3.0 Duramax

[Htown_LTZ]

I owned the first generation of the 1500 duramax and loved it. It wasn't my daily driver, so I kept getting a check engine light. My guess is and from what the dealership told me, is that I didn't drive it enough to have the soot burn off. I don't currently own the truck anymore, but I am thinking of getting another one after my lease ends. My question is, how often and how long does the engine have to run for the system to do its thing? One service tech told me to turn it on daily for and let it run for about 20 minutes. Any info would be greatly appreciated. 

[Jay P]

idling a modern diesel is a bad idea (builds soot really fast). If you drive the 3.0l around town it will regen more often but the 3.0l is less sensitive to non-highway/light load than the 6.6l is. A normal regen takes about 10 min on the highway. If you drive at highway speeds or loaded it will likely regen based on mileage or time and not soot level. One of 3 things will trigger a normal regen on a GM. Time, miles since last regen or soot level. Just an FYI but the GM diesels will stop a normal regen when the engine is idled in park and restart when in drive and moving again.

Edited November 16, 2024 by Jay P

[redwngr]

Sounds like that person at the dealer doesn't understand how they work. 

 

No need to do anything 'daily' to keep it happy'.

If the exhaust filter has soot problems it will give a 'keep driving message', not a check engine light.  

As @Jay P pointed out the 3.0 only takes about 10 miles to complete a regen and if a regen is interrupted that's ok too -- it will finish the regen when it's driven again. 

 

Unless it is giving 'keep driving' messages there is zero reason to do anything special. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Htown_LTZ]

I never got that "keep driving" message. I once got a "power reduced" message and it wasn't even a year old. What it also used to do was, sound like a Cummins with a lope. But I'd just shut it off for a while and it wouldn't do it. Any idea why it would do that?

[redwngr]

I don't recall anyone reporting those conditions on a 3.0. 

[Port Tack Farm]

Like most engines, but more so with diesels, they don't like short trips.  If I need to run up the street a couple miles to the grocery for my wife I take one of our cars.   I generally don't drive the truck unless I know the engine is going to get fully up to temperature, which depending on weather is generally about 5-10 miles.  Our truck isn't a daily driver so it sits in the driveway for several days in a row without moving and I've never had any issues with soot or regens.  My DEF usage is also spot on to what the manual says - generally less than 1 gal. per 1500 miles.

[Htown_LTZ]

The only other vehicle I have is my work truck, but I don't like using it too much because of the tools in the back. My 3.0 was the first gen engines, bought it brand new in 2019. I will be getting another one, now that I've gotten some info on how they work. Thanks