Originally Posted by Ted White

Quite a few points for me to respond to since I was last on line.

I've responded to all of the points below, but I still need to have some examples of DPFs/emissions systems which have been replaced under warranty and why.

It is important to determine whether there is a specific, clearly identifiable issue which causes plugging of the DPF. We KNOW FOR SURE it does not occur solely from using higher sulfur fuels - if it did, thousands of them would have become plugged up in the past year and the dealerships would have been swamped with work replacig them.

The scientific evidence says the DPF does not get plugged by higher sulfur fuels and the practical field evidence is confirming those scientifically obtained results.

So please, once again, if you have knowledge of a warranty replacement could you please provide details.

Now to respond to points raised:

1.
Still don't have any more info why the injectors had to be replaced. My friend is out of town for a few days and he doesn't use email so I have to wait for him to get back to ask some more questions. Ideally I need to get a copy of the work order, which I'm trying to do.

2.
4WHEELEX - can you persuade your buddy with the 2008 and the $6000 bill to post the full story here? Or send me a private message? Thanks.

3.
Diesel Doc - we too suspect that an injector problem caused excessive sooting which contributed to, or directly caused, the plugging of the DPF. If the driving conditions were such that regeneration could not keep up with the soot there may have been a plugging issue.

4.
Diesel Doc - neither GM nor Dodge appear to be marketing a 2008 diesel down here. Ford has a modified (no DPF and DOC) diesel available and also offers a conversion kit for owners who want to move from the USA to a place like Mexico.

Bad diesel is a thing of the past in Mexico. All of the fuel in Mexico complies completely with USA standards and in many cases exceeds those standards. It is clean and reliable.

5.
Mopardamo - you are correct, contaminated fuel doesn't just mean "dirty" fuel. Yesterday I was chatting with a senior person from Ford engine development and he indicated that, generally speaking, as long as the fuel is clean the injectors really don't mind what they are injecting. However, we do think that solving the failed injector mystery is the key to what happened to the DPF. The fuel in the tank on the farm will have to be sent to a lab for analysis to see if it contains something which could have gradually etched or disolved parts of the injectors. If this is the case, then it is completely reasonable for Chrysler to deny warranty on the DPF - failure can be traced directly to a fuel component. Time will tell, but still doesn't alter our desire to find examples of DPF failure covered by warranty.

6.
Gsbrockman and johnh - if you go to the Flying J website you will still find some Flying J locations offering both LSD and ulsd. I was recently in Lake Havasu City and both lsd and ulsd were available with the lsd being cheaper. If you visit the Murphy Oil website there is information there which advises that some Murphy locations still offer only lsd. In other words, it is entirely possible for owners to inadvertently put lsd in their tanks. Lots of people do.

7.
Bigsnakebud - your experience is entirely consistent with the scientific predictions and the experiences of lots of other owners, including the ones I am in touch with who have trucks in Mexico running nothing but lsd.

8.
Dodge man - we have never denied that my friend used the wrong fuel. That's not the point. We are trying to find out specifically what caused failure of the DPF. We KNOW WITHOUT A DOUBT that high sulfur fuel by itself CAN NOT cause that problem. We're trying to solve a mystery. The bill for the repair has been paid - that's history.

9.
P Kennedy - just a small error in your definitions. You have confused lsd with ulsd. Canada has required ulsd (15ppm) since late 2006. Prior to that the diesel was lsd.

And yes, my story is lacking some details, partly because I am relaying information from a friend, and partly because we are not asking for analysis of his problem. We are looking for examples of DPF failures being covered under warranty as a way of narrowing down what could cause complete plugging.

Your posting made some very good points and added some interesting considerations, thank you.

10.
Coolbreeze - I have an engineering, not a legal, background. I'm not looking to trap anyone into telling me stuff that could get them into problems. As mentioned above, we're just trying to get at the truth about this repair and what caused it.

11.
EB290 - Thanks for that TSB wording and your experiences with lsd. Again, 100% consistent with the experience of virtually everyone who has run, or is running, higher sulfur fuels in their vehicles. All the folks who are sticking it to my friend in their posts are ignoring the evidence - higher sulfur fuels, by themselves, can NOT cause plugging of the DPF.

Also, as mentioned in one of my postings above, the NOX absorber/filter, also known as the DOC (Diesel Oxygen Catalyst) is the item responsible for providing extra oxygen during regeneration to help burn off the soot. When there is sulfur present in the fuel, that sulfur combines with the oxygen produce by the DOC, and other components of exhaust, to form various sulfur compounds, MOST OF WHICH EXIT THE TAILPIPE AS MICROSCOPIC PARTICULATES. Only a small percentage get trapped in the DPF and usually burn off during normal regeneration.