FIRST TRIP WITH NEW TRUCK

[sreigle]

Pbahlin, my experience on the downgrades is just about identical to yours. At 6% and below if we're on a very long grade and I have traffic behind me (2 lane roads) I will sometimes tap the brake pedal just to let them know my brake lights DO work. I am not comfortable following someone down a grade and I'm convinced maybe their brake lights are not working. So I try to alleviate that feeling for those behind me.

I meant to comment on Jack's urea question in my earlier post and forgot. The Cummins 6.7L met the 2010 emissions standards for diesel at the time that engine was first put into the Dodge in early model year 2003. It's was so noted at that time. It does not use urea but does use the DPF, diesel particulate filter, as did (and still do??) the Ford and GM diesels. That requires a periodic regeneration, which uses a small amount of fuel to heat the DPF to burn off the deposits. I have heard Ford and GM guys say they can feel a difference during regens but I sure cannot in this Dodge. I'm not knocking the others, just thinking maybe the Dodge regens more often for shoerter periods of time? The only way I can tell a regen is going on is I notice the mpg slowly going down when there is no other reason for the decline. After a few minutes it starts climbing back up, again with no other reason for the increase. So I assume it's doing a regen. I feel no difference in power and see no indication on any dash gauge that anything unusual is occuring. I'm not sure why the Cummins meets the standards without urea but I'm sure glad they do.

[Montana Sky]

I've notice my '11 Ram will run a regen cycle approx every 1,000 miles or so now. When I first got the truck, it seemed that it was doing the cycle more frequent. Usually the only way I know a regen cycle is happening is when I shut the truck off and get out - you can smell and feel the heat and hear the exhaust system ticking rapidly. Does not do this daily which is why I contributed that to a regen cycle.

[oldelmer1]

I've read on the Cummins forum that when the new trucks go into the REGEN, it shows up on the EVIC(Electronic Vehicle Information Center) but I have 5300 miles on my truck and haven't seen anything happen yet.

But, now that it was mentioned above, I do remember pulling into the garage and noticing that the truck smelled extra hot and was ticking.

[2Wanderers]

The first regen I noticed my truck doing was on about 18,000 miles. The requirement showed up on the EVIC and we took it for a little drive and once we were able to get up to 35 mph it took less than 3 minutes to complete. We had used it "around town" for over a month. I have never had the EVIC notify me of a regen required while towing. It may be happening, just not informing us. My son has a new 2011 GMC 1 ton dually and it has required regen several times (he drives it to and from work as well as towing). It requires at least 15 minutes of higway speed to regen. I'm happy ours needs so little attention.

[jackel1959]

I reviewed my "Diesel Supplement" manual and it does say that the EVIC will display a message when regen or exhaust actions occur. These are the messages that are suppose to show pertaining to the exhaust system:

• Exhaust Filter XX% Full
• Exhaust Filter Full – Power Reduced See Dealer
• Exhaust Service Required – See Dealer Now
• Exhaust System – Regeneration Required Now
• Exhaust System – Regeneration In Process
• Exhaust System – Regeneration Completed

I have not seen any of these yet, but then again we only have 1660 miles on the truck

I do have a question for the new Dodge owners though. My dealer told me to run with the exhaust brake on all the time to recirculate the exhaust gases and therefore reduce the amount of exhaust particles going to the particulate filter. Have any of you heard or been told this? There is nothing in any of the manuals and I wonder if it would affect mileage or anything else or the long run. Any comments, as always, are appreciated.

r,
Jack

[oldelmer1]

Jack,

My dealer said the same thing, its also recommended on all the Cummins forums too. I always run with mine on, towing or not, when I remember to push the button. )

[jackel1959]

quote:Originally posted by oldelmer1

Jack,

My dealer said the same thing, its also recommended on all the Cummins forums too. I always run with mine on, towing or not, when I remember to push the button. )

Tom,
Have you noticed it having any adverse affect on mileage? I don't know why it would , but just wondering.

Jack

[oldelmer1]

Jack,

I guess I've always ran with the EB in the on position, so I cant really say if I've seen any adverse effects on mileage or not.

Guess I should try it without the EB on and see.....

Anyone else have any thoughts?????

[jackel1959]

quote:Originally posted by RonD

Jack, glad you like the new HO Cummins, I am replacing my 05 Dodge with a 2012, this Fall, there wonderful 5th Wheel haulers.

Ron,
I will look forward to seeing the new truck in Quartzsite. I am sure you and Maxine will love it. There are so many creature comforts and conveniences. And the power and torque....what can I say??? Here is an example from our one and only trip so far, going up 5% grades with this truck with the cruise control on and truck in TOW/HAUL the transmission only dropped one gear (I am assuming they 5% up because they were 5% down). The speed dropped 3-4 MPH before the shift would happen, but then the truck would accelerate back to the set speed. Very nice indeed.

Jack

[Bruce.B]

quote:Originally posted by sreigle

...

I meant to comment on Jack's urea question in my earlier post... ... not use urea but does use the DPF, diesel particulate filter, as did (and still do??) the Ford and GM diesels. That requires a periodic regeneration, which uses a small amount of fuel to heat the DPF to burn off the deposits. I have heard Ford and GM guys say they can feel a difference during regens but I sure cannot in this Dodge. ...

The 6.4L used in our 2008 F350 has about the worst mileage of any pickup offered for those years... 11-15 mpg in the sales brochure which is an optimistic estimate when running solo at speeds under 60 mph. When the system goes into EXHAUST CLEANING (regen) mode about every 70 miles when pulling, mileage drops 0.1 to 0.2 mpg and never recovers. On level ground at 60 mph max (55 mph max off the Interstates) we're down to 9.4 mpg for the day, or under 8.4 mpg pulling grades < 5%. I can *hear* a change in the exhaust during regen, but don't *feel* anything.

In desperation we installed Banks equipment which doesn't remove the DPF (I'm concerned about eventual inspections). Those mods (air intake, exhaust, intercooler, controller) improved things by 15%-20%. But that leaves us a long way from what Cummins is doing and I'm starting to get *really* jealous!

Btw, even as poor as the mileage improvement is, we figure the savings in fuel pays for every 7th tank. 53,000 miles to break-even. Of course if fuel gets to $8/gal we can do it sooner!

[sreigle]

quote:Originally posted by jackel1959

Tom,
Have you noticed it having any adverse affect on mileage? I don't know why it would , but just wondering.

Jack

Jack, mine is an '07 so maybe things are different now. The technology for the turbo and the exhaust brake are the same, though.

I've never been told to run the exhaust brake all the time. I run it all the time when towing. Occasionally I'll run it when solo if it's been awhile since we towed or if I'm slowing down on or nearing an off ramp. When the truck was new the dealer's service manager told me to turn it on occasionally to keep it from carboning up.

As for mileage difference, I don't know either but can't imagine why it would affect mpg.

[Bonaventure]

I totally agree with your discussion on the performance of the new RAM. We also ordered a new silver RAM 4x4 Laramie long bed dually crew cab. Ditto on the mountain pulling and jake brake. We just bought a 2012 Big Sky 3665 RE and have 1500 miles on it so far. The truck has 2500 miles on it. So far our big trip was going from NE Ohio to Williamsburg VA ~ 1100 miles round trip. We have a trip to Hershey PA, ~ 660 miles round trip , in August and then off to FL later in the winter.

Rick

[jimcol]

[.

As for mileage difference, I don't know either but can't imagine why it would affect mpg.

[/quote]
Steve, I use mine just like you do. I think it does affect the mileage as you lose the coast factor everytime you are not accelerating. Jim

[jackel1959]

Rick,
I have a feeling the more I tow with this truck the more in love I am going to fall with it

Jack

[oldelmer1]

We went on a 40 mile one way trip yesterday, DW was driving without the EB on, according to the lie-O-meter, we got 17.5 MPG. Same route on the way back, DW still driving, EB on, lie-O-meter said 16.1.

SO, we all know we cant really trust the lie-O-meter for accuracy, BUT, I would have thought we would have gotten the same MPG, or at least VERY CLOSE....

[jackel1959]

quote:Originally posted by oldelmer1

We went on a 40 mile one way trip yesterday, DW was driving without the EB on, according to the lie-O-meter, we got 17.5 MPG. Same route on the way back, DW still driving, EB on, lie-O-meter said 16.1.

SO, we all know we cant really trust the lie-O-meter for accuracy, BUT, I would have thought we would have gotten the same MPG, or at least VERY CLOSE....

Thanks for the update......I see a test drive in my future to see what happens.

Jack

[pbahlin]

My 2010 has 33,000 miles now with 13,000 from towing. AS far as I can tell, it's never done a regen. I've never seen any messages about it or smelled any extra heat.

I usually run the exhaust brake (all the time) when towing, and, rarely, I'll put it on for a long down hill while bob tailed. I shut it down while towing if I'm in the flat with no traffic, say southern Minnesota for example, but I mostly leave it on so I don't have to think about it when it's needed fast.

I also don't use cruise much while towing, usually to give the right leg a bit of rest, and never for extended periods. I've found it makes my fuel usage increase as it races after a down shift and I don't like the shift points on steep grades under cruise. The engine rpm will get down to 1500 under cruise and I'm more comfortable keeping it over 1800 in a climb.

[jimcol]

Paul, My 2009 just turned 36K. I was talking to the diesel mechanic at the dealership as he was applying ECM and Transmission updates. I told him I had only seen two regens in 36k. He said many other regens happen that don't show up on the DIC. Only regens that show up in the DIC are when the DPF is close to full. He said it seldoms gets close to full unless the truck is used mostly for in town driving. He could pull the "mini regens" from the truck computer but would have to charge me. Everything seems to be running OK, mileage is getting better, so I elected not to pay to see the other regens. Oh yeah, I'm also cheap. Jim

[pbahlin]

Jim:

Oh, I didn't know about 'mini regens'. I was thinking that working the engine hard is beneficial for DPF and my usage was hard enough to eliminate the need for regen. I'm still waiting for my mileage to improve. I seem to be stuck at 10.5 towing and 15 bob tailed.

My next adventure might be to go synthetic to see what that does for mileage. I'm not complaining though. Still love the truck. It's like a big bull. Just keeps on pulling and doesn't seem to mind how long or how tough a climb I give it.

[sreigle]

quote:Originally posted by jackel1959

Rick,
I have a feeling the more I tow with this truck the more in love I am going to fall with it

Jack

Jack, that's exactly how it has worked for me. Not only does the drive train continue to improve its performance (we have 80k miles on the truck) but I am amazed at how tight the body still is, the doors still have that satisfying clunk without rattle when closing, the windows still operate smoothly with no noise, etc. If I were to trade right now it would be for a new Ram.

JimCol, agree with the loss of mileage because the exhaust brake slows you down more quickly but in the situation I mentioned I'm needing to slow down anyhow, like exiting the interstate onto a ramp, so it's actually saving wear and tear on the brakes while cleaning out any carbon in the exhaust brake.