Thanks Ltngdrvr. Much appreciated. And just for clarification, I understand the importance of keeping the DPF clean, I simply wasn't clear on why I need to know when its happening.

To sum up what I understand from your reply in my own words; I have over 300 miles on my truck so far (it's brand new) and have not seen an "Exhaust Filter Cleaning" message. Therefore there have been no active regens so far. And I really won't be able to tell one way or the other if there are passive regens. Corrrect?

So the only thing I have to be watchful of is if I see frequent (what is frequent??) "Exhaust Filter Cleaning" messages. Correct?

Thanks,
Dave

 

The "Exhaust Filter Cleaning" message is only displayed for a few seconds, so you may have missed it.

 

no, it means u haven't seen the message.. it flashes by so quickly.

'passive' regens are not 'events', the exhaust gets hot enough on its own to do the same work an active regen does.. so there is nothing to watch.. it just happens..

I try not to watch.. don't really care as there isn't much I can do about it.

 

Besides the reasons Ltngdrvr gave - which are are very valid, IMHO.

I just want to know what the truck is doing. For the most part the truck takes care of itself. It will tell you "Drive to Clean Exhaust" if you interrupt the regens too often. About the only time you would *need* to drive by the house and keep on going. Mine will restart a regen process if I interrupt one close to home (or to the store). I generally catch the message that flashes. Sometimes you just wish you could start one - as you know how far you are driving. So a backpressure gauge and start regen button would be nice - even if these were just menu options on the productivity screen.

And I will add, if you don't or can't drive to clean, you will end up in limp mode and a trip to the dealer/your mechanic.

 

I was averaging about 2 active regens on every tank of fuel or roughly at least 2 every 400 miles of driving. I've noticed that if I let my truck do a cool down and idle for about 3 minutes before I shut it off that the frequency of my regens are less often. For example I only had one active regen in the last 400 miles. I know there are variables here so I don't know if there is anything to it or not.

 

Mine seemed to have gone much longer new.Recently it seems to regen more frequently but no more then two per tank.

 

Mine got more often and shorter after a programming update... For me that works out, since I do a lot of shorter city type trips. (Although that might be changed, since I am moving).

I seem to go 50-100 miles in the city and about once every 150-200 on the highway. I find factors like diesel fuel quality can increase/decrease the miles per regen - almost as much as driving style and pulling vs. not pulling.

 

Thanks for all the discussion. Very informative.

Dave

 

I saw the "Exhaust Filter Cleaning" message today at around 390 miles. I had about 10 minutes of highway driving left when it came on.

Is there anyway to know if it completed by the time I got home?

Dave

 

It is easier to tell while still on the highway because your instant mileage will recover once complete. In town, there will be some indication of recovery, but not as dramatic. Even once the extra fuel stops being injected for the regen, the high temps will continue to clean the DPF for a little while longer as it is cooling down, as long as there is still an exhaust flow through it.

 

There is really no message that says it is done. There are hints that it is done, instant MPG increases and when you stop the engine in the driveway you don't here the exhaust cooling down (Clinking), you most likely finsihed the regen. The DPF goes past 1200 degrees when in active regen.

I have a monitor that tells me when it started and when it stopped. You shouldn't have to worry about it, the truck's PCM will tell you if you haven't completed a few Active Regens with a "DRIVE TO CLEAN...." message. Ford doesn't want you to worry? I monitor because I'm just the worrying type LOL.

 

I might be jinxing myself, but I have never had a regen on my truck after 7K miles whether pulling a trailer or not. I use the Ford cetane in every tank as I did in my 6.0. I am not sure if that has something to do with the cleaner burning of the fuel or not - less buildup.

And just to clarify...I have been watching my dash like a hawk whether in the city or on the interstate. I have been curious about it since I have read a few threads on it because I did not know what everybody was talking about when the subject came to my attention.

 

The truck will do a regen every 5-600 miles whether it needs it or not. I saw 2 regens last week while towing, one time the soot was at 1.2 and it regened down to .85. If you don't use something like an Edge CTS Insight you don't know how other you are actually in an active regen.

 

Ya that's not possible unless perhaps you pull heavy trailers all the time and the passive ones take care of it. If it doesn't get hot enough to clean out the filter it will plug and is very expensive to replace.

 

There is a cleaning solution that you can use to assist in the DPF clean out. It is slightly more involved than changing the oil, but still something that most seld-maintenance people could do. Luckily, (knock on wood), I have not had to do this.

Probably would still need a OBD II reader that is also capable of resetting the computer though.