Adventures with a Pete 587

[JimT]

It never ends. The last couple days have been tiring. Got to a pickup bright and early only to meet with hours of delays. Just before pulling out the tractor pops up with the dreaded "Regen Required" message. Bah, here we go again.

Warning, the following post is long and covers many topics. Viewer Reader discretion is advised.

I've been monitoring the aftertreatment history and ever since I replaced the DEF doser and fixed the exhaust pipes between the DPF and Decomp tube (I found the clamp wasn't tightened and the pipes had no gasket and a nice little gap). The dpf outlet pressure has been noticeably higher (1.5-2.0InHg) since the fix. Also been getting active regens about every 8 key-on hours (usually once per day, as soon as I start driving in the morning). Max differential pressures for this time have been up and down from 1.3 to 2.5. As I've had multiple exhaust leaks prior to now it's hard to know if these current numbers are high or just normal.

I've also noticed the smoke started up again at the beginning of active regens. It was minimal at first. A few puffs for a few seconds and then it would go away. But gradually it got worse. For those wondering it's from the fuel that's being injected in to the exhaust. If it doesn't ignite at the right time, such as when the exhaust temps aren't high enough yet, it will produce a white/blue smoke. A slight puff or two when the active regen starts supposedly isn't a concern, but billowing amounts are. I originally thought this was the result of the broken EGR valve not regulating the combustion temps properly. But since that has been replaced I suspect the doser injector may be getting clogged up again. Possibly leaking and collecting excess soot. I'll pull that off this weekend when i have some time and the the engine is cool.

As if that wasn't enough I'm also getting a bunch of other codes popping up.
3225 - DPF Purge Air Actuator - Not responding or out of adjustment
3545 - NOx outlet sensor - Abnormal rate of change (sometimes other outlet NOx sensor codes instead of or along with this one)
3383 - EGR - Above normal operating range

The first 2 happen occasionally and usually only one occurence. I also suspect that the purge air actuator plays a part in why the doser might be leaking fuel and getting clogged with soot. The last one, EGR, has popped up 2 times now. 1st time about 5 days ago heading south down I-81. Single day total was about 135 occurrences. Then nothing again until today. 2nd time had 115 occurrences today. Oh, both days where this code appeared I had the engine wound up around 1800rpm multiple times. The other days I didn't need to take it over about 1650. Not sure if that matters, but it is a bit of a coincidence.

While all this is going on today I stop to check my load and hit the bathroom. I come out to find a pool of gear oil on the ground from the front of my transmission. Wait, not just on the ground, ALL OVER THE UNDERSIDE OF THE TRUCK! Completely coated EVERYTHING. Got it to a shop down the road and turned out to be a worn out hose to the transmission cooler sprung a leak. Not the worst thing, but lost 2.5 gallons. Glad I caught it when i did. Unfortunately I had to cancel my pickup for the next day because I wasn't sure if I'd make the crane appointment. (It would have taken me down to GA, Friday pickup, Tuesday delivery with all of Monday to sit around and reset my hours)

So tonight I ran a parked regen while monitoring it via insite. The on and only parked regen since the EGR valve was replaced. Differential pressure was about 1.3 at the start, dpf outlet pressure was about 2.5. After about 45 minutes of regen the differential pressure was down to 0.45 and the outlet pressure was about 1.0 with spikes of 1.5 when the engine fan kicked in. At this point fuel injection stopped and the dpf temps all dropped to around the 550 degree mark. However the parked regen did not stop. It kept going with the engine at 900rpm and the turbo doing it's thing for another hour before I stopped it. Not sure why it kept going. Soot load dropped to "normal" around 20-25 minutes in to the regen and pressures did not change any more after temps cooled to 550. I've had this happen before but it's not a regular occurence.

While I had insite open I found a brand new code that i've never had before (rarely ever see something not aftertreatment related). 2321 Crankshaft Speed/Position - Data erratic, intermittent or incorrect. Inactive, 1 occurrence about 45 minutes prior to parking for the night.

My fuel mileage has been low ever since I replaced the EGR valve. At first I thought it might be the different runs I was doing. Heavy, short, hilly and in NYC. Then I thought it was because I altered my driving style to run in higher rpm's. But after finally putting on some real mileage this past 7 days I'm now convinced that it's something else. I used to be able to get 6.5 on a BAD day up to low 8's on a good day. The past 7 days took me from CT down I-81 in to LA, then up I-55 to IA. Not a single day above 6. Most days I started out with an active regen that left me in the 4's and I ended the day mid to high 5's. Needed 15-20 psi of boost just to maintain speed on the level ground today. That was anything over 45 mph. It got a little better when the wind died down, but still needed at least 10psi on level ground. Rolling hills were great, but not enough to make up for the losses.

What else... Oh, 4,000 miles on this oil now. Added about 2/3 of a gallon this morning to top it up. Prior to this oil I had been getting a lot of burnt oil smell from the breather, but happily since the EGR valve was replaced and the oil changed this has mostly gone away. 540,000 miles on this baby.

And my CDL expires in 10 days so I need to get back home to get that squared away.

Sorry if this was long winded. Just trying to document some of this while it's still fresh and before the next problem pops up. Besides, it's my daily blog.

I'm still very new to learning about and maintaining this truck, so I welcome any insight, advice or direction.