New 2020 Duramax
1 - 20 of 32 Posts
Joined
·
1,016 Posts
Some suggest changing all the fluids within the first few thousand miles: motor oil, trans fluid, diff fluid. I can’t say I did that though. First oil change at 5k and did trans and diff fluids at 45k.
Don’t tow anything heavy within the first 1k miles I think it is. And drive it like you would drive any other vehicle, don’t baby it as it is learning your driving techniques in fast mode for the first few thousand miles I think it is. At some point it switches over to slow learn. Some say you should also drive it hard those first thousand miles to properly seat the rings? I dunno. I just let my wife drive ours so I accomplished that I guess
have 84k on it now.
Make sure you drive at least 30-45 minutes at highway speeds once a week to get the truck to Regen. Use anti-gel fuel additive if it’s very cold. Most fuel stations in the North treat their fuel so you shouldn’t have to worry, but it’s just good insurance.
Don’t tow anything heavy within the first 1k miles I think it is. And drive it like you would drive any other vehicle, don’t baby it as it is learning your driving techniques in fast mode for the first few thousand miles I think it is. At some point it switches over to slow learn. Some say you should also drive it hard those first thousand miles to properly seat the rings? I dunno. I just let my wife drive ours so I accomplished that I guess
have 84k on it now.Make sure you drive at least 30-45 minutes at highway speeds once a week to get the truck to Regen. Use anti-gel fuel additive if it’s very cold. Most fuel stations in the North treat their fuel so you shouldn’t have to worry, but it’s just good insurance.
Joined
·
3 Posts
30-45 minutes every week, I drive about 100 miles every week , does it need to burn off soot that often???Some suggest changing all the fluids within the first few thousand miles: motor oil, trans fluid, diff fluid. I can’t say I did that though. First oil change at 5k and did trans and diff fluids at 45k.
Don’t tow anything heavy within the first 1k miles I think it is. And drive it like you would drive any other vehicle, don’t baby it as it is learning your driving techniques in fast mode for the first few thousand miles I think it is. At some point it switches over to slow learn. Some say you should also drive it hard those first thousand miles to properly seat the rings? I dunno. I just let my wife drive ours so I accomplished that I guess
Make sure you drive at least 30-45 minutes at highway speeds once a week to get the truck to Regen. Use anti-gel fuel additive if it’s very cold. Most fuel stations in the North treat their fuel so you shouldn’t have to worry, but it’s just good insurance.
Joined
·
1,016 Posts
Yes that’s idea behind it, burning off soot. I believe it does it every 400-500 miles or so. It needs to get up to a certain temperature which is achieved by driving the truck at higher speeds. I might be wrong, it may only be 20-30 minutes at 50 mph or greater. If you don’t and it can’t regen, you’ll have problems down the road with the emissions equipment.
Typically it regens in the background and you won’t notice. If you watch your instant mpg’s you’ll see a drop over normal mpg and the truck will also feel more responsive as the EGR is closed I believe while it regens. If you don’t drive far and fast enough once a week, eventually you’ll get messages that say “exhaust filter cleaning please keep driving.”
Joined
·
3 Posts
found this in the manual, sound right?
For the filter to clean itself, the
vehicle must be driven above
50 km/h (30 mph) until the message
goes off. This will take about
30 minutes.
Joined
·
1,016 Posts
T
That would be correct. The longer your trips are in the truck, the better it will do for you. Short commutes of 10 minutes or so all the time will give you issues I imagine and make you hate the truck.
Joined
·
579 Posts
I need to get more road trips going. I've been short tripping for the most part since I got mine used in Oct.
Joined
·
6 Posts
I’m LOVING my 2017 Colorado with the 2.8L diesel at not quite 40k miles. I read the OEM owner’s manuals for the truck and the Duramax and just followed the break-in procedure for the engine. I drove it like I wanted to keep it for a lifetime but never babied it. Recently I got a Banks iDash gauge to see what was happening with my DPF and regeneration system. What I learned changed my driving habits to be just a little more DPF friendly. I’ve never had any DPFissues but my short drives had been causing more frequent regens, or so I thought. Turns out the system is designed to regen roughly once per tank of diesel or whenever the DPF reports to the ECU that it’s at 100% soot load. Now that I can know when it’s loading up on soot, I just drive 30 minutes or so highway and done and let the regen run until the soot level is down to 2% or until my mpg is back where I’m expecting to see it.
Joined
·
80 Posts
Advice - take everyone’s advice here earnestly - yet with a grain of salt. The majority of my usage with my 2016 Z71 2.8D has been 1-2 miles shuttling the kids to school and back. I coincidentally began working from home full time around when I got the truck (so no commutes). I run it longer miles maybe 1-2 times per month, mainly during winter/ski season and summer/hiking season. I’ve never seen that “keep driving” message, I don’t monitor engine codes, haven’t a clue when it regens, and don’t even pretend to look at instantaneous mpg in an attempt to detect regens (because there are so many environmental factors that could impact mpg - so why bother guessing). If you’re all into that hoo-ha, by all means enjoy the subject and the company here. No offense folks. But heck, aren’t the first two years of maintenance on the dealer anyway? If you’re not the type to over-analyze (again no offense folks), then just drive the truck, try not to fret too much about what’s worrying people on this forum, and perhaps your only annoyances will be running low on DEF unexpectedly (since it’s not analog-gauged), AC blowing during winter warmup, and the darned dashboard eye misunderstanding if it’s day or night (thus messing with the dash cluster illumination level)
Joined
·
6 Posts
What a driver does not know about driving a diesel can certainly cause problems down the road and shorten the life of a diesel and create expensive emissions system repairs after the warranties have expired. If a diesel is not driven and maintained properly, the emissions systems designed to last for many years and hundreds of thousands of miles will fail prematurely. Every machine is designed to be used in a certain way and maintained to provide the longest possible life. Diesels are not like gasoline engines especially where emissions systems are concerned. No offense intended but treating a diesel like a gasoline vehicle is one sure way to guarantee expensive repairs long before they are required. All the best and glad you are doing well with your Colorado.
Based on my experience there is no avoiding it “break-in”
Suggest you pick a different truck.
Joined
·
579 Posts
I might drive even less depending on if I go for a ride out in the country to relax or not have never seen a message about the DPF since I have owned it. 4 months now I think. I have a DuramaxTuner not sure how that figures into things.
Joined
·
529 Posts
What I have noticed using the torque app is that driving the highway lowers the soot level.
but running back roads always show the soot level increasing..
The DPF will only survive so many burn offs.
Running my truck easy results in more than usual soot accumulation and burn offs.
Also watching a video of a company that rebuilds big diesels, they say running a diesel easy will polish the cylinder walls causing the truck to eventually use oil. The oil use will destroy the DPF. They say they take a brand new rebuild and put it on a Dyno and break it in at 80% load right from the get go.... They say you can’t break in a Diesel like a gas motor as it will not last........... Diesels are meant to be worked.
Rob
but running back roads always show the soot level increasing..
The DPF will only survive so many burn offs.
Running my truck easy results in more than usual soot accumulation and burn offs.
Also watching a video of a company that rebuilds big diesels, they say running a diesel easy will polish the cylinder walls causing the truck to eventually use oil. The oil use will destroy the DPF. They say they take a brand new rebuild and put it on a Dyno and break it in at 80% load right from the get go.... They say you can’t break in a Diesel like a gas motor as it will not last........... Diesels are meant to be worked.
Rob
Joined
·
195 Posts
These engines are broken in after assembly at the factory. Drive it gently for the first 500 miles and avoid constant RPMs to break in the R&P. Don't abuse your new truck regardless of what some may tell you. After 500 miles drive it normally.
Change the oil after 1500 miles to get out all the break in metals.
Change the Gear oil at 5,000 miles and replace with HD GL5 Synthetic 75w90 Gear oil. I like Delvac. There was lots of metal in mine.
Change transmission and transfer case fluid at 30K miles.
Change the oil following the DIC when it gets to 0%. Use a 5w40 oil cause these engines have fuel dilution as a result of their emissions system tuning.
Change the oil after 1500 miles to get out all the break in metals.
Change the Gear oil at 5,000 miles and replace with HD GL5 Synthetic 75w90 Gear oil. I like Delvac. There was lots of metal in mine.
Change transmission and transfer case fluid at 30K miles.
Change the oil following the DIC when it gets to 0%. Use a 5w40 oil cause these engines have fuel dilution as a result of their emissions system tuning.
Joined
·
529 Posts
Your break in was similar to mine.... But I started to work the truck after the first oil change.
Would be a good information pack to have some trucks babied and some worked (not abused) to see what issues crop up. That would surely cut through all the BS found on the net.....
I wish people wouldn’t follow the Dic when it comes to oil changes.
These trucks put massive amounts of particulate matter in the oil thanks to the EGR.
And that soot has been proven to be abrasive....
I been changing mine at 3000 miles and it was nasty to say the least.
This time I let it go to 4000 miles and the oil was more like paint than oil.
It was very gritty and you could lite it on fire with a lighter.
Now from a different angle I have a Kabota tractor. It doesn’t have an EGR. I change the oil once a year. It never looks or feels like the crap that comes out of my truck. It’s dark but nothing like my truck. Even after many many hrs of use does it compare to checking the oil in my truck after only a week of use.... That has to tell you something ??
The excavator at work has t had an oil change in 3 years. The boss is in it almost every day.
It is in serious need of an oil change. But the oil doesn’t have the same characteristics of the oil from my truck after 4000 miles.....
Now i do take into consideration that the excavator has 3 times more oil in it than our trucks and that my be a contributing factor.....
Six measly qts.......... pls change your oil more often.....
The gritty feel spooked me the most. How easy it was to lite on fire shows just how much fuel is in the oil.
If you have an EGR delete I would run it much longer but considering what I saw ..... No thanks...
There is a lot of video on YouTube from mechanics asking people not to follow the oil change intervals MFGs advertise. And these are from much cleaner burning gas motors with out all the crap found in diesel oil.....
Mfgs are toting cost of ownership now days and if you can make that look good by extending things like oil changes all the better.....
Then consider the oil we use was designed to protect the DPF more than the motor......
Think about it. Do reseach ....
I am just trying to help keep these trucks running a long time....
But
For those of you that don’t believe me...... that’s fine. We need some test trucks out there to see just how good these motors are.
And that’s a good thing too...
Rob
Joined
·
195 Posts
I just changed my oil today actually. It had 8400 miles on it. It was dark but not pitch black. Soot is probably 0.1 to 0.2%. I’m gonna send a sample out for analysis on Monday so I’ll see the final results in a couple weeks. Refilled with Biosyn HD 10w40 CJ-4.
The excessive soot you describe is from poor quality fuel. You can offset that by dosing with an effective additive to improve combustion efficiency. My truck has EGR intact but it gets good fuel w/ additive so not much of a factor. My last analysis had 0.1% soot after 7800 miles which is very low.
Moral of the story is EGR isn’t a big factor in oil life if the fuel burns clean.
Joined
·
529 Posts
i use Amsoil European 5-30 in the winter and 5-40 in the summer when I to my travel trailer.
I cant emphasize how sticky and nasty this oil is. I know it’s not green BUT I pour a bit of this used oil on the wood in my stove. I can get a fire going in minutes with no kindling....
If you get a drop of this on your hands you can’t get it off. If you spill a drop on the floor it turns the floor black and it will not wipe up. It just spreads like paint. It’s not dark it’s shiny black, thick and gooey......
I see your using a true heavy duty diesel oil. Are you concerned with the DPF?
Rob
Joined
·
529 Posts
Welcome.
Thats a nice color.
What made you decide to go with a Canyon Denali Over the competition?
Did milage play a big part in your decision?
Rob
1 - 20 of 32 Posts
