CTDs Can Suffer If Not Worked Hard. Please Elaborate

[Goose55]

I have many times heard folk here say that if a CTD is not regularly put under a heavy load and worked hard, that it can be somehow damaged. But, I'd like to get some details on that; an explanation backed up with the laws of physics, as to why this is so. So far, all I've heard is that light use can cause the DPF to prematurely fail. What else can be "damaged?"

 

[ramffml]

There is a heavy duty diesel mechanic on YT who absolutely loves cummins, but fixes them daily. That's his opinion as well, they need to be driven and get hot in order to burn off and do what they do. He drives a power wagon and before that he drove a 4th gen 1500 so he's very much a fan of Ram trucks and its not like he hates the brand or whatever. He applies that same logic to other modern diesels as well, not just cummins.

I don't have any specific videos that I can remember, but he talks about it frequently. May be worth a little deep dive on his channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@TheGettyAdventures/videos

 

[mtnrider]

Other than emissions (the DPF) there is no suffering if not worked hard.

.

 

[Goose55]

There is a heavy duty diesel mechanic on YT who absolutely loves cummins, but fixes them daily. That's his opinion as well, they need to be driven and get hot in order to burn off and do what they do. He drives a power wagon and before that he drove a 4th gen 1500 so he's very much a fan of Ram trucks and its not like he hates the brand or whatever. He applies that same logic to other modern diesels as well, not just cummins.

I don't have any specific videos that I can remember, but he talks about it frequently. May be worth a little deep dive on his channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@TheGettyAdventures/videos

He says that after treatment systems "actually take a toll on the engines themselves." But, he did not state how.

 

[jejb]

DPF's seem to be a weak spot for CTD daily drivers.

 

[2003F350]

DPF's seem to be a weak spot for CTD daily drivers.

This is the 'toll' exacted on modern diesels, is these kinds of failures. The other issue for daily drivers is that many (not all) aren't driven far enough or hard enough to get up to operating temperatures anyway. Diesels have NEVER liked short drives, regardless of what diesel you're talking about. They like to run, they like to work, plain and simple.

I have daily driven DPF trucks and pre-DPF trucks, and never had an issue. HOWEVER, most of my drives are MINIMUM 20 miles if not much further. I have known others, mostly friends of my wife, who bought diesels and then just drove them around town or back and forth to work 10 or so minutes from home, who started having all kinds of problems with them.

Diesels CAN be daily driven. Your daily drive just needs to be a bit longer.

 

[Goose55]

This is the 'toll' exacted on modern diesels, is these kinds of failures. The other issue for daily drivers is that many (not all) aren't driven far enough or hard enough to get up to operating temperatures anyway. Diesels have NEVER liked short drives, regardless of what diesel you're talking about. They like to run, they like to work, plain and simple.

I have daily driven DPF trucks and pre-DPF trucks, and never had an issue. HOWEVER, most of my drives are MINIMUM 20 miles if not much further. I have known others, mostly friends of my wife, who bought diesels and then just drove them around town or back and forth to work 10 or so minutes from home, who started having all kinds of problems with them.

Diesels CAN be daily driven. Your daily drive just needs to be a bit longer.

Drive needs to be a bit longer, or left on high idle during a short stop? To be sure it gets up to operating temp.

 

[2003F350]

Drive needs to be a bit longer, or left on high idle during a short stop? To be sure it gets up to operating temp.

My truck, in 20 degree weather, gets to idle 5 minutes before I get in it to leave. By 5 miles into my trip, it's up to operating temperature and the thermostat has opened. This is WITHOUT the grill cover, I will probably add that when temps hit 0.

 

[06 Dodge]

My truck, in 20 degree weather, gets to idle 5 minutes before I get in it to leave. By 5 miles into my trip, it's up to operating temperature and the thermostat has opened. This is WITHOUT the grill cover, I will probably add that when temps hit 0.

Why not spend $0.75 using the block heater along with the grill cover, that way you only need like 90 seconds of idle time for oil to circulate? And by using the block heater you will have instant heat coming out of the vents

 

[Goose55]

Why not spend $0.75 using the block heater along with the grill cover, that way you only need like 90 seconds of idle time for oil to circulate? And by using the block heater you will have instant heat coming out of the vents

Yup. That's why that block heater is there. Heck, I even use the block heater down here in Southern AZ " winters." Makes it all so much nicer.

 

[nlambert182]

He says that after treatment systems "actually take a toll on the engines themselves." But, he did not state how.

Simply put.... the EGR recirculates soot (particulate matter) back into the intake. That "can" eventually create a layer of soot on the grid heater and down into the intake itself since the engine won't burn off everything the second time through. It can also cause the variable geometry turbo to build up carbon (soot) and cause the turbo actuator to fail. That's one of the few common issues on the CTD. Knock on wood I've never had an actuator failure but I always run my exhaust brake, so my actuator is constantly working (and I do it for this very reason).

Not working the truck simply means the emissions system isn't being allowed enough time to get up to operating temps to burn off the particulate matter that gets sent into the particulate filter.

There are a few problems that the emissions systems "can" cause depending on how you drive the truck. This isn't specific to CTD though... it's industry wide.

Failed EGR cooler (clogs or cracks)
Failed DPF (eventually clogs)
Failed DEF injector (DEF crystalizes on the tip of the injector and clogs it)
Failed DEF tank heater (DEF doesn't love cold weather)

None of that actually harms the engine itself and is just a by product of being forced to run all of this emissions garbage on our trucks. My truck's emission systems all typically fail around the 120k mile marker with the way I drive it. I do tow campers, but I also daily drive it to work on the interstate 24 miles each way.

The remedy is to haul something heavy with the truck from time to time or to take it on a longer road trip where it can see full operating temps for at least 30 minutes so that it can go through a regen cycle. In my area, my fix is to delete the equipment when it fails but not everyone can do that. I only do that IF a failure occurs. I have a kit sitting in the garage in the event that mine fails. I can be back on the road in a day.

I remember when the 6.0 Powerstroke was first introduced. I was a sales rep for International and was out at a bus shop one day while a bus was going through a manual regen cycle. The exhaust pipe on the 04-07 school buses went through the rear bumper and some idiot parked his car right behind the bus. The exhaust literally melted the paint (caught it on fire) off the guy's hood. It has to get HOT to regen.

 

[2003F350]

Why not spend $0.75 using the block heater along with the grill cover, that way you only need like 90 seconds of idle time for oil to circulate? And by using the block heater you will have instant heat coming out of the vents

If it starts to take longer to start, I may. On my older trucks, I would use the block heater plugged into a timer. Now, I don't park close to a power outlet, so I'd have to drag a cord out across the driveway, and I can't guarantee that someone isn't going to come plow for me while I'm not home and tear it up (I have 'overly friendly' neighbors).

It's not about the cash. But letting it sit and idle for 5 minutes while I put my boots and coat on costs about the same amount, and the cab is already heated when I get to it because I usually have to scrape the windows as well, so it doesn't much matter.

 

[jejb]

If it starts to take longer to start, I may. On my older trucks, I would use the block heater plugged into a timer. Now, I don't park close to a power outlet, so I'd have to drag a cord out across the driveway, and I can't guarantee that someone isn't going to come plow for me while I'm not home and tear it up (I have 'overly friendly' neighbors).

It's not about the cash. But letting it sit and idle for 5 minutes while I put my boots and coat on costs about the same amount, and the cab is already heated when I get to it because I usually have to scrape the windows as well, so it doesn't much matter.

Yuck. I lived in MN for 35 years, so I feel your pain. My solution was to insulate the attached garage and hang a NG heater in there. Kept it around 45f. The diesel trucks I owned up there were pre-DEF, but it was still a nice setup for the LONG winters.

 

[nlambert182]

Someone could choose to install a Webasto heater if it gets too cold. The only good thing about my old Powerstroke is that it came from Alaska to Alabama and the previous owner had already installed one.

There was a timer in the glovebox and a thermoprobe installed, so it would kick on the heater (pulled fuel from the diesel tank) at 4am if temps dropped below 34 degrees and it took less than 2 minutes for the truck to be at operating temp when I started it.

 

[Malodave]

I have an '21 Ecodiesel with the GDE Tune on it. I get a message on the Evic when
it starts a regen cycle. I have about a 30 mile commute each way for work. Takes about
40 minutes to drive. I do a 5 Minute warm up during winter. The Truck does have the
Radiator Shutters on it. So in just a few miles it is up to running Temp. I do do some
long distance trips a couple of times a year.

I am also running a Comma3 from Comma.ai that drives the RAM similar to a Tesla.
It is still a work in progress as we still need to get a little more torque to the Steering.
There is work being done for Longitudnal control and then we tackle the End to End
Navigation. Some guys are running it on the HD trucks but they are not supported
by Comma yet.

Malodave

 

[2Tallguy]

I have many times heard folk here say that if a CTD is not regularly put under a heavy load and worked hard, that it can be somehow damaged. But, I'd like to get some details on that; an explanation backed up with the laws of physics, as to why this is so. So far, all I've heard is that light use can cause the DPF to prematurely fail. What else can be "damaged?"

They're not grocery getters. Throw some Extreme Diesel injector cleaner in every 5K or so and go on a 50+ mile run with hills. It helps cut down on regens and will clean out the bs emissions equipment. I have a 2007 5.9 and run it. Power Service is like water. You have to run so much in order to enable it to do anything. A shop I use has guys with all the emissions crap come in with 200K frequently because they are used as designed. I also run R95 renewable diesel.

 

[Goose55]

They're not grocery getters. Throw some Extreme Diesel injector cleaner in every 5K or so and go on a 50+ mile run with hills. It helps cut down on regens and will clean out the bs emissions equipment. I have a 2007 5.9 and run it. Power Service is like water. You have to run so much in order to enable it to do anything. A shop I use has guys with all the emissions crap come in with 200K frequently because they are used as designed. I also run R95 renewable diesel.

Thanks. There is another fellow from SD on here that also runs renewable. I wish we had it in Arizona!! Every so often I inquire about that, but not yet. :-/

Since the truck was new and up until the faulty CP4.2 fuel pump was replaced I ran a very high concentration of Lucas Cetane Power Booster w/o fail, for the added lubrication.

But I will get some of that Extreme Diesel Injector Cleaner,yet in my travels here and up to Phoenix, there are no hills to speak of. But from home it's 100 miles with only one stop light, back and forth. I can run about 72 mph and it has 4.10 gears.

 

[man n black]

Other than emissions (the DPF) there is no suffering if not worked hard.

.

^^^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^^^

The question the OP puts forth is very much a complete and utter fallacy.

I have owned now 2 6.7L CTD powered Ram 2500s
The first was never ever worked hard, never towed a thing, offroad like twice in its lifetime. A complete commute / parking lot queen. Tuned with the DPF in place; 100k plus miles when I traded it in. Never ANY problems.

My current truck is a 2013 model. 80K miles today. Granted it has been DPF deleted and tuned since 1.1k; It has towed a trailer all over this country and Canada, though that was early in its mileage life. For the last 6 years or so it has mostly been an around town vehicle in a very small mountain / ski town in Colorado where every winter it would regularly get covered in 3 feet plus of snow. Last year we moved Down South and while it drives a bit more than before...not by much.

Only problems it has ever had were when I inadvertantly put reg gas in it (had a fuel tank system cleanout) and the front pinion seizing in front of the house after a cross country TT trip many years ago. Still runs like a top and its the preferred vehicle to load up my family right now and drive cross country (not towing) to visit family.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy another.

Ch

 

[Goose55]

They're not grocery getters. Throw some Extreme Diesel injector cleaner in every 5K or so and go on a 50+ mile run with hills. It helps cut down on regens and will clean out the bs emissions equipment. I have a 2007 5.9 and run it. Power Service is like water. You have to run so much in order to enable it to do anything. A shop I use has guys with all the emissions crap come in with 200K frequently because they are used as designed. I also run R95 renewable diesel.

Tractor Supply has the gallon sized Extreme Diesel on sale for only $58, and with free shipping. Thousands of reviews on that stuff on Amazon, and nearly all enthralled with the stuff.

 

[Goose55]

^^^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^^^

The question the OP puts forth is very much a complete and utter fallacy.

I have owned now 2 6.7L CTD powered Ram 2500s
The first was never ever worked hard, never towed a thing, offroad like twice in its lifetime. A complete commute / parking lot queen. Tuned with the DPF in place; 100k plus miles when I traded it in. Never ANY problems.

My current truck is a 2013 model. 80K miles today. Granted it has been DPF deleted and tuned since 1.1k; It has towed a trailer all over this country and Canada, though that was early in its mileage life. For the last 6 years or so it has mostly been an around town vehicle in a very small mountain / ski town in Colorado where every winter it would regularly get covered in 3 feet plus of snow. Last year we moved Down South and while it drives a bit more than before...not by much.

Only problems it has ever had were when I inadvertantly put reg gas in it (had a fuel tank system cleanout) and the front pinion seizing in front of the house after a cross country TT trip many years ago. Still runs like a top and its the preferred vehicle to load up my family right now and drive cross country (not towing) to visit family.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy another.

Ch

Good to know. Thank you!