emptyhead
Junior Member
Hi all... new here today looking for some insight into this crazy issue.
Truck is a 2017 Ram 2500 Laramie with a 6.7 Cummins. 92k miles
I live in Fl. for 6 months outta the year and Pittsburgh the other 6 months.
About 2 months ago I was driving in Fla. and got a check engine light along with the Service DEF msg see dealer blah blah blah. I put my OBD tester on and found it to be the DPF filter being clogged. I took the truck to a local dealer and they told me that the DPF filter needed to be replaced and it was gonna cost me about $4700.00 bucks. I was a little shocked at the price and looked for something alternative. Found a guy that does DPF filter cleaning and reconditioning about 50 miles away from us. Took the truck to him and had him do the repairs. He cleaned and reinstalled the DPF filter and all was good. About 2 weeks after we got the truck back, I got a new check engine light msg and found it to be a P2471 which is the Exhaust Gas Temp sensor bank #4. I called the guy and he said possibly the sensor could have gone bad or gotten dirty from stirring up some soot in the exhaust after removing the DPF, however he said that they didn't remove or mess with that sensor in particular. I used my OBD tester and was able to clear the code. A couple days later it came back again. At this point we were getting ready to leave to drive to Orlando on our way back to Pittsburgh. I cleared it again and it was fine for a few days. On our way to Orlando the see dealer DEF msg came up with 150 mile range. We luckily made it to Orlando and I cleared the msg the following morning. The light was off for maybe 2 days and then came back on again. The day that it came back on it was extremely hot outside... about 94 degrees and the truck was sitting in a hot parking lot for about 6 hours that day. When I started the truck the light came on as soon as it fired up and the check engine light was NOT on when I parked it there in the morning when I shut it off. It made me wonder if the heat of the day had something to do with isue. I went to a RAM dealer in Orlando and bought a new EGT sensor. When I got back to the condo, I got under the truck and plugged the new sensor in and started the truck up let it run for a minute and then shut it off and I was able to clear the code. I unplugged it and plugged the old one back in and all was clear. I called the guy who did the work on the filter and he told me that there was a possibility that they may have made the wiring harness too tight when the were zip tying it back up to the frame. I moved the wires around and checked all of the connections and all seemed good. I drove the truck for another day and the msg came back on again. I cleared it with my OBD tool and the msg reset to 50 miles. I would drive it for a while it would maybe clear on its own, come back on at 50 miles, go down to maybe 35 and then reset to 50. Finally got set to drive back to Pittsburgh 1100 miles. I cleared the code the night before we left and the morning that we left it was a cool 75 degrees. Long story short, drove the truck to South Carolina and stayed over-nite and then drove to Pittsburgh the next day with NO issues or lights.
3 or 4 days after we got home, the light came back on yet again. P2471 code. Since I was home and now had my tools available I was able to finally change out the sensor. All was good for about a week, and then the msg came back on again... P2471. This msg has come up every single time. I put my tester on and cleared the code and it cleared. A day later it came back on and the msg went from 50 miles down to about 36 while driving and then dinged and reset itself back to 50. This happened a couple of times. My wife drove to Morgantown WV 3 days ago and it was fine the entire ride there. The place that she went, she had to drive through a field and there was a lot of high grass and weeds there. She called me when she left to come home and told me that the light was again back on and the 50 mile range msg. I'm thinking that she drove by something that brushed up against the harness or moved a wire or something else. She told me that while she was driving home it reset itself back to 50 miles 3 times but the check engine light never went out.
This a.m. I decided to try and really check the wiring harness. I got under the truck and moved all of the connections around gently and checked where the zip ties were along the frame and anywhere else that looked to be suspect. Got in and tried to clear the code and it wouldn't clear. Drove it for about 20 miles and it will still NOT clear and I'm down to about 28 miles. I though it would have at the least reset back to 50 again like it did last nite, but it didn't.
So the question here is...does anyone think this is truly a wiring harness issue and if so, what's the best way to troubleshoot it without going to a dealer? Or is there a way to get rid of the stupid DEF msg. Believe me I scoured the internet and tried all the tricks too. Nothing seems to work now. Not to mention that the sensor is new. It almost seems like the computer is confused. I'm pretty handy with a meter and a good troubleshooter but I have no documentation of the harness or anything related to it.
One other question, I drove the truck 1100 miles with no check engine light at all and when it finally did come back on after a long journey, the DEF msg came back at 50 miles not 150 miles. Wouldn't it have reset itself to 150 after all those miles with no troubles?
Any tips or help is appreciated. This is driving me freakin' nuts.
Mark
Truck is a 2017 Ram 2500 Laramie with a 6.7 Cummins. 92k miles
I live in Fl. for 6 months outta the year and Pittsburgh the other 6 months.
About 2 months ago I was driving in Fla. and got a check engine light along with the Service DEF msg see dealer blah blah blah. I put my OBD tester on and found it to be the DPF filter being clogged. I took the truck to a local dealer and they told me that the DPF filter needed to be replaced and it was gonna cost me about $4700.00 bucks. I was a little shocked at the price and looked for something alternative. Found a guy that does DPF filter cleaning and reconditioning about 50 miles away from us. Took the truck to him and had him do the repairs. He cleaned and reinstalled the DPF filter and all was good. About 2 weeks after we got the truck back, I got a new check engine light msg and found it to be a P2471 which is the Exhaust Gas Temp sensor bank #4. I called the guy and he said possibly the sensor could have gone bad or gotten dirty from stirring up some soot in the exhaust after removing the DPF, however he said that they didn't remove or mess with that sensor in particular. I used my OBD tester and was able to clear the code. A couple days later it came back again. At this point we were getting ready to leave to drive to Orlando on our way back to Pittsburgh. I cleared it again and it was fine for a few days. On our way to Orlando the see dealer DEF msg came up with 150 mile range. We luckily made it to Orlando and I cleared the msg the following morning. The light was off for maybe 2 days and then came back on again. The day that it came back on it was extremely hot outside... about 94 degrees and the truck was sitting in a hot parking lot for about 6 hours that day. When I started the truck the light came on as soon as it fired up and the check engine light was NOT on when I parked it there in the morning when I shut it off. It made me wonder if the heat of the day had something to do with isue. I went to a RAM dealer in Orlando and bought a new EGT sensor. When I got back to the condo, I got under the truck and plugged the new sensor in and started the truck up let it run for a minute and then shut it off and I was able to clear the code. I unplugged it and plugged the old one back in and all was clear. I called the guy who did the work on the filter and he told me that there was a possibility that they may have made the wiring harness too tight when the were zip tying it back up to the frame. I moved the wires around and checked all of the connections and all seemed good. I drove the truck for another day and the msg came back on again. I cleared it with my OBD tool and the msg reset to 50 miles. I would drive it for a while it would maybe clear on its own, come back on at 50 miles, go down to maybe 35 and then reset to 50. Finally got set to drive back to Pittsburgh 1100 miles. I cleared the code the night before we left and the morning that we left it was a cool 75 degrees. Long story short, drove the truck to South Carolina and stayed over-nite and then drove to Pittsburgh the next day with NO issues or lights.
3 or 4 days after we got home, the light came back on yet again. P2471 code. Since I was home and now had my tools available I was able to finally change out the sensor. All was good for about a week, and then the msg came back on again... P2471. This msg has come up every single time. I put my tester on and cleared the code and it cleared. A day later it came back on and the msg went from 50 miles down to about 36 while driving and then dinged and reset itself back to 50. This happened a couple of times. My wife drove to Morgantown WV 3 days ago and it was fine the entire ride there. The place that she went, she had to drive through a field and there was a lot of high grass and weeds there. She called me when she left to come home and told me that the light was again back on and the 50 mile range msg. I'm thinking that she drove by something that brushed up against the harness or moved a wire or something else. She told me that while she was driving home it reset itself back to 50 miles 3 times but the check engine light never went out.
This a.m. I decided to try and really check the wiring harness. I got under the truck and moved all of the connections around gently and checked where the zip ties were along the frame and anywhere else that looked to be suspect. Got in and tried to clear the code and it wouldn't clear. Drove it for about 20 miles and it will still NOT clear and I'm down to about 28 miles. I though it would have at the least reset back to 50 again like it did last nite, but it didn't.
So the question here is...does anyone think this is truly a wiring harness issue and if so, what's the best way to troubleshoot it without going to a dealer? Or is there a way to get rid of the stupid DEF msg. Believe me I scoured the internet and tried all the tricks too. Nothing seems to work now. Not to mention that the sensor is new. It almost seems like the computer is confused. I'm pretty handy with a meter and a good troubleshooter but I have no documentation of the harness or anything related to it.
One other question, I drove the truck 1100 miles with no check engine light at all and when it finally did come back on after a long journey, the DEF msg came back at 50 miles not 150 miles. Wouldn't it have reset itself to 150 after all those miles with no troubles?
Any tips or help is appreciated. This is driving me freakin' nuts.
Mark
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