I remember reading a story similar to that on here. A bad sensor in the exhaust likely caused all of that. Good luck, that's what warranties are for.
Regen and error message
About 38,000 kms on my 16 colorado now, was coming back on a trip from Ontario to the east cost yesterday when I got an " Action Required" message that basically said it was cleaning the particulate filter ( regen) and that I "must continue driving" ... never had the message before so figured something unusual was happening. It continued to give multiple chimes and seemed like it was trying to restart the regen process.
After a half hour or so , I had to stop for gas, and when we started again, it did the same thing. Then about an hour later, I got a reduced power message so I know the regen wasn't working and the filter would be getting clogged. I found a nearby dealer and stopped in, and they checked it out. thought they could kick off process manually and burn off the soot but no go. It was reading that it was 183% clogged on their monitor . Nothing they could do and the remedy seemed to be to replace the exhaust , really the filter but seemed like it was probably the whole unit.. of course there would be none of those handy so no way to deal with without some days to get a new one.
So next question was, can we continue and will we hurt it by keeping going. They called GM and word was that we could carry on, albeit likely with reduced power etc. So we carried on,definitely with reduced power although if we got to higher gears we could maintain good speed unless we hit big hills. Anyway, we were able to complete our trip ( another 1000 kms or so over two days) , gas milage seemed reasonable ( no regens so as good or better??) .
So anybody have anything like that happen? Any idea what happened. I'll take it to my dealer next week, and even if they replace the filter or the exhaust, I'm not sure that will solve the real issue of what happened to stop the regens from properly kicking of and doing their job in the first place?
Be interested in hearing thoughts and experiences, thx.
After a half hour or so , I had to stop for gas, and when we started again, it did the same thing. Then about an hour later, I got a reduced power message so I know the regen wasn't working and the filter would be getting clogged. I found a nearby dealer and stopped in, and they checked it out. thought they could kick off process manually and burn off the soot but no go. It was reading that it was 183% clogged on their monitor . Nothing they could do and the remedy seemed to be to replace the exhaust , really the filter but seemed like it was probably the whole unit.. of course there would be none of those handy so no way to deal with without some days to get a new one.
So next question was, can we continue and will we hurt it by keeping going. They called GM and word was that we could carry on, albeit likely with reduced power etc. So we carried on,definitely with reduced power although if we got to higher gears we could maintain good speed unless we hit big hills. Anyway, we were able to complete our trip ( another 1000 kms or so over two days) , gas milage seemed reasonable ( no regens so as good or better??) .
So anybody have anything like that happen? Any idea what happened. I'll take it to my dealer next week, and even if they replace the filter or the exhaust, I'm not sure that will solve the real issue of what happened to stop the regens from properly kicking of and doing their job in the first place?
Be interested in hearing thoughts and experiences, thx.
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Thanks,
I found the thread you mentioned, sounds very similar. Found a part number on there as well. Will be good info for the dealership next week. The other interesting thing I forgot to mention was that while the mechanic was checking things , with the truck idling, the outside temperature was reading 0 degrees ( C) which he found odd. He said the fact it wouldn't regen could be related to thinking it was cold out, as many factors can inhibit the process, like lack of diesel (ie under 15 % full it won't regen he said) . It did go back to normal when I started driving again so not sure about that. Anyway, thanks , will see what we find out at dealer next week.
So the question is, what happens when the fliter is clogged, where does the soot go, ie is there a way that it bypasses the filter and allows the engine to continue to run , albeit at reduced power? And does the gas mileage actually get better because there are no regens happening.. I was getting 7.1 l /100 immediately after we left the dealer for the next 3 or 4 hours, next day around 8 l/100 for rest of the way . So as good if not better than usual...interesting.
I found the thread you mentioned, sounds very similar. Found a part number on there as well. Will be good info for the dealership next week. The other interesting thing I forgot to mention was that while the mechanic was checking things , with the truck idling, the outside temperature was reading 0 degrees ( C) which he found odd. He said the fact it wouldn't regen could be related to thinking it was cold out, as many factors can inhibit the process, like lack of diesel (ie under 15 % full it won't regen he said) . It did go back to normal when I started driving again so not sure about that. Anyway, thanks , will see what we find out at dealer next week.
So the question is, what happens when the fliter is clogged, where does the soot go, ie is there a way that it bypasses the filter and allows the engine to continue to run , albeit at reduced power? And does the gas mileage actually get better because there are no regens happening.. I was getting 7.1 l /100 immediately after we left the dealer for the next 3 or 4 hours, next day around 8 l/100 for rest of the way . So as good if not better than usual...interesting.
I would think if the DPF was clogged, you would not get better fuel milage, that it would actually go down (along with your power, which is what you said it did, went into limp mode). Can't explain why it would get better milage though.
If it actually is clogged though, I would say it will go into limp mode again soon. IF it does or is clogged, you will have to replace it. The DPF will clog fully at some point in its life, but usually it is much farther along, like 100,000-200,000 miles. Not 24,000 miles (38,000 km) like you have. If the warranty that, I would let them replace it for free. If they are going to charge you though, I would look at other options.
I say, IF they replace it as one person on the Facebook Canyon/ Colorado group I follow had his clog as well even sooner than yours and they wouldn't warranty it. However he also had installed an aftermarket K&N cold air intake GM blamed that for causing the premature clog and failure of the DPF, so the individual was going to have to pay out of pocket to fix the emissions system.
The other options route I mentioned would be deleting the emissions system with a straight pipe (performance muffler is optional if you don't want the truck to be quiet like it is currently but not be restricted) and get a tuner such as MotorOps out of Canada to delete out the emissions programming, as well as possibly an EGR delete. Would be much cheaper than replacing your emissions system and you'll never have to worry about it failing again.
If it actually is clogged though, I would say it will go into limp mode again soon. IF it does or is clogged, you will have to replace it. The DPF will clog fully at some point in its life, but usually it is much farther along, like 100,000-200,000 miles. Not 24,000 miles (38,000 km) like you have. If the warranty that, I would let them replace it for free. If they are going to charge you though, I would look at other options.
I say, IF they replace it as one person on the Facebook Canyon/ Colorado group I follow had his clog as well even sooner than yours and they wouldn't warranty it. However he also had installed an aftermarket K&N cold air intake GM blamed that for causing the premature clog and failure of the DPF, so the individual was going to have to pay out of pocket to fix the emissions system.
The other options route I mentioned would be deleting the emissions system with a straight pipe (performance muffler is optional if you don't want the truck to be quiet like it is currently but not be restricted) and get a tuner such as MotorOps out of Canada to delete out the emissions programming, as well as possibly an EGR delete. Would be much cheaper than replacing your emissions system and you'll never have to worry about it failing again.
Well I went to the dealer today and they were able to force a regen and supposedly got it cleaned up . All back to normal according to the service rep . Will be interesting to see what happens the next little while... interesting stuff about the options but I don't think Im ready for that at this point. I still have some kms left on the warranty so if it acts up again I will be a bit more forceful in "requesting" a new exhaust. The real question I still have ( that I didn't get and answer to at the dealer ) is what happened to interfere with the regen kicking off and doing it's job in the first place. It obviously failed multiple times to get to 183 % clogged.
Shutting the truck off in a regen cycle not letting it finish too many times and short trips
Likely the service re-gen is what it needed. The temp of the exhaust needs to be over 1k and in extremely cold or wet weather that can hamper it. You can buy a bluetooth OBD and android app BiScan and force a regen yourself on a trip to avoid the issue. If you look around, there are service companies that can replace the DPF cartridge for a very reasonable price. The DPF is considered USER SERVICEABLE and so GM has pulled one on all of us. Service re-gen causes burning of the residue on the ceramics resulting in ASH left behind. Using good DEXOS 2 our is a help as it is low ash. Frequency of change is very important. With a bluetooth OBD I can see the exhaust pressures while driving so I regularly monitor them to see what the DPF condition is, also I can see the exhaust temps increase while the truck does it's regular re-gen. Realize that a service re-gen Is much hotter and has specific conditions (outside, away from buildings, hood open.......) and I am sure too many could have a impact on the DPF, but it is USER not warranty. In dallas we have 2 shops that replace the filter (cut the canister, replace the cartridge, re-weld and re-install) and this is around $250 bucks. Advice, change oil frequently, use deco filters (cheap on amazon), use a OBD reader and learn what is normal and not, save readings if CEL happens.
This happened to me exactly and i think i have found the problem. I was using engine oil that was Dexos 1 Gen 2 the whole time i have owned this truck.(40,000 miles) The Dexos logo is confusing to say the least but there is def a difference.
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