6.7 Performance Question

[JLDanner]

I have a question for the pro's as I'm rather new to diesels - the 6. 7 is my first. The question is at the end but first I wanted to share our experience and brag a bit on Dodge's powertrain! Oo.



Last week I took my family on our first cross country trip pulling our 8. 5K travel trailer (from Dallas to Breckenridge CO - 2500 miles RT). I have to say first off that the truck pulled like nothing I've ever experienced before. I grew up riding with dad and grandpa pulling with 1970's and 1980's big blocks - pulling smaller trailers and managing only 35 mph at best up the long mountain grades. I too started out with a Hemi Ram but quickly realized that was not the choice I should have made. #@$%!



Pulling around 16K GCW and cruise set at 70 we flew up everything the Rockies had to offer Oo. (Raton Pass and I70 EB/WB) - with cool transmission/engine temps and MORE power in reserve, absolutely incredible... . Even more incredible was the way down the long steep grades, I literally never had to use the foot brakes and accidentally discovered that the cruise control will feather the EB on downgrades to keep you descending at the cruise control setting - even on 7% grade coming out of Eisenhower tunnel (I-70) descending into Frisco Co the exhaust brake would slow us down too much without cruise control set. AMAZING. No evident power loss at higher altitudes - its true.



Bucking 15-20MPH headwind ALL the way back to Dallas from Breck I again really appreciated the 6. 7 - 15-20psi boost all the way home running 70MPH in 6th gear (hope I cooked all the soot out!) That would have been a LOOOONG painfull trip with my last Hemi. :-laf



No troubles - no codes - only two DeSOX events that I saw. Pulling that hard I was running EGT's in the high 800's to low 900's and that seemed to be good enought to avoid DeSoot regens. Incidentallly I've never seem my filter load (Dashhawk) lower than during and after that trip. These trucks are MUCH happier when pulling HARD!



Gas mileage was even worse than I had planned - I had budgeted for around 12. 5 MPG but pulling 70 I was getting in the 10 range (hand calculated and overhead). On the way back hitting those nasty head winds I was pulling 8-9 MPG. So the MPG is pretty bad - but the POWER...



Now for my question - when pulling really hard (4-5th gear 2. 5K RPM 20+ boost) a couple of times both my wife and I clearly noticed the sweet smell of Diesel in the cab - we did have the air conditioning running with recirc on. Is that normal for these trucks when running near 100%? The smell would clear out when the truck could back off a bit.



(2007. 5 RAM 2500) 6. 7 CTD -68RFE -4. 10 (6/07 Build Date) BONE STOCK (All current flashes)





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[Garlic]

I have had 'the Smell' a few times but it goes away in short order. It is not noxious or offending, just unusual from a truck that has no smell or noise.

 

[jelag]

We own a 08 5500... we run this truck at 19,500 lbs or 90% of that weight 90% of the time... we have had no odors in the cab. Now has over 30,000 miles...

If you had a liquid leak the tattle tail of the diesel would be more than evident. . I can only assume that what you are smelling might be some exhaust odors from an exhaust leak under load... With the new DPF I'm sure there is a measurable back pressure that wasn't there with the old system... any loose connection in the exhaust system would allow the gases to leak under pressure and as that air fills the engine compartment I'm sure some of it might be drawn through the fresh air system... .

The next time you smell the odor I'd switch the AC controls to re-cycle the air in the cab and see if that stops the odor... if so its dragging in the odor from under the hood...

 

[sam-eye-am]

I get what smells like un treated diesel exhaust from time to time. But I don't think I have noticed the smell when working the truck hard. Seems to me it happens when driving around town unloaded. Which lead me to believe that it was a regen cycle in my particular case, but I don't have anything that tells me one is occuring or not.

 

[DSTEPHENSON]

JLDanner

We made the trip to Creede, Co in July and the power was great but after 5 days in Creede I got a cel. Took it to a dealer in Alamoso, Co and they said the DPF was partially clogged and they forced a regen. On the road the truck is great.

I haven't had the fuel smell in my truck yet.

I see you have the Dashhawk. Do you like it and is it worth the money.

Thanks from Waxahachie, Tx

 

[BobTaylor]

I just returned from a 6K trip, Tennessee to Nova Scotia and back towing my 14k 5er. My experience mirrors yours except that I found the shifting in cruise with Tow/Haul engaged to be excessively aggressive. Shifted too often and too low. I took it out of Tow/Haul and found it to be much more acceptable. I was having P2262 issues before I left and oil change light issues, but the long tough haul seems to have cleaned out the turbo. Unfortunately, I only go on a couple of trips a year. Probably not enough to keep it clean.

I, too noticed the raw diesel smell a time or two, but just for a few minutes.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

I have a question for the pro's as I'm rather new to diesels - the 6. 7 is my first. The question is at the end but first I wanted to share our experience and brag a bit on Dodge's powertrain! Oo.



(2007. 5 RAM 2500) 6. 7 CTD -68RFE -4. 10 (6/07 Build Date) BONE STOCK (All current flashes)

JLDanner, just wanted to say your truck looks great, really like how it's accessorized (except I'm not much of a brush guard fan ). I've owned a couple 2wd shortbed quad cabs, that's what I'm partial to. Had a '03 2wd shorty but unfortunately no longer have it. Glad to hear you are really enjoying your rig.



Vaughn

 

[JLDanner]

JLDanner

We made the trip to Creede, Co in July and the power was great but after 5 days in Creede I got a cel. Took it to a dealer in Alamoso, Co and they said the DPF was partially clogged and they forced a regen. On the road the truck is great.

I haven't had the fuel smell in my truck yet.

I see you have the Dashhawk. Do you like it and is it worth the money.

Thanks from Waxahachie, Tx

The dashhawk is great - 100's of gauges at your finger tip. Flawless really. I actually bought it for my Hemi Ram - to monitor the trans temp -carried it over to the 6. 7 'cause I had it... . As I said it works great and can help you keep track of the regen modes too - just make sure you download the latest operating system flash from the dashhawk website - they are always adding more parameters and fine tuning things. Even the backlight can be adjusted to match the instrument panel. Pretty darn slick.



To be honest with a trailer as light as mine I really don't need the dashhawk (much to my suprise), I've thrown everything I could find at this truck and it just muscles on calm and cool . It does give you much finer detail though - actual digital temps and boost psi



But just for fun I keep an eye on the following with one screen:



Boost

Trans Sump temp

Engine coolant temp

Battery voltage

Desoot status

DeSox status

EGT (post turbo)

 

[JLDanner]

JLDanner, just wanted to say your truck looks great, really like how it's accessorized (except I'm not much of a brush guard fan ). I've owned a couple 2wd shortbed quad cabs, that's what I'm partial to. Had a '03 2wd shorty but unfortunately no longer have it. Glad to hear you are really enjoying your rig.



Vaughn

I appreciate the compliment - I'm proud of the truck.



I must admit though if I had my way I'd be rollin' in the Resistol version!



I fell in love with that beaut at the Dallas Car show this past march. .



The grass is always greener ----



I bet the 2010's are really gonna be something special!