6.7L Cummins Forum

Hello all. This question along with answers has probably been posted here before, but since I'm new and don't yet know where to find previous post, I will go ahead and ask. I have a 2011 Ram 2500 with 6.7L that I bought new this past August. The truck currently has 5,000 miles on it and here's what's going on.

When the truck had 2,600 miles on it the engine malfunction light came on, and it was a bad O2 sensor. The dealership replaced it. This whole time, the oil was black as coal like it is really sooted up. Shortly after the "oil change due" indicator came on at 2,860 miles, I drove it a few more miles and deciced to go ahead and change it at 2,917 miles.

Everything good afterwards for awhile, oil blackened up pretty fast, (to me its full of soot), then about 3 weeks ago the engine malfunction light came on again, so I took it back to the dealership.

The tech said it was an O2 sensor indicator but this time he just cleared the code and didn't replace the sensor. Since this, and at 4,930 miles, the "oil change due" indicator came on again (2,000 miles since last change), and I'm trying to figure out what's going on.

Why can't I get more than 2,000 miles out of an oil change? I know a lot of folks say this, but I literly don't idle the truck because I know idle shortens the life of the engine (I grew up in the trucking industry).

I do idle it up to 1K on these cold mornings and allow it to warm up for about 10 to 15 minutes before heading out to work. I have only pulled my trailer with a car on it 2 times, and other than that it goes 16 miles a day to work and back, and drive 50 or 60 miles on Sundays, and whatever other driving we would normally do around here.

I know this isn't like continous highway driving, but I thought I could at least get 5,000 miles out of an oil change. I know the OEM recommends like 7,500 miles.

Today I took the truck to a different Dodge dealership and explained this issue to them, and they did a software upgrade for the O2 sensors. They said the bulletin had just came out so they did the update. Couldn't tell me anything about the oil life except that it's tied to how the truck is driven/used.

All I'm trying to learn is, is this going to be the norm for me with this truck? I love the truck but can't see having to change the oil every 2K miles.

Thanks in advance,

KT

We have an engine equipped with post process injection smog which means diesel is shot into the exhaust stroke to soak the exhaust filter when needed to do a regen. Problem with this is that exhaust diesel and soot is mixing together and seeping into the crankcase. Since you have a 2011, it should have the J35 update which means every several hundred miles, the NOX/SOX filters do a regen which takes around 10 minutes. With those short trips, its kicking off and not completing and diesel with soot is mixing with the oil. The computer is seeing lots of short cycles and incomplete regens and calling for a oil change sooner than later. The oil change indicator is done by cycles and some other information, it has no actual oil test to make the determination. These engine requires lots of driving and heavy usage to keep them running good, they do not like pampering.

Lots of us have installed bypass filter and use oil analysis to determine when oil change is really needed. The oil no matter what will be black, even shortly after changing. Bypass filter help deal with the soot issue, just be careful, not all bypass are equal.

There is no really easy solution to this problem, besides longer duty cycle and/or bypass filtering. There are some posts on this some of them in detail. Bypass however will address the issue that sensors are sooting up, longer duty cycles will address that issue. Another thing that will help is using something like and Edge Insight gauge to monitor regen and soot levels. That can tell you when you need to spend time on the highway and let things clean out a bit.

Hope that helps somewhat.

Cheers.

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Thanks morbius! It's amazing how my thoughts this morning on this issue are similar to your reply! Here's what I mean. Earlier this morning before I logged onto the computer, the light bulb came on for me. I got to thinking about our new Freightliner tractors at work with the DPF, and regen system, and how they do their regen while the truck is moving down the highway. Then I thought with the type of driving I am doing, my truck doesn't have a chance to regen. Even though I drive it to church in Sunday am sometimes, (which is 25 miles one way), it still don't have a chance to regen and that's why the oil seems to be overly sooting. The other thing I was thinking about is will the DPF clog to the point that it's got to be removed and cleaned, or is that a required maintenance process with these Cummins anyway? So even though I don't pull heavy loads on a routine basis, I was thinking I might change the oil and take it out and drive it today, and get it good and warmed up to see if it would regen. Then drive it more often out on the highway so it will regen. Your thoughts please?

Thanks!
KT

Your thoughts are spot on. If it was me and I would install a FS-2500 bypass filter (that is what I have on my truck now). That will set you up real good for the oil issue, as for the DPF loading, some good long highway driving will take care of that. If the DPF loads too much, the overhead console will warn you, that is the only warning you will get. Unlike a semi, we have no manual dpf regen switch (I really wish we did, would solve tons of problems) and no indicator that DPF regen is happening. For that I suggested installing a Edge Insight unit (its a monitoring gauge so will not cause warranty issues).

With the Insight gauge, you can program it to show DPF load status and when a regen happens. Regen happens in a couple ways, ECU has a regen status active state for SOX and NOX so toggle can be set. Regen for DPF is when the exhaust temp stays about 1000 degrees and below 1200.

There is no Cummins / Dodge DPF maintenance procedure, its all automatic with DPF regen. I know of several trucks with several 100K miles with DPF running like a charm (all highway driving) and nothing done. Know of several trucks with tons of short trips and nearly 100K miles and doing good with routine maintenance (sensor cleaning).

One thing to be aware of, if lots of regen happen due to soot loading the resulting ash is collected in the DPF and does not come out. Removal of the DPF and cleaning of the ash is required. That is the boat I am in. DPF regen level is set at 5.0 and on my truck after a regen, diff pressure level only goes down to 4.1 vs originally doing down to 2.8. I have to remove the DPF and CAT and blow them clean.

When I get mine off for cleaning I will try and collect all the ash and post a picture of what collects inside the DPF.

Hope that helps.

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The Oil Change Monitor on these trucks (or any others) is not accurate. The best thing to do is to pick an oil change interval within the recommended mileage interval and change the oil and filter at that point. I ignore and cancel the warning and change my oil and filter every 10,000 KMs. The recommended interval is 12,000 KMs (7,500 mi). I have been running a bypass filter from 100,000 KMs.
Since new, I have been using only the first 4 gears in town and I have been running with the EGR unplugged from 10,000 KMs. The exhaust is stock and functioning.
Unplugging the EGR will keep the oil cleaner longer, as will the addition of a bypass filter. But you must be prepared for the fact that the oil will still turn black - it's a diesel. What I want to see is the edges of the oil on the dip stick staying opaque for as long as possible.
There is also great debate about synthetic vs conventional oil. I chose to run synthetic because this truck is on a long term (10 to 15 years) ownership plan for me. With that said, I think that the name of the game is keeping the oil clean rather than brand or type. For the record, I run Amsoil CJ-4 5-40, Fleetguard StrataPore oil filters and an Amsoil bypass. "Hope this helps.

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2007 Ram 2500 QC 4x4 SLT TRX4-Offroad 6.7L Automatic. '08 Jeep WK 3.0L diesel-wife's DD.
1998 Jeep ZJ 4.0L Automatic Selectrac-project for our son. '98 Jeep XJ-my wife's former DD.
1965 Dodge Polara 880 Convertible 383 Automatic.

With the J35 flash update, be careful with the EGR unplugged. The update contains a trap sense the egr unplugged and prevents any regen from working correctly. I have seen DPF levels build really fast cause of this and only way to clean it all was plugging back in. I do not know the status of J35 outside the USA, but have a funny feeling its universal now a days, no longer a USA only thing. I completely forgot about the using the lower gears in town, that is all autopilot driving mode after all these years

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Thank you guys!! I truly appreciate all you have contributed to my questions!!!! Morbius, I think I will check into that by-pass filter you speak of, and you are so right on the manual regen, in fact it's funny you mentioned it because I thought about that today! Our Freightliners can be manually regened and there is a display on the dash for the driver to tell them what stage it's in. We Dodge/Cummins owners are really in the dark as far as that part goes. DWR Dodge 6.7, thanks for your reply. You are right on the oil getting black soon, it's just that mine looks like our big trucks oil after it's been ran for 25K miles! I know it has to do with my driving and the new engines with regen. One of my employees drives a 2001 Dodge Ram 1 ton with a Cummins with no regen. He drives it like I do mine but he does pull a trailer with round bales but his oil don't blacken up like mine does for a lot of miles and I feel it's got a lot to do with it not having a regen system.

I tell you, we had far less issues with our big trucks at work before the government mandated EGR/Regen engines. We have had so many issues with them, that you would be suprised. I didn't even think about this when I bought my new Ram this past August. Today I almost came to a point that maybe I shouldn't have bought the truck because of my lack of being able to use is as it's designed. I bought it to use here on our place and to be able to pull my farm tractors on my trailer and not have to worry about power. Anyway, again, Thanks guys!!!!

KT