I have the 2012 with 30,900 miles on it. New to me as of last month. It has gone through regen 3 times since I have had it. I have put Maybe 500 miles on it. I do a good bit of short trips on weekends, however do travel open highway to and from work 45 miles round trip. Does this sound right. Oh yeah and I don't let it idle except initial warm up at start ups
Thanks

 

That seems a bit on the excessive side, but also, you probably need a longer sampling interval. The trucks can passively regen when you're really working the motor (towing, long drives, spirited driving) but they will actively regen when you're just putting around or on short drives.

 

I do most of my driving in San Diego during the rush. During that time my truck does not get hot enough to do a passive regen. If towing or just doing 75 my trucks goes into passive regen which extents the amount time before a active regen. A passive regen is when the DPF is hot enough to burn off some off the soot, I see this around 600 degrees at the DPF. But during traffic I don't see high enough temp to do a passive regen. So I can see regen as low every 120 miles.


I have taken the truck to the dealer and have been told no problem found. If on a long trip and I keep the truck at 75 - 80 I will see regen every 200 to 300 miles. So it greatly depends on how you are driving and traffic conditions.

I agree that your seems higher then it should be. Have the dealer check your truck and keep a log.

What I have tried and may help you.
Replace all EGT sensors
Keep Oil level at the correct level
Use of ford PM 22. Also tested without.
Taken it to the dealer for 3 hours of debug time to find the problem.

If you find what causes yours please let me know.

 

Sounds totally normal.

Your highway trips aren't long enough at 22.5 miles one way to do much passive regeneration so the computer puts it into active regen.

For passive regen to work you need to run 50 or more miles in one stretch to get the temps high enough and for long enough.

 

Best thing to do is see if you can track the interval. That is the only way you will know if something is wrong.


Each truck and it use will be different and so will the regens.


I don't really do any active regens..once in a blue moon.

 

The other thing is since you only do such short trips, the regen cycles are not getting completed, so it starts again later on another start and drive.

 

Sounds normal and it is what I go through. I get a little more mileage if I catch a regen cycle more than 15 miles away from home as it lets it complete before I pull into the driveway and shut it off. AS much as I think it is excessive, I don't think there is a problem. GO to the dealer and you will most likely get the "operating as designed" statement.

Not pulling I doubt you get it hot enough for a passive regen. I doubt I passively regenned on my entire trip from South Florida to Alaska, even though I had a LEER topper filled to the brim with stuff. It was loaded down pretty good. I still got the Exhaust Cleaning Message every 300 miles, which is about normal for smooth highway driving. Only a monitor would tell you for sure.

Search for posts from Painted Horse, that user has done extensive research on passive regens..

 

I posted in the recall thread about my reprogramming today and will throw this out in this thread also. Went in for the recall for the reflash to the PCM. When I started the truck it gave me the warning message that the DEF had 500 miles to empty. I did not have this message prior to taking it in there. And I never got the precorsor message that said DEF half empty. So I'm not sure why this happened. I plan on filling it up on Thursday and try to keep track of the Regen cycles. Will let you know the results

 

There is no half empty DEF message that I know of, and DEF has no bearing on regeneration, two separate systems that accomplish different tasks.

 

Now that I think about it, I believe that message about "DEF below half" was under the system check and not an actual warning. My bad !! So then, in a pinch, if I can't find motorcraft DEF , what else do you all use that is still OK as far as ford is concerned. Based on their specifications / recommendations and your satisfaction.

 

The only Ford/Motorcraft DEF my truck has ever seen was what the dealer put in on one service visit. Most of what my truck has been fed was Peak Blue DEF from Walmart. Pretty much within date range, DEF is DEF. It is made to specifications across all brands to meet OEM specs.

 

Yeah, DEF under half is from the system check. 800 MTE is the alert message (apparently it's 500 MTE on newer models).

 

I get my def at walmart of auto parts stores.


I got the ford fill spout from the ford parts dept. I use that over and over. rinse it after use and seal back in the bag.


Using the ford fill spout prevents leakage and you can't overfill it.

 

Update on my low def message after the PCM reprogram. Started out today and got the warning "465 miles till DEF empty". So I traveled to my local "hellmart" and fought my way through the crowds to purchase 2 - 2.5 gallon jugs of the Peak blue DEF thinking that it would take more than one. Well when I filled (using the ford fill spout) it did not even use one full jug. Probably close to 1\2 gallon left. The message did reset and when ran system check it said DEF level OK. So I guess I will wait and see how it goes from here.

 

First, Congrads on the new truck.

My guess, Opinion. I think it is too early and you have not put on enough miles on your new truck yet. Some of the parameters to start an Active Regen is "Distance Since The Last Complete Regen (DSLR)" and "Soot Load". The PCM monitors the frequency of Active Regens (I believe the average of the last two completed) to let you know that there might be something wrong, simply the PCM would let you know if the frequency as abnormal. For an example I monitor my truck wants to start an Active Regen at 500 mile intervals, a couple of days ago I reached 500 miles with Soot at 50% so my truck started an Active Regen, I didn't complete that Regen so the PCM subtracted 150 miles from the DSLR counter, I'm assuming when it reaches 500 miles again will start another Active Regen if the Soot Load doesn't start it first. If an Active Regen was caused by high Soot Load, your truck after 3 incomplete Active Regens would most likely give you a different message and it might even give you a "Engine Light" and go into reduced power till an Active Regen is completed (Which it hasn't.

As for the DEF warning, the PCM update can zero the data history and it takes time to set a baseline. The PCM doesn't monitor the DEF level in real time and the tank has 3 level sensors so 465 miles is a calculated guess. I believe that the PCM finally did a system update check and reset also.

I'm not an expert but tested my theory on multiple work trucks (not my own LOL).

That said, the truck's PCM takes care of it and will let you know if there is a problem, drive it and enjoy. For some reason I'm a guy that just has to know. Usually it takes 500 to 1000 miles for the PCM to re-learn depending on the re-flash.

Up date us when you have a few more miles on your truck, it will help us all.

FYI:
A friend/co-worker with a 2010 Dodge was throwing DPF codes weeks ago and going into limp mode. He ignored a lot of the real warnings. Yesterday the dealer called him and said the DPF was clogged, $4500 for a new DPF or $2500 for a cleaning. I didn't post this part to spread fear, my friend was warned of his habits.