2013 Ram 2500 HD Cummins issue

My 2013 Ram has been a perfect truck since new. I did have to take it to the dealer to reflash the computer but that was a minor problem.

I performed my 15000 mile service which included oil and oil filter, fuel filter, and water separator, and lube front drive shaft. I was supposed to inspect the air filter but did not. Its a 30,000 mile air filter and I rarely get into the dirt so I disregarded the air filter service.

Then at 17,000 miles I got into the turbo a little on the expressway. The check engine light came on along with a relentless chime and the message "service air-filter." So I got home and check the diesel supplement and sure enough its a 30K filter and the 15K service only required inspection. So I inspected it and found a clean filter except for a little road grime on one corner of the filter. Other than that the filter was clean. So I bought a new one anyway and installed it. I did not think anything of it, until 500 miles later I tied onto my fiver and pulled out onto a state hwy at a reasonable speed. mild turbo engagement and chime chime here it goes again, service air filter.

Has anyone had this experience and if so what was the solution. My truck is at the dealer now for this problem but like all things they may or may not get it right. WE are going on a trip with the fiver and I would like to know what is causing this in the event that the dealer does not fix it.

Is there anything that might be restricting the airflow, like debris in the Ram Air Duct?

I found a few oak leaves in it but nothing that would appear to cause a restriction. Now that I have been studying it, i see that the airbox might be flawed in that it could easily suck up a plastic bag. But no I did not notice anything like that and did not think about checking way down that hole for an obstruction. Its at the dealer now, I guess that will be the first thing he will look at. I hope it is an easy and sure fix I really do not want to have that bell go off every time i get into my turbo. I will let you know. Thanks for the response.

Sounds like a reset is needed. Have you checked the Manual for how to reset the various maintenance issues?
Mine is older and doesn't have the air filter warning but does have a warning for oil change which requires a reset by turning on the ignition and pumping the accelerator 3 times.

Rrloren said:

Sounds like a reset is needed. Have you checked the Manual for how to reset the various maintenance issues?
Mine is older and doesn't have the air filter warning but does have a warning for oil change which requires a reset by turning on the ignition and pumping the accelerator 3 times.

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Are you sure it doesn't have an air filter warning. We were coming home from the National Rally 2 weeks ago and the over head console chimed and read "change air filter". 2007.5 6.7l cummins.

JWalker said:

Are you sure it doesn't have an air filter warning. We were coming home from the National Rally 2 weeks ago and the over head console chimed and read "change air filter". 2007.5 6.7l cummins.

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I've never seen it but I have a high flow system in it and I clean it every 20K miles or so, so maybe it never gets a chance to chime.

Rrloren said:

I've never seen it but I have a high flow system in it and I clean it every 20K miles or so, so maybe it never gets a chance to chime.

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Mine chimed in at 20036 miles. Changed it and hit the reset gauge.

I switch my air filter out every 15K miles or early. Even if it looks clean. Springtime pollen can really clog the filter and doesn't look dirty.

Here is the deal, it is a 30,000 mile filter. The 15000 mile service interval states to check the filter, I did. The filter was clean except for a few bugs and oak leaves. I changed the filter anyway at 17,000 miles with a Mopar filter which is identical to the Cummins filter. There is no way to reset the Service Air Filter Message except to start it, run it and turn it off, on the next startup there will be no massage.

The problem is that this throws a CEL, the CEL will reset after a couple of startups.

I took this to the dealer and they examined the airbox and cleared the CEL. But as soon as I hooked up my rig and towed about 60 miles into a 2500 mile trip, I get the message and a ding along with a CEL. The ding goes off about every three minutes.

To turn the bell off you must pull over turn the motor off, open the door, close the door and restart the motor. The CEL will be off the next day. This happens with no rhyme or reason. The code indicates a leak or obstruction in the filter box. It also indicts the CCV. 1800 miles into my trip I bought a new filter and CCV filter and installed it in a parking lot.

It was at this time that I discovered that the CCV was saturated with oil. And the oil lever had gained about a quart of oil (fuel leaking into the crankcase). Had the dealer change the oil restoring it to the proper level. They also cleared the codes.

10 miles down the road, I get the filter message again and a CEL. It is now at the dealer for repairs.

And yes I hit the ceiling when talking to him, I told him that I don't want the truck back until they find the problem and state what they did to repair it. AND that the 2 things that I don't want to hear from him is, "cleared the CEL" and "could not duplicate customer concerns." BTW he told me it was impossible for the oil level to increase. Of course this is the service writer saying this. Fortunately I photographed the dipstick after the oil change and was able to show how much increase there was in just the few short miles since it was changed by another dealer.

So any ideas would be helpful. I think there are a couple of problems here, one is a leaking injector, leaking diesel fuel into the crankcase which has led to some other problem perhaps in the EGR system.

But one thing is for sure, I will leave it right there until it is fixed, when they say it is fixed I will hook up and drive it pulling my rig and if it kick off the service air filter message I will take it straight back.

BTW my rig is well within the GCVWR. And I don't drive it like an animal either.

Could antifreeze be getting into the oil? Check the level.

I dont think so, I'm not missing a quart of antifreeze. However the reservoir is at the min level. The thought has crossed my mind, but I dismissed it because I think that antifreeze would appear in the oil differently than diesel fuel. I could be mistaken.

I hope I have made a mistake and neither fuel nor antifreeze has entered the crankcase. But if I had to choose I prefer the diesel fuel.

mobilcastle said:

Could antifreeze be getting into the oil? Check the level.

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Jim.Allison said:

I dont think so, I'm not missing a quart of antifreeze. However the reservoir is at the min level. The thought has crossed my mind, but I dismissed it because I think that antifreeze would appear in the oil differently than diesel fuel. I could be mistaken.

I hope I have made a mistake and neither fuel nor antifreeze has entered the crankcase. But if I had to choose I prefer the diesel fuel.

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Coolant would make the oil look like coffee with too much cream ! Fuel just makes the oil thinner Neither is good ! Good Luck !!!

About the only thing it can be is a stuck injector. Should be an easy fix I for a dealer. I had a toyota 4 runner with a very similar problem. I had to pull the intake manifold and watch the injectors while I had someone turn the key to the on position. This charged the injectors and you could see which one wasn't sealing. With a gas motor you could pull the spark plugs but with a diesel I don't know how you tell I which is leaking. The excess diesel in the exhaust can trigger the O2 sensors and cause a CEL to come on too

Dealer should be able to do a injector leak down test.

if an injector is leaking enough fuel to overfill the oil it should also be running rough/skipping. With new injector pressures and the electronics firing more than once each cycle any flutter should be felt I just don't believe all this is caused by an air filter

Yes to the last three responses. I did notice a little roughness one morning during a cold start up (about 45 degrees) at about 9000 feet above sea level. The roughness was almost undetectable. The motor runns so very smooth and quiet this very minor roughness would not be noticeable in the old days.

I dont think it has to be a major leak to build 1 quart in 65 hours of operations. A small drip could accomplish this. the bad injector(s) could still fire. I noticed no loss in power however I did not get the fuel milage I was expecting. 1200 miles from 750 feet altitude to almost 11000 feet then back down to 750 feet yielded less milage on the return trip. The milage should have been the same or better.

I hate dribbling this out to you but you guys are challenging my memories which are causing me to remember these slight details that I considered but dismissed along the way, before I knew I had a major problem. In the beginning I thought I only had an air intake problem, it was not until later that all this began to accumulate into the total problem before you now.

Thanks for your input, please elaborate if you guys think of anything, I expect that I will have some information from the Ram dealer within the next few days. It is always best to interface with them from a position of knowledge than ignorance. I will be interesting to see what they come up with. Once again, Thanks.

emm4273610re said:

if an injector is leaking enough fuel to overfill the oil it should also be running rough/skipping. With new injector pressures and the electronics firing more than once each cycle any flutter should be felt I just don't believe all this is caused by an air filter

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Im posting this so that other RAM truck owners can get this solution quicker and easier than I did.

The solution to the Service Air-Filter message and CEL was to change the lower air-filter box. It seems that the servo motor attached to it, that activates the gate that changes the airflow from the grill to under the hood, thinks that the gate has not opened or closed, the signal is interpreted as a restriction or a leak in the intake system. This was not a problem with the quality of my RAM diesel, but more a story about dealers being able to do diagnostics.


The first dealership should be embarrassed that they did not address any of my concerns. They kept the truck for 3 days, examined the filter and airbox, cleared the codes re-flashed the computer, determined they "could not duplicated customer concerns" called me to come get it.

The Service Air-Filter message and corresponding CEL activated within 80 miles of picking the truck up from the dealer. I had to endure the message and chime throughout my 2500 mile vacation with my Big Country.

My dealership should be embarrassed in that I had to tell them that the problem was with that airbox and or the intake system, that it should be inspected from beginning to the end and if nothing was found that Cummins should be consulted. In the end that it what they did. 4 weeks in the shop, July 9 to August 7 to exercise this ghost. Un-real!!!! A customer shouldn't have to tell them what is wrong with the truck and fix it for them too. What good is the dealer?

Once again; the service airfilter message and CEL problem on a 2013 RAM 6.7 Cummins, is a problem with the lower filter box and servo. The solution is to replace the lower box of the filter housing.

First of all, is this your first diesel with a DPF and EGR?? It is not uncommon, and is expected to have some fuel dilution with the 6.7 Cummins engines since their introduction in 07.5. The oil change interval is up to 15,000 miles or when the EVIC tells you to, this is based on your driving. The air filter warning is set off by air restriction, could be the brand of filter, debris, or just plain dirt. The only way to tell if you have a problem with the truck or the filter, is to hook up a vacuum gauge and run it.

Jim,

Thanks for posting the fix action you walked the dealer through. This is one I'll file away in my troubleshooting file for the Ram. Not surprised at all you had to identify the fix for them. Troubleshooting seems to be a lost skill. Happy Camping!

Thanks for the info. But the solution to the air-filter problem was to replace the lower air-filter box.

We are watching the oil levels in the crankcase on an ongoing basis. We are not talking about a 5% dilution in 15000 miles. We are talking about a serious increase in oil level in 5000 miles.

hoefler said:

First of all, is this your first diesel with a DPF and EGR?? It is not uncommon, and is expected to have some fuel dilution with the 6.7 Cummins engines since their introduction in 07.5. The oil change interval is up to 15,000 miles or when the EVIC tells you to, this is based on your driving. The air filter warning is set off by air restriction, could be the brand of filter, debris, or just plain dirt. The only way to tell if you have a problem with the truck or the filter, is to hook up a vacuum gauge and run it.

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