Truck trying to do a re-gen

NYSUPstater

Well-known member
This is an odd one to me. Despite towing some good distances and on some good hills, truck still idles itself up @ times as if trying to do a re-gen. Sadly, I normally hop in and hit the brake pedal thus stops the re-gen. Why would it still do this?
 

taskswap

Well-known member
Just towing doesn't eliminate the need for a re-gen, nor does it guarantee a re-gen will be done. If it's happening a lot, maybe it has something to do with the way you keep stopping it? Usually this is triggered when the ECU think it's needed, based on sensors in the exhaust stream. The purpose is to burn soot off your DPF which reduce exhaust flow and rob you of power. I've never understood why people seem to set against letting them happen. They're a good thing.

You've posted zero information about your truck, age, model, any work you've had done, its running condition, the quality of fuel you put in it, what mods you may have made (you aren't a DEF-delete are you?), how up to date on your service you are, how often (and when was the last time) you change your fuel filters, whether you've had it into a dealer to look at this, and tons of other things like how you even know it's a re-gen. (My RAM very specifically calls out when it's doing one on the dashboard.) So I'm sorry but it's unlikely any of us can comment more specifically about whether yours should be doing this if that's what it even is.

That being said, if your truck does think it needs one, the very best thing you can do is to let it and the very worst is to interrupt it. A regen is done by injecting extra fuel into the exhaust stream to cause it to overheat so it can burn off that soot. If you interrupt it, what you're effectively doing is leaving that excess unburned and possibly clogging the DPF even more and making the problem worse.
 

NYSUPstater

Well-known member
task,

I've been around DEF trucks for past 12 years (DEF pick ups for past 9) incl semis and under normal circumstances, they will re-gen while driving. Even some semis will need to have a forced re-gen done from time to time. In my Ford's case, with self idle up to 900-1000 rpms, IMO doesn't get things as hot as when it's running down the road at 2100 rpms. The reason I end up hitting the brake pedal is cuz I have to move the truck after it's started and soon after it self idles up. Perhaps It does need to have a forced re-gen done.

FWIW, 'it's a '17, w/ 55,000 miles, owned since new, oil changed every 5k and fuel filters every 15k, full synthetic oil, non DEF delete, no mods done, service was done while under warranty. On this truck, no dash light indicating it's re-genning unlike my '15 F350 had.
 

hoefler

Well-known member
Excessive idling will cause an idle up to heat up the exhaust or to keep it hot, it is not for regeneration. The light duty pickups do not use the same programing as class 7 & 8 over the road trucks. Light duty pick ups will never do a stationary regeneration, unless forced by a technician.
 

rhodies1

Well-known member
Do you have the high idle program set in the on position in the Settings app for the truck. Not sure where your hanging your hat but if it’s cool the truck will go into high idle mode to warm the engine.
 

LBR

Well-known member
task,

I've been around DEF trucks for past 12 years (DEF pick ups for past 9) incl semis and under normal circumstances, they will re-gen while driving. Even some semis will need to have a forced re-gen done from time to time. In my Ford's case, with self idle up to 900-1000 rpms, IMO doesn't get things as hot as when it's running down the road at 2100 rpms. The reason I end up hitting the brake pedal is cuz I have to move the truck after it's started and soon after it self idles up. Perhaps It does need to have a forced re-gen done.

FWIW, 'it's a '17, w/ 55,000 miles, owned since new, oil changed every 5k and fuel filters every 15k, full synthetic oil, non DEF delete, no mods done, service was done while under warranty. On this truck, no dash light indicating it's re-genning unlike my '15 F350 had.
Ours does the same...2017 F-450.

Read your Ford service sheets you have received starting from 2022 and you will see a Ford update that was performed. You didn't ask for it, but it is a mandatory update that all Ford dealerships are required to perform if certain trucks come thru their service doors. It is also said to be non-reversible as the dealership won't reprogram it back due to emission laws.

I'm hoping an electronics whiz from the Powerstroke forum will come up with an easy solution for defeating the 1000 RPM idle....we CANNOT stand it since it was performed.

If no one comes up with an easy solution, and in time this can't be reversed legally... I'm going to break into the brake pedal electrical circuit to see if a separate switch can be used to energize it. If the truck "thinks" that the brake pedal is being pressed all the time while we aren't in the cab, it should stop the fast idle IMO. Otherwise, some sort of mechanical device to manually keep that brake pedal pressed down would do the trick.
 

NYSUPstater

Well-known member
Ours does the same...2017 F-450.

Read your Ford service sheets you have received starting from 2022 and you will see a Ford update that was performed. You didn't ask for it, but it is a mandatory update that all Ford dealerships are required to perform if certain trucks come thru their service doors. It is also said to be non-reversible as the dealership won't reprogram it back due to emission laws.

I'm hoping an electronics whiz from the Powerstroke forum will come up with an easy solution for defeating the 1000 RPM idle....we CANNOT stand it since it was performed.

If no one comes up with an easy solution, and in time this can't be reversed legally... I'm going to break into the brake pedal electrical circuit to see if a separate switch can be used to energize it. If the truck "thinks" that the brake pedal is being pressed all the time while we aren't in the cab, it should stop the fast idle IMO. Otherwise, some sort of mechanical device to manually keep that brake pedal pressed down would do the trick.
Mine will do the 1k idle when it's cold. I really liked the 6.0 when it did it!!.

Never gave the warm up the exhaust a thought, but it has also done it when it's warm too.

Don't have a high idle program that I've seen in the settings.

When it has idled up, it lasts for 10-20 minutes or so. Don't recall my '15 doing this BUT it would also do a stationary re-gen and light on dash would come on (my '16 KW does this--idle come up approximately 150 rpm's).

I just find it odd, so I thought I'd ask to see if others had same thing or not, normal or not... or a cure.
 

david-steph2018

Well-known member
We have a 2017 Ram HO (high output) 3500. It goes into high idle when cold. When I was driving the prison bus, it would go into high idle to warm up the engine and heat.
 
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