Regeneration

[akadeadeye]

Got a message "Regeneration Required" with a flashing icon while driving between home and local shop . We are not on a trip so with limited time I drove it pretty hard up I-10 for about 30 minutes. Message changed to "Regeneration Needed" and the icon was still there but not flashing.

Do I need to just drive it longer under load to get the regeneration over with? The manual says "for at least 20 minutes" but I guess it takes much longer. Will it hurt anything to just let it sit in the garage a couple of weeks before our next trip?

400 HP Cummins, ISL 2009

Comments?

Don

[dickandlois]

Don, this is a link to the regeneration information from Cummins.

The What, How and Why

http://www.mid-pac.com/documents/DPF_EN.pdf

Additional information Link.

http://cumminsengines.com/brochure-download.aspx?brochureid=88

Rich.

[akadeadeye]

Thanks Rich. There is not a Regeneration switch on our chassis. My only options are to run it on the highway or take it to a dealer. I would rather do the former than the latter. Has anyone had experience with Regeneration while running? How long does it take, etc?

We don't have an extended drive planned for a couple of weeks. Does it hurt to let it just sit in the garage until then?

Don

[jleamont]

Don,

From my experience with this message, if you cannot force it through a Regen with the switch (since you are not equipped with one) I would take it to the dealer, while I was there I would ask them what it would cost to install a switch.

I ran into this with Caterpillar a few years ago..they felt driving should be enough, well it wasn't and the CAT dealer recommended we install a switch on all of the fleet with the C7S engines. I installed a force switch on the dash of each unit, just some pre planning, wire and a momentary on switch. Being this is an RV Diesel Pusher the distance from the engine to the dash is much greater than the trucks I was working on at the time. I would save a few $$ and ask them to put the switch in a suitable location in the engine bay or a side compartment close by would be better, so you can access it when needed.

The fleet I responsible for now we average a manual regeneration once every 6,000-8,000 miles and they usually take 45 minutes parked in a safe location (away from anything that can catch fire from the heat generated). If you let it go to long it can clog the Particulate filter to the point it will have to be removed and cleaned with a machine...and that gets costly.

Just my two cents but I hope it helps.

Joe

[dickandlois]

Joe, this is what I understand happens with the pre-2010 EPA regulations.

What EGR does, “It deprives the combustion event of some of its oxygen by introducing cooled exhaust gas, which is lower in oxygen, into the intake system, thereby reducing the combustion temperature and lowering NOx production.

“The good news is that you don't have to add much extra to the system to accomplish NOx reduction this way,” “The downside is that the lower-temperature diesel combustion is less efficient, so it creates more particulate matter and it burns more fuel.

That being the case, do Diesels equipped with EGR system still require the Regeneration cycles? and are they initiated in the same way and run for the same time of 5 to 50 min.

Rich.

[jleamont]

Rich, an engine with SCR (uses diesel exhaust fluid) require less parked regenerations. This was the regeneration cycle I mentioned above, being his coach is a 2009 he is right on the threshold from being SCR equipped or not. The engines with EGR only are dirty and do require more frequent parked regeneration cycles, especially if there is not a lot of highway traveling at which point both are designed go into a "passive regeneration" if the soot level warrants it. In my experience the non SCR engines require a regeneration on average 2-3 times more often....but again it will depend on the driving conditions more highway...less parked regenerations, but still necessary.

Every situation I have experienced when a chassis manufacture does not install a switch on the dash it has always baffled the engine manufactures, one time I was handed a bulletin where the engine manufacture warned the chassis manufacture that it was needed...but still produced without.

I would either have the switch installed or in my case I would not leave home without my scan tool.

I hope one day the Feds, engine manufacturers and chassis manufactures can figure all of this out and get on the same page. The amount of problems and out of pocket expenses the consumer has to contend with is crazy. I deal with this and all of the problems with the new technology every day. And I must admit some engine manufactures are better than others but they all have problems with this technology and in the end the consumer suffers, like in this situation.

[manholt]

The last time my DPF light came on, I was on I-10 west of Houston. I maintained 63mph on cruise control and my engine diagnosis showed that exhaust #1 was at 650+/- and #2 was flexing between 1100-1200 degrees. It took the usual 15 minutes and happens at 2500-3000 miles. After 15 minutes the light goes out and the temperature on #2 exhaust is at around 650.

My 425 Cummins is a 09'.

Cummins Houston, services my coach every 14,000+/- miles and last year, they got to do it twice!

Carl C.

[obedb]

Glad I missed all of that! My last rig was a 2001 Western Star with a Series 60 Detroit so I missed all of the fun. Retired in Nov of 2011 a few months past my 67th birthday.

The EPA is just here to help you!

[wayne77590]

Cummins has gone to 15,000 miles or 1 year, which ever comes first, maintenance.

Maybe that's just on my ISB.

[jleamont]

Wayne, here also 1 year or 15,000 miles on my 2001 ISL. I think the interval changed with oil and filter quality improvements over the years. I know my part number for my oil filter just changed again this year with a few internal improvements (Fleetguard filter) aftermarket still the same part number from several revisions ago, not sure if the internals have changed. I only use Fleetguard (OEM Cummins) on this coach.

The part that is tuff for me I only put 5000 miles a year on this unit so I never get my money out of the service.

[2brew]

Has anyone successfully installed a manual REGEN switch on an Cummins ISL engine? 

Any tips or details would be helpful.

 

[jleamont]

2brew, take the coach to a Cummins dealer. Ask them to look into it. It’s usually one wire to the ECM, the other to ground, when you press the switch it grounds that circuit. Finding that wire in a schematic... you would need their expertise for that.

[rayin]

On 4/23/2015 at 3:27 PM, obedb said:

Glad I missed all of that! My last rig was a 2001 Western Star with a Series 60 Detroit so I missed all of the fun. Retired in Nov of 2011 a few months past my 67th birthday.

The EPA is just here to help you!

Me too.

Last time someone said that to me, it was  door-to-door salesman. He said he was "here to help me save money". I replied, " Great! I'm saving $100 a week now, how much more can I save when you help me?" The man simply turned and walked away, stammering all the way to his car.