Got my first drive to clean message today. Just turned 50,000 miles. What's up with that message. Started the truck and message center said EXHAUST FILTER FULL DRIVE TO CLEAN. I towed a couple hundred miles yesterday so how can that be. I have an EDGE gizmo to keep an eye on the DPF. Sooo, i get the CLEAN message and turn on to the highway put the truck in third gear and get up to 800 to 900 degrees on the EGT. The CLEANING EXHAUST FILTER message comes on and stays on. My EDGE is showing no DPF load. Never seen that before. So I kit OK and the CLEANING EXHAUST FILTER message goes off. After a few miles the EDGE starts showing DPF 100% full. Then the EDGE starts winding down slowly to 16% and then the "cleaning" light on the EDGE goes off. After that everything is normal. No codes showing.

I'm in Cody WY and scheduled to head in to the boonies for a couple weeks so this is my last chance to see a dealer for a while. Has anybody had this experience. I had a DRIVE TO CLEAN message once on the 6.4L and everything was OK after.

Why didn't it clean yesterday when I was towing. Do I have a sensor or senors failing? I'm trying to stay stock but this is the stuff that makes people delete.

 

You may have reached the 500 mile since last regen limit. It doesn't matter what % full the DPF is, it will force an active regen.

 

I know it's nerve racking but I think you are completely fine. It's good that you drove to clean and satisfied the little people inside the computer so all is well. Nice that your edge confirmed things too.

Try to just enjoy your travels (which is why my message here is silly, don't take offense).

 

I had read on another thread that regens were triggered by a sensor on the back end side of the dpf - when the exhaust pressure drops to a certain level the sensor calls for a regen?

Stanley - good deal on driving it until it thinks the dpf is clean - bad bad things can happen if the truck thinks the dpf is 100% full and can't complete a regen.

 

I get that, but shouldn't it set a code if that sensor fails ? I fear if I take it to the dealer without a code they won't be able to do anything. I 'm also wondering if altitude has anything to do with it. The only DRIVE TO CLEAN message I ever got from the 6.4 was in Sheridan. It's a flat land truck, maybe it doesn't like thin air.

 

Um, it happens on these trucks. Perfectly normal to get that message.

You're saying you've had the vehicle for 30k miles and this is the first time you've seen the message?

 

Towing or not, if a regen starts just before getting to your driveway, it will try to regen as soon as the engine is warm enough and if that does get anywhere because you just ran out to get a jug of milk. The Drive to Clean will pop up out of frustration. I had one similar to yours with the %DPF at 95% the Drive to Clean. Sometimes stuff just happens.

 

I used to get the message a lot on my 6.4 towing in the mountains. Everything was running fine so I just let it do its thing.


Never have gotten it on the 6.7 and while towing my soot % remains at zero% as well.

 

Senix hi. Are you serious, your soot remains at 0%? I've never had that experience, on either truck. Towing or not on the 6.7 I can monitor with the EDGE and and watch as it fills. It is slower to fill when towing because it runs hotter I guess, but it does fill and then it cleans.

Today it filled to 97% (not towing) and then started cleaning but only cleaned down to 31%. It usually gets it down in to the low teens. Still no codes so I guess I'll just watch it for now.

 

mine will stay at 0% when towing and then eventually go thru a mandatory cleaning, but very short cycle.


Mine has also always gone to 100% before the cycle will start and always goes to 0% upon completion.


All of this could just be a difference in the trucks or programming.

 

I guess I am confused? "DRIVE to CLEAN" message only comes when there are too many incomplete REGEN's and the DPF is too full. Since owning a 6.7 since late 2010, I've never gotten a DRIVE to CLEAN. I would consider those a rarety, unless you are only driving the truck 5 miles each way, and never working it.

The normal regen message that flashes for a second or two, are normal regardless if actuated by 500 mile limit, soot, etc. The DRIVE to CLEAN to me would indicate a possible problem, if it keeps occurring, even after actually performing the drive to clean, or had been towing a lot.

 

First generation of the DPF on the 6.4 would throw the drive to clean even if the system was operating normally.


That was usually due to heavy towing conditions in the mountains. There never really was any passive regen capabilities for that generation.

 

Right, but the OP is driving 2014 6.7L.

 

I'm also confused, I thought you got this message every time a regen took place. It was Ford's way of letting you know that you should go past your exit to finish the regen.

I am in my last year of employment and asked my boss if I could work from home - up until the middle of May I was putting a 100 miles a day on the truck. Now I do mostly local / around town driving. A couple weeks ago I experienced the same thing - the "drive to clean" message came up followed by the completed message. This happened 2 maybe 3 times. Now mine definitely did not say "Exhaust filter full". Was well before I started digging into the DPF, EGR and "catalytic reaction" (DEF) systems so I would have paid it no mind, are you still seeing this? If you are it may be worth a trip to the local Ford dealership at least to have a conversation with them. As I mentioned in my last post, that's a bad message, you're on the verge of a flat bed.

All - remember there are 2 types of these messages - the "drive to clean" message - this one I think is just telling you a regen is happening, I've gotten this one a few times - then there is the more serious DPF message - that's the one I think Stanley is getting - the 100% full message. I've never seen that one on my truck. If you continue to get that message and don't complete a regen it will throw a code and you're on a flatbed on your way to Ford to have them force a regen

 

There are two messages: "Cleaning exhaust filter", which is the normal message that flashes for a second or two, or Exhaust Overloaded, Drive to Clean", which is more severe of a situation, and stays on the screen until completed. This one is not "normal", and should indicate that you should be driving your vehicle for longer "trips". See the snippet of Diesel supplement below. Which one does the OP mean? Since he said Drive to Clean, I assume he means that one that stays displayed until a full regen has completed.

Here is what the manual says:

When the engine control module detects that the diesel particulate filter is nearly full of particulates and you are not operating your in a manner to allow effective automatic cleaning, the information display will display EXH OVERLOADED DRIVE TO CLEAN for base information display and Exhaust Overloaded Drive to Clean for the optional information display. These messages appear as a reminder for you to drive in order to clean the diesel particulate filter. If you operate your vehicle in a manner to allow effective automatic cleaning, the information display will display a cleaning exhaust filter message, which is the normal regeneration process. See the Information Displays chapter of the Owner Guide for more information.

EDIT: Just reread the OP's first post, he is indeed getting the "Exhaust Overloaded Drive to Clean" message. OP may have something going on, possibly a flakey EGT sensor that is throwing wacky readings, but not enough to set a CEL. I had that in my 2011 with EGT12 that wouldnt complete a regen either.