Hey fellas, Im new here and have very limited knowledge of the 6.7 CDT, so bear with me on the learning curve. I realize most of this stuff is already posted in this forum and I have indeed searched and read much of it, but I wanted to ask some questions to help recap my (limited) knowledge.


1) Ive read all this talk about running your truck "hard" and you cant drive it "normally" ? I think that whole notion is stupid that you should have to put your foot in the throttle from light-to-light like a teenager showing off to accomodate the stupid DPF system. What is the straight answer on that? What will happen if I just drive my new '09 2500 QC SLT 4x4 normally?


2) On the issue about idling, how are folks who live in the city supposed to deal with heavy traffic? Ive been reading all these warnings about letting your 6.7 idle too long and the DPF clogging up. What the heck were the engineers thinking that you cant let the thing idle? Are there gonna be countless 6.7s sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic and their engines getting shut down by a computer? To be quite honest that is one bonus I was hoping to get from owning a diesel was it should be able to sit and idle without overheating just too easy. I myself live in the country and dont drive city traffic, but still would like to know the straight facts on that.


3) Ive also heard differing opinions on the exhaust brake feature. Some guys say to use it everytime you drive and plenty posts Ive read say to avoid that thing altogether. Whats the real story on the Jake brake anyway?


4) On the EGR thing, can someone explain to a non-diesel guy exactly how this thing works and is this system truly dumping exhaust right into the intake?


5) And lastly, Ive seen some pretty decent step-by-step threads on many different Cummins & Diesel truck websites on how to take off the entire EGR/DPF system completely. I realize that voids the warranty, but do these engines truly run okay once all that crap is removed? As much as Id like to leave the warranty intact on my new truck, this whole EGR/DPF thing looks to be a complete pain in the ****. I know there is a build-date issue regarding the computer so I need to check to see what the date is on mine.

I realize that it can get old when a noob like me pops in and asks the same stuff that's been asked 50+ times before in the past few years, but Im really trying weed thru the opinions & BS and get down to FACTS !

Thanks in advance for any info you good folks can pass along.

 

Here is what I've learned.
1. The flash after AZ takes care of this. Drive the truck normally. I do and its fine.
2. Idling. I let my truck warm up and thats it. If you're driving in traffic it will regen fine.
3. Exhaust brake, run it all the time to keep it from sticking. Its easy to get into the habit of turning it on every time. PS its not a jake brake, its a variable gain turbo and the vanes close to use the brake.
4. EGR, I just unplug it and the intown mileage went up about 4 mpg. Towing it stays the same.
5. Don't take the emissions off until its off warranty. Just unplug the egr, it will trip the check engine light, but just get an Edge Insight for your gauges and clear the code once a week.

6. This is the MOST IMPORTANT POINT, MAKE SURE YOU FOLLOW THE FOLLOWING INSTRUCTION!!! Have FUN and enjoy the truck. I do!!! pm me if you have any more questions.

 

Thats good & clear info, thank you.


Can you elaborate on this part. Ive read quite a bit about this in many threads but since Im new to this, could you go into very specific detail on this point?

 

ok, unplugging the egr is just that, there is a plug on the drivers side, right above the intake horn. Unplug it (I wrapped mine in electrical tape to keep the connectors clean) and the ecm cannot see the egr and it defaults to open and it blocks off most of the egr soot that California wants that engine to breath. It throws a soft code and the check engine light comes on. I have an Edge Insight for my gauges (plugs into the obdII port) and it has the option of clearing the codes. I do this once a week as I've heard the ecm can learn that its been on for an extended period of time and can cause an issue.

My intown mileage has increased about 3-4 mpg (about 15-16 now) and the same for running on the highway empty (now about 20-21.5). Towing the mileage has stayed the same due to how the egr works when the engine is really working.

Hope this helps...

 

This is the first time I've heard of this. Can you elaborate on this a bit as mine is unplugged all the time without clearing the code. What issues would this cause?

 

I've "heard" it can cause the truck to go into limp mode, I do not have any hard facts, just hearsay. If you've not had any issues, I would not worry about it...

 

From what I understand if you were to unplug and then plug your EGR back in, and cleared the soft code with three key-starts, it still leaves a record in the ECM. I wonder if that is true?

 

It can leave a stored code for the EGR unplugged, but if they don't look for it, it should be fine.

The DPF/Cat removal was as easy as getting the delete pipe and picking up the Smarty. My average tank mileage is up to around 18.5 mpg from 14.2 with it in "Stock" or running the Smarty for a stock truck. Highway clear runs only can crest over 19 mpg. The pipe is on the shelf should I ever need it.

 

But this is the $64,000 question, if you did have emissions issues that needed warranty work, and they did look and find the 'EGR Fail' messages, would they honor the warranty work? Thats the main concern I have.

Thanks for posting that picture and your input!

 

All you have to do is if you do have an emissions issue is put everything back and if they ask questions about the egr, say "Whats an egr?".

 

I see you finally did the exhaust Lil Dog. Mine looks like that too as of last month and is on the shelf if needed as well.

Looks like you got the same pipe I did? From Pro-Flow? I kept that O2 sensor in the stock pipe and put a plug in the new pipe. Had to cut down a metric bolt. That was the easy part though. Had a bit of trouble getting the delete pipe into the pipe going to the muffler. Got it done though.

 

Thanks... Yup Flo-pro pipe as I had researched. I didn't have a 1/2" NPT pipe plug tap to take out the 18mm sparkplug thread for the O2 sensor, so I thought it was a good plug in the old system, should work fine.

I would play the stupid card with the dealer too.. EGR??? I dunno, I washed my engine and this darn light came on.. Went off though after a while so I didn't call you guys..

 

To klx650a2: Is it possible to determine what flash an engine has without going to the dealer?

 

You must service (clean it out) the EGR about every 60,000 miles. All you have to do is tell the dealer that you forgot to plug the EGR back in after servicing it and starting the engine back up again. They have no clue about the length of time the EGR was unplugged.

 

Regarding what flash you have, there should be a sticker on the cross member infront of the radiator. It should be about 1X3 inches and in black marker written what flash version. It should be a bunch of numbers and the last 2 digits is the version. The last 2 digits on mine are BA.