes out as it is most likely illegal to let it go into the environment. The hazard is the drying process. If you wash it and install it back on the truck and start driving it, you risk cracking the filter as the trapped water turns to steam. You can use a garden blower or shop vac to dry most of the water out before installing. Once installed let it idle for a while to slowly dry any remaining water.

 

[Ltngdrvr]

Thank you all for the replys. I am very familiar with the regen process and how it works, as I am actually a cummins certified tech in ISB, ISC, ISL, & ISX engine products. However I work on the heavy duty side and am not familiar with the automotive side well... So until this morning I had no idea this was a thing my Ram could display. As I stated, first time ive seen it, and i have put 70,000 miles on it. And my driving habits have had no real difference over the past 1000 miles, other than maybe more frequent towing with it being the camping season. Thus my anxiety attack, with the over all mileage im wondering if its reaching end of capacity for ash storage. And the timing could not be worse. Good old Murphy's Law . Also curious, does anyone know if they can be cleaned, or if they are replace only? On the bright side, it did not throw the message on the way home. So I'm hopeful it was a fluke thing, and really is just doing a normal clean up.

I'm surprised then that you are really all that worried about it.
I really don't think you have anything to worry about.
As I stated, they will last a LOT LONGER than 170K miles, mine is original and has 603K on it.
I have seen the 100% message on mine two times IIRC.
And, yes, they can be cleaned, but is sometimes hard to find a shop that will fool with the ones from a pickup.
There is one industrial radiator shop in the Houston area that will do them, hoping I never need to get any first hand experience with having it done.

 

[Vt Redneck]

I have heard of people removing them and washing it out with water in the reverse direction of exhaust flow. You are supposed to catch anything that comes out as it is most likely illegal to let it go into the environment. The hazard is the drying process. If you wash it and install it back on the truck and start driving it, you risk cracking the filter as the trapped water turns to steam. You can use a garden blower or shop vac to dry most of the water out before installing. Once installed let it idle for a while to slowly dry any remaining water.

I would highly NOT recommend that process, and would certainly never do that myself. Honestly among other things, it would likely amount to a waste of time as i doubt it would remove much ash in the first place. There is special equipment and processes for cleaning a DPF. I may happen to have access to that equipment at work, but I havent really researched to see if the ram dpf comes apart in a way where it is cleanable or not.

 

[Vt Redneck]

I'm surprised then that you are really all that worried about it.
I really don't think you have anything to worry about.
As I stated, they will last a LOT LONGER than 170K miles, mine is original and has 603K on it.
I have seen the 100% message on mine two times IIRC.
And, yes, they can be cleaned, but is sometimes hard to find a shop that will fool with the ones from a pickup.
There is one industrial radiator shop in the Houston area that will do them, hoping I never need to get any first hand experience with having it done.

Well that makes me feel better. I just dont have experience on the automotive side, and they are a much smaller filter than i am used to dealing with, thus i dont really have a good idea of what life expectancy is. Thank you for your input!