DPF Regeneration driving me crazy...

[ericm979]

Every five hours seems excessive. Are you keeping the rpms up in the recommended operating range? DPF tractors need to be worked and not idled much.

It could be that your DPF is too clogged and is not getting full cleaned. There may be a malfunction in the regen system
but more likely the DPF needs to be cleaned. I'd contact a dealer and ask them about the problem. If nothing else they should know who cleans DPFs locally.

 

[Jstpssng]

I've got almost 800 hours, 625 of those are mine. The only time I've ever found it annoying was when it was around 0'F and I had just started the tractor... I won't rev a cold engine, especially at those temps.
My neighbor bought a 70 hp Massey specifically because they were afraid of the regens; it was less than a year old when it shut down and they had to have somebody come look at it, twice. They determined that they weren't working it hard enough and they haven't had a problem since.

 

[jyoutz]

Ohh yeah, you're fine then.

Been fine for 160k miles

 

[3 Horse Ranch]

I knew the regeneration cycle would be happening as I kept away from the larger diesels as my buddy burnt two engines up on his trucks. But the regeneration lights come on, right as I am in the middle of something, or it starts beeping and I have to stop immediately out in the field and find a empty spot to regenerate so I dont set the whole forest on fire. This is nuts...

I haven't dealt with a regen in a tractor yet but will in a few months. I have dealt with regen in a Mack OTR diesel engine. Most of the time you couldn't even tell it was doing it except it would produce thin whitish smoke out the stack that I might notice in the mirrors. Are tractors different requiring you to cease operations?

 

[jyoutz]

I haven't dealt with a regen in a tractor yet but will in a few months. I have dealt with regen in a Mack OTR diesel engine. Most of the time you couldn't even tell it was doing it except it would produce thin whitish smoke out the stack that I might notice in the mirrors. Are tractors different requiring you to cease operations?

No difference

 

[Hay Dude]

The Ford DPFs would crack the honeycomb media inside the DPF so when it would regen, it would POUR white smoke out the exhaust, which usually happened when pulling into a customers driveway or driving past neighbors homes.

 

[deserteagle71]

I knew the regeneration cycle would be happening as I kept away from the larger diesels as my buddy burnt two engines up on his trucks. But the regeneration lights come on, right as I am in the middle of something, or it starts beeping and I have to stop immediately out in the field and find a empty spot to regenerate so I dont set the whole forest on fire. This is nuts...

Not sure I understand what is going on here at all.

When that regen light comes on, that's just an indication that the tractor is going through its automatic regeneration cycle. You don't need to do a thing, just keep working the tractor, keeping the rpms up! If you push the button then you are canceling the regen cycle; yes, if you do that enough times you will cause a real problem. Pushing the button to cancel the regen cycle should be done ONLY if you need to postpone the cycle for some reason. And - unless you are in some situation where there are combustible materials touching the exhaust system, there is no reason to quit working and move to a "safer" area. Yes, the exhaust gets hotter but there is no fire shooting out of the exhaust pipe during the regen cycle to ignite nearby trees. I mow dry grass/weeds with my Kubota all the time and have never stopped because the tractor was in a regeneration cycle.

I know the manual instructions regarding the regeneration cycle are confusing - took me a while also until I realized what it was actually saying was that when the regen light comes on, keep the rpms up and keep working normally. Over 500 trouble-free hours on my M7060 now doing it that way. ONLY time I've done a parked regen is when the light came on as I was putting the tractor away in the barn. I ran the rpms up to 2000+, took care of a couple other chores, and when I went back 20 minutes later the light was off so I shut the tractor down.

Again, when the regen light comes on in the dash, that is just for your information so you don't shut the tractor down right then. Just keep working the tractor and in a few minutes the regen light will go off when the cycle is done. Do not confuse the Parked Regeneration instructions with the automatic regeneration instructions.

 

[5030]

On the hook for a part that costs <$500 after a couple of decades of use. Wow, not really a consideration.

In an ag tractor setting, 2300 regens isn't a lot when you are working the unit 8-10 hours a day, day in and day out and the cost of cleaning (if it can be cleaned as the rejection rate on cannisters is very high is about 3-5oo bucks a hit. A new cannister is more (if you can get one). My buddy down the road with his fleet of new (post 4 JD's) is constantly having issue with the emissions hardware and software.

I agree that on a compact unit, 2300 regens will most likely be a 2nd or 3rd owner but someone will pay the piper sometime if and I say if the cannister and the software / hardware lasts that long.

Factoring in inflation and everything else, I suspect the renew-replacement will be appreciably more than it is today anyway.

 

[workinonit]

This is the stupidist argument against DPF that I've ever heard. My tractor has run 200 hours with no regen and it's not even in sight at 80% soot level. At this rate I won't get but 460,000 hours on my tractor before I have to spend 3 grand for a new catalyst. Just say you don't like the new emissions stuff andf move on instead of trying to make ridiculous arguments against it.

 

[mikester]

Speculation. People have been hand wringing about electronics on vehicles for 40 years now, yet new vehicles are far more dependable than the 1970s era vehicles.

More dependable yes, and less repairable too without specialized equipment.

My favourite part is proprietary data buses that makes your ODB2 reader useless. I have to pay Toyota $100 to read a fault codes because I'm not going to pay $2K a year to gain access to Toyota's web based diagnostic reader system.

And it's going to get worse. Soon you will have to pay an annual subscription fee to keep using features you paid for when you bought the machine/car. You want to use the remote car starter in your 2018+ Toyota after the warranty expires? There's a subscription for that. Want to use the heated seats in your BMW? There's a subscription for that. 4 wheel steering in your Mercedes? Great, there's a subscription for that too.

Soon you won't own anything anymore, you will have to buy an annual subscription fee to have the pleasure of using the thing you bought outright and paid for. Just like a cell phone you will throw away your car when the warranty expires.