Message center question

[Vtxbiker]

I was returning home from a beach trip and had a light pop up on the upper message display. I really have not had any alarms on these before so I was not sure of what the symbol meant. The light was yellow. The symbol looks like a thermometer with a wind blowing.

I checked all the gauges for something out of order but all looked fine. The coach was running fine but I did notice a strong diesel smell inside.


The light cycled on and off a few times and after about an hour it went off and did not come on again. Also the diesel odor went away?


After we got home I researched the owners manual for the meaning of the light symbol.This light was on the upper message center and in A position. According to my owners manual that position is NOT used?


If anyone has any ideas or more information about the message center please share it with me.


Thanks

[Alpine36]

Sounds like the Dpf went thru a regen cycle.
(Diesel particulate filter)

[Vtxbiker]

Originally Posted by Alpine36

Sounds like the Dpf went thru a regen cycle.
(Diesel particulate filter)

Thank you Alpine36 for the response! You were right on the money! I did some research on the DPF regeneration and it appears that this is a common happening and is normal for an engine equipped with the diesel particulate filter.
The strange thing is that the Cummings diesel owners manual does not even mention this happening!
I mentioned that the alarm message symbol came on and I looked it up in the Alpine owners manual said it was not used? Well I did look up the symbol online and it is the symbol used to denote the DPF needs to be cleaned. So the alarm is used but the Alpine owners manual does not address the regeneration either?
I feel better now knowing what happened and will be prepared when it happens again.
Thanks again to Alpine 36 for getting me on the right track to what happened!

[Alpine36]

No problem. I used to manage a public utility fleet with about 400 plus class 7-8 trucks that rarely left Seattle city limits and idled a lot running hydraulics. Common occurrence I'm very familiar with.
Funny story, we also had several late model diesel F450-550 flatbed and dump trucks that we ran B20 bio in. Part of the city's go green program.
When those went into regen they would literally cloud the entire street for about a mile. It smelled like Burger King was on fire. Guess who had to handle the customer complaint phone calls....I had to explain it was all part of our green fleet plan. That went over like a turd in a punch bowl. Lol

PS, for safety's sake never park your coach in tall grass when it goes into regen. Don't ask me how I know.

[EngineerMike]

Your DPF will likely regen every 4,500-5,000 miles. Only regens if above 45mph for a distance & engine is fully warmed up. If you drop below a certain speed for a certain time it will time out till you are again in the pre-conditions for running the clean cycle. Three diesel smell indicates your house is not fully sealed from the chassis. You can practically eliminate the smell by putting dash fan on high & not on Max Air, & directing kitchen fan air down into house on High till the cycle completes. When you have the inclination you can search for & fill any floor voids to minimize the air leaks; a good method is target an area below the floor, light & leave a cigarette there (where it won't ignite anything), head into coach & sniff for the smoke leaks.

[Vtxbiker]

Originally Posted by EngineerMike

Your DPF will likely regen every 4,500-5,000 miles. Only regens if above 45mph for a distance & engine is fully warmed up. If you drop below a certain speed for a certain time it will time out till you are again in the pre-conditions for running the clean cycle. Three diesel smell indicates your house is not fully sealed from the chassis. You can practically eliminate the smell by putting dash fan on high & not on Max Air, & directing kitchen fan air down into house on High till the cycle completes. When you have the inclination you can search for & fill any floor voids to minimize the air leaks; a good method is target an area below the floor, light & leave a cigarette there (where it won't ignite anything), head into coach & sniff for the smoke leaks.

Hey Mike thanks for the detailed info on the DPF regeneration and I am just wondering why the owners manual for our coach(2008) has no mention of this happening and does not show the message center symbol as being the regen indicator? As a matter of fact it states that the location on the upper message center is not used?
Although I am not the original owner I have the Cummings engine manual for the 8.9L motor and they also do not have any information for the DPF cleaning procedure(regeneration)?

I sent an email to Cummings questioning the information but they have not sent a reply.

Anyway I was taken by surprise when this happened and am glad it is normal. Thanks to this forum for shedding light on the subject!
The funny thing about the diesel odor is it was the strongest was up front? My wife thought she left the rear window open but she went back there and it was closed. I asked her if the odor was back there and she said, NO!
Kinda weird since the engine and exhaust is in the rear?
All good now, so when it happens again I will be prepared!


Thanks for the information!
Paul

[Alpine36]

Try not to idle your 8.9 excessively. The number one cause of frequent regen is prolonged idling. Regeneration, or "dousing" the particulate filter with diesel fuel is trying to burn off the trapped particulate matter.
It is only so effective. Eventually the particulate filter needs to be removed for high tempature cleaning in worst case scenario. This is absolute hell for late model municipal applications that rarely see 45 mph and something that all fleet owners deal with. We actually kept spare professionally cleaned dpfs on hand for swap out. I think it was around $600 bucks to have one heat cleaned.