/begin rant

My truck is an idiot when it comes to regens. I spend 30 minutes on the highway between home and the nearest city, a perfect time for a regen. It gets at least two of these opportunities, if not more, a day. Guess when my truck decides to do it? 5 minutes from my destination... which as it turns out is just enough time to clean to about ~85%. Enough so it won't go into regen the next time out, but not quite enough to really be helpful.

It does this constantly... I swear I regen every 50 miles. I don't have time most days to take my truck on a leisurely drive just so it can do its business. I end up trying to structure my trips in an attempt to get the timing just right so that it might be so inclined to do it when I'm on the highway again... I don't have a lot of success.

So Ford, if you're listening. I have the DPF screen enabled thanks to one of your fine dealers. I can see when the filter is almost full and, surprise, I know better than the truck where we are going, how far away it is and the type of roads I'll be on. Which also means I know when an opportune time for a regen to occur is. All I ask, is that when the filter gets to 90-95%, or whatever your engineers decide is an acceptable range, that you pop up an option to kick the truck into regen. "Hold OK for 3 seconds to start regen"

This would make me extraordinarily happy.

Because bean counter be bean counters, I've prepared a Q and A section.

Management: Most customers don't know or care.
Response: Probably true, but there are tens of thousands that do and really... programming time is negligible here. Why not make that subset happy? They are likely some of your best customers.

Management: Those darn dealers, lets neuter their ability to enable that fancy and useful DPF screen.
Response: Bull honkey, if not on the cluster than through some other OBD II monitor.

Management: Well then we'll just hide/secure/obfuscate the PID too!
Response: Good luck, it's you vs. the internet. all your base are belong to us. It'd cost you more than just adding the requested functionality anyway.

Management: It's best to just let the truck take care of itself.
Response: You're telling me its better to let my truck bang against incomplete regens? Destroy my fuel millage? Add additional wear and stress to all of the emission components? Go ask your engineers, they designed the system to function as best it could within the confines of its knowledge. I have knowledge the truck doesn't. Ask them if they knew the driving route if they wouldn't take advantage of the knowledge. Go ahead, I'll wait.

Management: Well... Take your truck on longer drives when it's in regen so you complete them.
Response: My truck serves me, not the other way around. To suggest otherwise would be a poor business decision. And for me to know it was in regen would require for you to notify me in some way, which you don't do anymore, and didn't do well before. Also, while we are on the subject, you should add a regen indicator to the DPF screen.

Management: Adding this functionality will only confuse customers.
Response: True for some, so leave it the way you have now. Disable the DPF screen by default, allow your dealers to enable it and confine this new functionality to that screen. Win-win, you don't confuse the blissfully ignorant and you empower the knowledgeable to have the option.

Management: *Quick, pretend you didn't see this*
Response: That wouldn't be very innovative now would it?

Ok... this is getting weird.
/end rant

 

Guessing your truck doesn't have the "operator commanded regen" option then?

 

If that option was available on my King Ranch, I certainly would have bought it!

 

It really should be, what's the point I wonder in them not having it open across the board? Along with shutdown timers? Except in snowplow trucks, cuz that would suck

 

I don't, and to my knowledge that only works when the truck is parked. I don't really need such an ability, I drive on the highway plenty. I just need my truck to decide to regen as I'm getting on it, not off of it.

 

You're right, I don't quite understand how ford's regent schedule works automatically, but when I order I'll order that option for manual regen mode

 

Manual regen is available on base trim only. That said, a dealer can enable it on any trim with IDS. It's the option right above enabling the DPF % screen according to the screen shots that have been posted. It is indeed stationary only as stated above though...

 

I agree with this completely. My driving habits are so sporadic that it will be very hard to get into a consistent regen cycle. Lots of short trips now, but many more long trips in the near future.

I am watching the Forscan threads closely, because I really want to know the status of the filter and ultimately want to be able to light off a regen. I'm fairly confident that my dealer wouldnt even know what a regen was if I went in to request these features enabled through IDS.

 

So with the Operator Command Regeneration will it still do the regular automatic regen on its own and just give you the option to do it or do you have to do it manually?

 

Yes. I had enabled it on my 2012. Regened normally but added the ability to regen while in park if you were over a certain %. I think it was 85%.

 

Why do you guys even worry about it?

In all the years I had my Golf I did my thing and if I disrupted a regen so be it. Never narry caused an issue.

Drive more, worry less (tm).

 

Exactly right Tom and this is why Ford disables the DPF screen from the factory. They want the process to be completely invisible running in the background. But, you know how it goes.... once enthusiasts know they can do something to their trucks, it must be done. I'm guilty too...

 

I get a new SRW 350/3500 truck every 3 yrs. Last 6 have been Ford's. 2011 was the 1st with this engine. There was less regen driving feedback then was in the 2008 6.4 which alerted the driver Everytime it was in regen. Put on 90k trouble free mines. Next was a 2014 ....Same deal. 88k trouble free miles. Never think about regen. Only worried about DEF when it warns less the 100 miles to go.

Unless you get a warning the the exhaust filter is full....Drive to clean filter....You are over reacting. Just drive the truck.

I agree with Ford's decision NOT to put the Filter status option. If it was not for having to add DEF.....You would not have to know Regens even exist.

JMHO

jjw
ND

 

I know this is stating the obvious, but it will never be completely invisible in the background, at least, not as long as fuel mileage completely tanks during regen. The issue isn't about being compulsive about have the filter cleaned. The issue is that many folks use these trucks in a way that prevents a full regen from being completed during normal driving. When the regen is cut short, that means you have a regen popping up again in a day or so, only to be cut short again by daily driving patterns, meaning another regen in a day or so, and the pattern continues. This means your emissions systems are being used more frequently, and your fuel milage tanks across the board.

Not everyone is a long-haul trucker, and many of these trucks are used in the city for extended periods between hauls. It would be nice to enable user-initiated regens across the board for those that need them. Bury it in the settings screen if you need to so the sheep don't get confused, but there is no reason for it not to be available.

--Nathan

 

I would think if the Ford engineers (who know a hell of a lot more about their system than we do) thought that many short trips would cause a problem with the emissions system they'd have written it up and provided a method to deal with it.