Cummins regen

[Tony Ramirez]

Originally Posted by hamm2018

What are you comfortable with doing? Numerous semis idle while fueling, I idle our Ram if other trucks are idling. If no other trucks wife wants the windows down, truck off.

Thanks. It's not that I'm uncomfortable leaving it idling, I've just seen some posts about the DEF equipped engines idling is not good for them.

[deserteagle5]

Originally Posted by Tony Ramirez

Thanks. It's not that I'm uncomfortable leaving it idling, I've just seen some posts about the DEF equipped engines idling is not good for them.

Idling is NOT good for any diesel with a DPF and using DEF. Here's excerpts from a Ford Powerstroke owner's manual....I imagine Cummins and Duramax are similar:

[john1981]

Originally Posted by Tony Ramirez

Thanks. It's not that I'm uncomfortable leaving it idling, I've just seen some posts about the DEF equipped engines idling is not good for them.

extended idling is terrible for a dpf equipped engine regardless of if it has def or not. i know with cummins theres a bunch of different things the computer looks at and can cause a failure to regen. i personally hate a particulate filter and wont own one, but that doesnt help you. my advice, dont let it idle, make sure your def is fresh, and take it out for a hard run here and there.

[Tony Ramirez]

desserteagle5 & john1981, THANK YOU, that's what I was looking for!

Safe travels & enjoy the ride.

[hamm2018]

Originally Posted by Tony Ramirez

Thanks. It's not that I'm uncomfortable leaving it idling, I've just seen some posts about the DEF equipped engines idling is not good for them.

Prolong idling, hours, is not good.

[john1981]

Originally Posted by Tony Ramirez

desserteagle5 & john1981, THANK YOU, that's what I was looking for!

Safe travels & enjoy the ride.

i should have said dont let it idle for extended periods. like hours. idling during a fillup should be fine, but dont let it sit and run while you go in and eat or something. you also dont want to shut it down before it could cool off either.

[Tony Ramirez]

Originally Posted by john1981

i should have said dont let it idle for extended periods. like hours. idling during a fillup should be fine, but dont let it sit and run while you go in and eat or something. you also dont want to shut it down before it could cool off either.

Got it, thank you.

[xc-mark]

as stated above , put a load on the motor ! pull the trailer though the mountains for about 200 miles in the hills ASAP. this will helps seat the rings and clean out the DPF. As for your short drive to work and idle time that's a issue for any diesel with DPF and EGR. Idle as little as possible , during the winter limit your warm up time to around 1~3 mins then drive it. You may find you need to drive it for 20 mins plus to Compleat a regeneration, this is more then likely why it regen more then once in 500 miles. I canst speak on how it has to be driven but my Duramax trucks have to driven over 35 mph nonstop during regen of it will go into regen the next time its driven , typically needs about 15~20 miles at constant 35 mph+ to clean itself out.

[Parafango]

I've seen two posts with comments of 41k miles and "never seen a regen". If that's correct, and for the commenter it might be, it's very unusual behavior unless they are using the DD on long DD trips.
Last month (June 2024) I finished a 4900+ mile trip across Oregon, up 101, then route 2 through Washington, to the other side of Glacier NP, south to Rock springs and back west home. I would guess 4500 of that was towing about 12k. In other words, a huge variety of road conditions, up and down mountains. and long straight runs on flat land. I have 47k on the 2021 CTD.
I saw two regens during that trip. Once while not towing and once while towing.. I have an edge CTS3 monitor and watched the temps climb to over 950 degrees on all EGT gauges during the regen, both times. While I didn't clock it, it seemed like it was 20 miles or so before coming out of regen.
I don't putter around with 5 mile trips, I know that's not good for the engine. I read somewhere in a forum from a diesel mechanic that travel under 25 mph is consider "engine idle" when looking at the engine time meter on the dash. My engine hours show:
158 Idle
977 drive
1135 total
I know most of the idle hours are probably due to waiting for the EGT1 to get below 450 when I pull in for a rest stop or fuel before shutting down to help preserve the turbo.
The regens I've observed, and there have be several, occur when I've been driving at less than 45 mph avg. for an extended time while not towing.

[High Road Travelers]

I have a 2023 RAM 3500 dually (not HO) that I tow a 14,000 lb. 5th wheel camper with and I have about 13,000 miles on the truck. I am in the mountains of NC for a while this summer and it is my daily driver, so I am driving slow on mountain roads, through town, etc.
How do I know if and when my truck goes into regen? I have never seen any dash lights or any notice that it is in regen. I have seen the DPF gauge show about 40% before and then when I get on the highway it will take the DPF gauge back down to 0. But I have never seen any kind of alert that it is in regen mode.
Diesel is new to me, so thanks for your help.

[Cumminsfan]

Originally Posted by High Road Travelers

I have a 2023 RAM 3500 dually (not HO) that I tow a 14,000 lb. 5th wheel camper with and I have about 13,000 miles on the truck. I am in the mountains of NC for a while this summer and it is my daily driver, so I am driving slow on mountain roads, through town, etc.
How do I know if and when my truck goes into regen? I have never seen any dash lights or any notice that it is in regen. I have seen the DPF gauge show about 40% before and then when I get on the highway it will take the DPF gauge back down to 0. But I have never seen any kind of alert that it is in regen mode.
Diesel is new to me, so thanks for your help.

I have 2019 CTD 3500 and have never seen a message from a normal regen. I have however seen a message for a 'Regen' in Progress' message or something of the sort. It' usually in the dead of winter when I don't get the motor hot enough from short trips. The DPF gauge usually shows around 50% full or so. A good 20 mile RT up the freeway clears the message.

When I had my 2012 it would go into regens quite often. I could tell if I checked my mpg. It would be in the 12 mpg range when not towing vs 17-18 not towing running 70 mph on the freeway.

[MooseCountry]

We live at 8,500 feet elevation and so does our family outside of Laramie, Wyoming and on the Front Range in Woodland Park, Colorado. Our family has a 2014 Ram 2500 4x4 Cummins and recently they moved back from Virginia where the Regen functioned properly for 3 years. Regen on the truck was once again not functioning at this elevation per our son as it had (not) before their move to Virginia. Told me yesterday that on startup it's spewing smoke in Woodland Park. His earlier DPF issues and limp mode crawl back home across 50 miles of deserted Wyoming convinced me to purchase our 2016 Ram 2500 4x4 tow vehicle as a 6.4L gas.