Some interesting observations today. I was returning home after running some errands. Recently, my local dealer turned my gauge ghost screen on to read my "exhaust filter full %". So I happened to be glancing at the screen which was showing 95% full, at the instant it changed to "exhaust filter is full". I immediately changed my dash display back to the regular instant fuel mileage screen, just in time to see the dreaded "cleaning exhaust filter" message. I was within a half mile of the interstate so decided to experiment rather than continue five more minutes home and then shut the truck off in the middle of a dpf clean cycle.
I switched my display to the trip meter, zeroed it out and continued up the on ramp to the interstate and then set my cruise on 74 mph. I also initiated my OBDLink program on my phone and let it start reading data from my OBDLink MX Bluetooth which was already plugged into the obd2 port. I switched my phone screen to one that displays boost pressure as well as egt temps, bank1 sensor1, and another bank1 sensor4. Cruising at 73-74 mph on flat ground my boost pressure began reading 8-10 psi and egt sensor#1 was reading 755-775f while sensor #4 was reading 1150-1180f. On one short hill of nearly a mile length the boost went to 15 psi but the egt temps stayed the same. The trip meter display was showing a steady 9.7 mpg while all this was going on. The ghost screen, which now shows my dpf full % was steadily counting down, 5% every couple minutes. When it got down to 25% full (total time so far, nearly 30 minutes) the boost fell off, egt temps were returning to normal and I knew the cleaning event was over. I noted that I had used 2.8 gal of fuel in 26 minutes at an average 9.7 mpg. I then zeroed the trip meter out again. By this time I had also taken an exit and turned around to head back home.
The cruise set again at about 73-74 mph and boost pressure had returned to a normal 2-4psi with egt temps of sensor #1 505-525f and sensor #4 495-505f. By the time I got home I was getting 19.2mpg while travelling about 19 minutes and using .8 gal of fuel.
So between the obvious boost increase and egt temp increases to burn off the soot, the thirty minute event used an extra gallon and a half of fuel or so. This was all a waste of fuel, and added wear and tear on the truck. Normally, I would have been home in a few minutes but because I had no long trips in the forseeable future, I decided to drive until the dpf was clean instead of shutting it off repeatedly in the next week or two in the middle of clean cycles. Certainly doesn't seem to be the most environmentally sound course of action dealing with constant regen function.

 

The real crime here is not allowing you to kick it off 30 minutes from home when you know it's going to happen 5 minutes from home.

The EGTs in the engine don't get that high (EGT1) and the boost is just run up a bit by the computer to push the mix down to the DPF. The engine isn't working harder and I don't think it does anything to engine life per se. Now, there's several thousand dollars worth of DPF etc that you paid for and is getting cooked, but that's the price we pay for no smoke and no stink.

 

That would be perfect! Now that I can see my % of dpf restriction, if I could just start an active regen when it reaches 90-95% and I'm headed somewhere!

 

Not sure about all years, but on my '14 Lariat I can do a regen on command using FORscan. But if not mistaken it has to be FORscan using a Windows tablet or laptop. Last I heard Android or IOS wouldn't write.. only read.

 

I woried about this when I got my 2011 truck back in the summer of 2010. After 250,000 miles of regen, I don't give it a second thought. Let it do it's thing.

 

Yea, I agree with Joel. It's really nothing to be concerned about. I like to have things "clean" too, but that's more of an OCD thing, than anything else. No problem shutting it down 5 minutes into regen. It will start back up again. The only problem is if all your trips are just 5 minute trips to the grocery store. The fuel usage does suck, but at least to me, its worth it to not have the diesel smell. Back when I had my 2005 with the 6L, i loved the sound and the smell. Once I moved into my 2011, and now 2016, the quiet, and smell free is what I appreciate.

 

I believe you are correct - read only on Android & IOS (iPhone), I wish the Forscan boys would at least allow us to "flip the regen now" switch from our smartphones. That would probably open pandora's box. I may wind up buying a cheap tablet dedicated to Forscan.

 

I bought a Dell 11" tablet with a detachable keyboard for like $100 dedicated to the truck stuff.

 

 

Well for me it's not about savings or a worry for that matter. For me it's another part of the machine that my ocd insists on monitoring the health of. You don't wait till your truck starts sputtering before you know that you need fuel do you? Nope you add fuel when the Guage tells you to.

 

I do wish we had the option to start a regen while driving when the DPF reaches 90 or 95%. My truck was at 95% last week during a drive into town on the expressway. Of course the truck starts a regen 1/2 mile from my parking spot. I had to start it and move it 4 or 5 times that day each ~1 mile without getting hot enough to drop the "Exhaust Filter Full" to 95%. Each time it began another regen shortly after starting it back up. What a waste of fuel, heat cycles, and possible fuel dilution in the oil. The 20 mile drive into work would have had the regen 90% completed or more.

 

 

Nope I didn't say you could start a regen and drive. I wasn't clear enough though Using FORscan with a Windows tablet you can command a manual regen ONLY WHILE STATIONARY.

 

I haven't thought about this in a while but I did a long experiment I think in 2011-2012, mostly because I was curious and because I could. The difference I found when canceling a lot of active regenerations within an oil change is the fuel in oil percentage according to Blackstone was higher than ensuring more fully completed active regenerations.

The first test was 5,714 miles and mostly during summer where I tow less and was a daily driver. I made it a habit to not care about regenerations. This oil report was 3% fuel.
The second test was 5,361 miles for late fall/winter/spring which does contain some towing and I made it a habit to complete or close to as many regenerations as I could. This resulted in <0.5% fuel in oil.

Obviously a true test would be to repeat the same conditions but that just isn't possible and no one cares that much. Most of my oil reports show 2.0 to 2.5% fuel in oil, including winter. I even have a 3.0% over a fall/winter.
When a Ford engineer was active here in 2010, I remember discussing the tolerance for fuel in oil was 7% so clearly not worrying about it is within spec.
However I don't think most will argue that 100 active regenerations partial and full will have some minor impact on the oil vs only having 60 mostly completed active regenerations over 7,000 miles.

 

I have found the same..... and I always idle for a minute or two before shutting down the engine during a regen.