DPF and Automatic Regeneration Process Questions

[StevenHodgkins]

Hey guys! I've been reading through the forums about the DPF and Regen process and its been making me nervous. If its anything like our equipment, its not a matter of if it will happen its a matter of when. I've put 6k on my new truck now and wanted to let the group know what its habbits are and see if my truck is acting normal.

I rarely see the DPF get above 20% I think only once I saw it get to 30% but more often I see it at 10% or so. I cant seem to change what it does by the way I drive...I've also seen it go into regen when the DPF doesnt show anything in the filter? I havent seen any warning lights or messages in the screen to keep highway driving etc...I've read the owners manual and its not very clear on when its suppose to do its thing. The only thing I saw is if it idles or you drive very slow for 2 hours it will trigger a regen. I drove 7 hours to eastern Nevada last week with a camper and the filter sayed clear for the entire weekend.

I mostly daily drive it, my commute to work is 35 miles each way of highway driving every day then I do often drive around town bidding jobs. So I guess I have an equal mixture of highway and city driving. I put rock in my truck once or twice a week but I'm certainly not towing or have heavy loads constantly.

What do you guys recomend I do as far as driving habbits go? I live in Tahoe and we will get lots of snow, I'll need to warm the truck up pretty much daily to melt the ice and snow etc... I operate equipment and have seen lots and lots of problems with after treatment. Honistly its the reason I put off getting a 4th and or 5th gen truck over the years.

So far its been great, I mainly want to create some good driving habits to help maintain the system properly!

As always I apreciate your advice and knowledge!

 

[AH64ID]

There are two things that will trigger a regen, time and soot loading.

Every 24 hours of engine run time will trigger a regen, regardless of how much soot is in the DPF.. the gauge can read 0%.

Soot loading will trigger a regen at 45-50% on the DPF gauge under normal circumstances.

At the completion of every active regen the 24 hour clock restarts, regardless of what triggered the active regen.

The keep driving message only appears if the DPF gets above 50% and can't complete a regen, so you don't want to see that.

If your gauge is usually reading 12.5% or less then your driving is conducive to passive regen, which is occurring when the DPF temp is 650°F or higher. Towing generally creates passive regen, as does highway driving above 65ish.

As far as cold idling, avoid it. Use the block heater and winter front to pre-heat the truck. The truck also has an electric element in the HVAC system for faster heat. If the windshield is icing up I would look into a cover of sorts that will help reduce that.

 

[Diesel85]

Follow what @AH64ID said. It's good information.

I do recommend using PEAK Platinum DEF as it contains additives to make it produce less deposit crystals. It doesn't get rid of them if you already got them built up, but it helps prevent new ones from forming. There was a TDR issue that discussed this.

Just drive your truck and enjoy it. These modern turbo diesel trucks are lovely to drive.

 

[Ozymandias]

6k is still within the break-in period of the engine.
Stop worrying- start enjoying.
Drive it like you stole it, babying is the worst you can do to a modern Diesel engine and the after treatment emissions system.
The more load it has the better it performs.

 

[Ozymandias]

Follow what @AH64ID said. It's good information.

I do recommend using PEAK Platinum DEF as it contains additives to make it produce less deposit crystals.

We discussed that topic before and came to the conclusion that there is no such thing. The DEF standard is very strict, the only thing allowed in it is distilled water and urea and nothing else. Otherwise they couldn't print the DEF on the box at all. Same says the SDS for the product, ingredients - water and urea.

https://www1.mscdirect.com/MSDS/MSDS00068/30606818-20201225.PDF

 

[AH64ID]

Follow what @AH64ID said. It's good information.

I do recommend using PEAK Platinum DEF as it contains additives to make it produce less deposit crystals. It doesn't get rid of them if you already got them built up, but it helps prevent new ones from forming. There was a TDR issue that discussed this.

Just drive your truck and enjoy it. These modern turbo diesel trucks are lovely to drive.

The SDS sheets don't show anything about the Platinum DEF being different than regular DEF. Run fresh, cheap, DEF and drive the truck.

A side note for the OP, DEF and DPF are two separate systems.

 

[StevenHodgkins]

There are two things that will trigger a regen, time and soot loading.

Every 24 hours of engine run time will trigger a regen, regardless of how much soot is in the DPF.. the gauge can read 0%.

Soot loading will trigger a regen at 45-50% on the DPF gauge under normal circumstances.

At the completion of every active regen the 24 hour clock restarts, regardless of what triggered the active regen.

The keep driving message only appears if the DPF gets above 50% and can't complete a regen, so you don't want to see that.

If your gauge is usually reading 12.5% or less then your driving is conducive to passive regen, which is occurring when the DPF temp is 650°F or higher. Towing generally creates passive regen, as does highway driving above 65ish.

As far as cold idling, avoid it. Use the block heater and winter front to pre-heat the truck. The truck also has an electric element in the HVAC system for faster heat. If the windshield is icing up I would look into a cover of sorts that will help reduce that.

This is very good info, thanks. I'll look for a grill cover and possibly a windshield cover as well. I'm not going to lie, I typically idle my 5.9's for a long time while I get ready in the morning and or after work if its been dumping. I'll will eliminate that from now on, My truck does the the plug however I dont think its been used since its still tucked up behind the bumper. During work I cant always plug it in but I can at home and will. I have a friend who ownes 5 4th and 5th gens for his business and he's never had a problem with any of them. My fingers are crossed!!

 

[StevenHodgkins]

6k is still within the break-in period of the engine.
Stop worrying- start enjoying.
Drive it like you stole it, babying is the worst you can do to a modern Diesel engine and the after treatment emissions system.
The more load it has the better it performs.

Thanks, I actually purchased the truck with 44k on it from the dealer along with a 4 year unlimited factory warranty. I'll simply quit watching the DPF filter screen and just drive it like I normally do! I apreciate the responce

 

[AH64ID]

Another side note, there isn't a 5th gen HD yet. The current generation is Gen 4.5.

 

[Topzide]

@StevenHodgkins, Get yourself a wifi smart outdoor plug for your block heater. I have one and have it programmed to come on below 36 degrees and between certain hours. That way it isn't just warming the block all night long. Like @AH64ID has mentioned, you have heat strips to aid with interior warm up and defrost. 2 hours on the block heater gives me some heat at vent with 1/4 - 1/2 mile. You'll have it right away with the newer trucks. DEF is DEF! Just use the freshest and cheapest around. Very stable and last longer the lower the temp. In the heat of the summer is when it has short shelf life! Run the DEF tank down and add only as needed for the time of year or trips. Enjoy that truck! @Ozymandias stated the best way to drive it!

 

[Ozymandias]

As for the idling, it is still not advisable to do it for an extended period of time. But it is less harmful for the latest model trucks then for the ones where the DEF and DPF was technically brand-new introduced. By now they changed a lot of the programming of the ECM to take countermeasures to keep the engine and exhaust gas temperatures up in safe levels while idling for extended times - which the first ones didn't so well.

You can also check into an ESPAR coolant heater if you can't or won't plug it in. They are very convenient but come with a price tag. I had them in every car I owned since young, great product.
I just checked mine, it has 11'548! hours on it as I use it to heat the camper. Real German quality product.

https://esparparts.com/coolant-heaters-c-852.html

 

[Hoefler]

I've never seen my DPF higher than 0%, on my 19 and my 21. The tech at the dealer told my my 19 had only 2 active regens, my 21 has had 3. I tow a trailer 90% of the time, don't idle it, and don't ***** foot it when driven.

 

[bcbender]

Congrats on the new to you truck! Just drive it and enjoy it, I used to look at the DPF, but rarely do now.

Here is a study I did on the temp vs time for the OEM block heater, as has been mentioned about 90 min gets the most heat gain, but it only uses about the same amount of electricity as a TV set so not a issue running longer, I have a old-school outdoor timer that I set for about 2h before I usually leave and its always ready to go.

 

[AH64ID]

I've never seen my DPF higher than 0%, on my 19 and my 21. The tech at the dealer told my my 19 had only 2 active regens, my 21 has had 3. I tow a trailer 90% of the time, don't idle it, and don't ***** foot it when driven.

Unless you never drive your trucks (Less than less than 72 hours on the 19 and less than 96 hours on the 21) the tech was wrong, and doesn’t understand the system. If you want to know the minimum number or regens your truck has has then divide the total engine hours by 24. (Likely 24.2-24.3 to be really precise since the 24 hour clock starts at the completion of a regen, which is usually 10-15 minutes on a 24 hour regen).

 

[AH64ID]

Congrats on the new to you truck! Just drive it and enjoy it, I used to look at the DPF, but rarely do now.

Here is a study I did on the temp vs time for the OEM block heater, as has been mentioned about 90 min gets the most heat gain, but it only uses about the same amount of electricity as a TV set so not a issue running longer, I have a old-school outdoor timer that I set for about 2h before I usually leave and its always ready to go.

View attachment 138751

I haven’t tested my 18 or 22, but 90 minutes was also the sweet spot on my 05 for cost vs temp.

What kind of TV do you have? The block heater draws about 6.5A, my 55” TV needs less than 1A.

Your grid heater, WTS, cycling temp also seems high. 66° is the number I’ve always read and correlated with my 2022, I haven’t seen it in the tune files thou. I do know it’s not over 70° based on experience. I know it was 66° on my 05 because I reprogrammed it.

 

[bcbender]

hahaa... been awhile since I did that test.. could be off, I'd need to recheck. And yeah I have some old stuff in my shop For some reason I was thinking the block heater was 500W not 750W. Should have had a better analogy.

 

[StevenHodgkins]

I've never seen my DPF higher than 0%, on my 19 and my 21. The tech at the dealer told my my 19 had only 2 active regens, my 21 has had 3. I tow a trailer 90% of the time, don't idle it, and don't ***** foot it when driven.

I’ve seen mine do the automatic regen a bunch. When I drive it on the highway it’s almost always empty. Today I drove all day and it was empty until all of a sudden it was just below the 1/4 mark. I was in downtown Sac before that happened, then it cleared itself once I hit the highway. I’m sure it’s fine, just trying to learn and understand its habits. I most certainly try to drive it aggressively without being a jerk on the road!

 

[AH64ID]

I’ve seen mine do the automatic regen a bunch. When I drive it on the highway it’s almost always empty. Today I drove all day and it was empty until all of a sudden it was just below the 1/4 mark. I was in downtown Sac before that happened, then it cleared itself once I hit the highway. I’m sure it’s fine, just trying to learn and understand its habits. I most certainly try to drive it aggressively without being a jerk on the road!

Just to clarify, did you see the soot loading decrease without an "automatic exhaust system regeneration" message, or with one?

 

[StevenHodgkins]

Just to clarify, did you see the soot loading decrease without an "automatic exhaust system regeneration" message, or with one?

I went right down to zero without an automatic regen once I hit the open road. I’ve seen it do that a couple times. Only once was I just below the 1/4 mark and saw it go into the auto regen.

 

[AH64ID]

I went right down to zero without an automatic regen once I hit the open road. I’ve seen it do that a couple times. Only once was I just below the 1/4 mark and saw it go into the auto regen.

That’s passive regen and normal when DPF temps exceed 600-650°F.

Generally automatic regen is the same as active regen.