Regeneration

[Don]

I've got about 8400 miles on my truck with about 3/4s towing my 5th wheel and most of the remaining miles running down the highway. I haven't thought about it before, but I have never seen a message that said the truck was in regeneration mode. I can't believe it hasn't regenerated in all those miles, but any ideas why I haven't seen a message?

Don

 

[Hoefler]

It only shows any indication of a re-gen when the filter is above 80% full. Otherwise it will re-gen with out you ever knowing it is happening. The type of driving that you are doing is the best thing you can do for it. I would bet you have had at least 2 dozen re-gens by now.

 

[Mikey-KE7LBB]

It has happened many times while conditions were right...



If you pull up to a stop light and notice a little bit more timing rattle, then it is in regen mode.



I was quite upset that my '09 would start a regen as I was taking the exit ramp instead of it doing so sometime during the 250 mile drive home, but I solved the issue with a piece of 4" pipe and a Smarty

 

[HBarlow]

Don,

Our Rams have no dash display for regen mode but it is happening frequently on your truck. It is hard to detect without gauges. Over time I began to notice occasionally at idle the exhaust made a little throatier sound and when I gently press the accelerator pedal to launch from a stop immediate throttle response is a bit more pronounced than when not in regen mode. My egt gauge confirms it with higher egts.

When driving at steady speed on the highway a full regen takes roughly 45 minutes to complete.

As long as you are doing lots of highway driving or towing your regens will be silent and unknown and you'll never have a problem with that truck.

 

[Don]

Thanks for the information.
Don

 

[n7gxz]

If you watch your real time fuel economy display you'll noitce it will drop off when in regen mode.

Kevin

 

[RonD]

On mine you can smell something strange going on, once I pulled in the garage and opened the door, another time we were towing opened the window at a stop light, same smell, it's not a big deal, but that is when I noticed it.

 

[Cummins12V98]

Mine came on once when I had been towing for hours. Had less than 3K on truck. I droped down a gear and it went away in a couple minutes. I think it was a fluke that it came on like that. Never has came on other than that one time in 14,500 miles. Drive it like it was meant to be driven and it won't come on.

 

[Patty]

It regens a lot more than you think. I don't drive my truck daily, using it only for highway trips or towing. It seems that it enters regen mode almost every time I drive it! And as Mikey said it often goes into regen mode at the most inopportune time, like when you're about to shut it off. I know it's in regen as I installed an Edge Insight CTS and this is one of the indicators I always have displayed on my screen. I also notice the smell if it's in regen and I'm driving slow (like in a parking lot) or come to a stop.

 

[ktimmer]

I installed an Edge CTS. It tells you when the engine is in regen mode. You will be surprized how often it does that. I did not think mine was doing it either. Wrong!!!! About once every 200-400 miles on mine and I have been traveling the last month to the NE. It doesn't stay on long-generally less than 20-30 miles. The CTS is ONLY a gauge... ... ... ... .

 

[Beast2B]

There are a couple different types of regen as well. Passive happens for a few seconds at a time quite often, while the active regen is the one that lasts 45 minutes and kills the mpg for a while!

 

[HBarlow]

Good reminder. I think passive regen occurs sometimes when we allow the trucks to idle.

 

[Beast2B]

Does the CTS tell you when the passive regens are happening?

 

[n7gxz]

I've never seen anything on the EVIC that says regen, either passive or active. The only indication that I see is the real time MPG will drop dramatically when it is in regen mode. Also if you have gauges the EGT will jump up to about 1150 and if you have a rail pressure gauge it will sit steady at about 7500 psi. Some of the monitor boxes like the Edge will show when in regen mode.

Kevin

 

[Mikey-KE7LBB]

Regen Strategies

Class 7/8 trucks have 5 different regen strategies and the pickup & CC only have 4. Here goes...



Class 7/8:



1. PASSIVE regen occurs when the load applied to the engine allows the DPF to burn the accumulated soot just by working it.



2. ACTIVE regen occurs when DPF is nearing full and you are driving. FYI this is the one makes weird sounds around 900 RPM or so and engine feels like it's fighting for air. BTW... The EGR valve and VGT on the ISX Cummins are really active at this point and make sounds that can only be described as a hiccup, cough, burp, fart and a sneeze all at the same time!!



3. MANUAL regen is driver activated when a switch is pressed and will ONLY begin when it either needs one real soon, or driver noticed that an 'active regen' has already started and then allowed it to continue once truck is parked.



4. FORCED regen is when DPF soot load has de-rated the power and needs to be hooked up to a computer to make it happen (dealer visit $$$).



5. EXPENSIVE!!! The last type is where the dealer will either remove the DPF and hook it up to a machine for cleaning, or replace it... Also $$$$





Pickup trucks & CC models:





1. PASSIVE regen occurs when the load applied to the engine allows the DPF to burn the accumulated soot just by working it. This happens when you tow heavy or "drive it like you stole it". :-laf



2. ACTIVE regen occurs when DPF is nearing full and you are driving. Most of the time, you will never notice this one unless you slow down to come to a stop sight or light while it's going on. . You'll notice a little bit more throttle response at take off, a little more added timing rattle, added smell, slightly elevated idle RPM when stopped or parking for an extended period (stationary de-soot feature added with J-35 flash). My advise when this is happening is to avoid walking close to the tailpipe while wearing shorts!! It will literally curl the hair on your legs!!



3. FORCED regen is when DPF soot load has de-rated power (limp mode + overhead message) and it needs to be hooked up to a computer to make it happen (dealer visit $$$).



4. Is when it goes into limp mode and needs to go to a dealer ASAP and they will either replace it under warranty (hopefully), or make you pay dearly for a replacement $$$!! IMHO this is the time when people come to their senses and delete the junk and become trouble free... Also $$$$ :-laf:-laf



The only one that is missing from the equation here is the MANUAL option!! The one that is initiated by a COMPETENT PERSON when he/she KNOWS that a regen is either desired or dangerous in a particular circumstance #@$%!



I would have considered keeping the junk in place if there was an option to press a button to tell it that I'm 40-50 miles from my destination and it can/should start one now, allow an 'active' one to complete before a shut down, or one that allows John Q. Public farmer to get a regen finished and allows the exhaust system time to cool down BEFORE driving into a dry hay field.

 

[kkelley]

Hey thanks for that info...
Ours is mostly a family/Lowe's vehicle with limited towing. It sees a lot of city miles and I could swear it is always in regen. I average about 13mpg, unless it's been driven for a long trip, then it's about 18mpg for a few days.

 

[RonD]

I installed an Edge CTS. It tells you when the engine is in regen mode. You will be surprized how often it does that. I did not think mine was doing it either. Wrong!!!! About once every 200-400 miles on mine and I have been traveling the last month to the NE. It doesn't stay on long-generally less than 20-30 miles. The CTS is ONLY a gauge... ... ... ... .

Why does one really want to know this, or care?, if the truck is doing its job I don't see any information there, like what is the temps of the Diesel fuel?, I feel if it was that important Ram would have installed something in the EVIC, maybe I am missing something here

 

[Cummins12V98]

Why does one really want to know this, or care?, if the truck is doing its job I don't see any information there, like what is the temps of the Diesel fuel?, I feel if it was that important Ram would have installed something in the EVIC, maybe I am missing something here

I don't see any reason for gagues if it is stock. To quote a Chrysler rep at May Madness "it won't hurt it's self".

 

[HBarlow]

Gauges are good to have even in a pure stock truck like mine for several reasons. The gauges tell the driver what is not always obvious from the driver's seat. For example, the driver might wonder why power or fuel economy seems lower than normal. Gauges tell him he's gently climbing or facing into a headwind. Gauges help diagnose problems. Years ago when my '01 was fairly new I experienced low power while towing. My gauges told me it was not producing the normal full boost. The dealers service department which was clueless tried to tell me nothing was wrong with the truck. I KNEW power was off and could prove it. Ultimately, with information from Bill Stockard and Joe Donnelly as well as lower than normal boost I convinced the shop and they found a bad MAP sensor.

Gauges tell the driver when the truck is in the regeration mode. That can be helpful if you happen to be spending a morning or afternoon running around town on errands. Each time the truck is started again it restarts regen but the driver drives only a couple miles across town and pulls in another parking lot and turns the engine off. After several attempts at retrying to complete a regen the ECM gives up and terminates it. A driver with gauges can see that so he gets on the highway and drives far enough to allow regen to complete.

Gauges are not essential on a stock engine but I and many others find them very useful. I would not drive a turbodiesel without gauges. OTR trucks have them, right? Those engines are not modified either.

 

[Wingate]

gauges are great for monitoring how hard you are working your engine. Even stock engines benefit from this, especially when near/at/above max GCWR in high ambient temps.