Mexican Diesel Fuel/Sulfur Effects Update

briansue wrote:
I continue to be mystified by some of the information in posts on this topic. Questions continue to come up.

I really don't understand why it is so mystifying, and the only reason that I'm taking time to respond is because the text might pop up in a Google search and help somebody with a REAL problem.

When I assist owners who have both a P20EE and P2BAD code while in Mexico, I use my "laptop" to force a driving regeneration to clear out the sulfur compounds. I can then use my "laptop" to erase the P2BAD code, so at the end of the process there is NO REMAINING RECORD of the incident, and all systems return to normal. It is also important to note that the combined P20EE/P2BAD situation occurs ONLY on 2013 and later GM products. No other model years or makes experience any permanent codes as a result of using Mexican diesel, so most owners will never notice anything unusual while driving in Mexico.

Although I am based on the Baja, I have trained and equipped 4 other Snowbirds on the Mainland, so that they can perform the same service for stranded owners. I took the step of training others after having been flown by stranded owners to other parts of Mexico last season to carry out the service. Even though my costs were paid, I prefer not to be spending time flying around Mexico to do this work.

Bottom line again is, if you learn of an owner who needs assistance, please put him or her in touch with me and I, or one of the other properly equipped people on the Mainland, will imediately provide help. No record of what has happened will remain in the vehicle database.

So question to the above. Who pays to fly the writer to fix these problems and how much does it cost?

Obviously, although I do EVERYTHING ELSE free of charge, it would be unreasonable to expect me to pay for flights or other travel costs when somebody requests my FREE OF CHARGE assistance. As already mentioned in an earlier post, last season I decided I really did not want to be traveling to other locations, so I set up 4 other Snowbirds with the necessary knowledge and equipment. I did this FREE OF CHARGE, to help other people. I am not in the business of making money off stranded motorists.

If the writer claims there are no problems then why does he fly with his laptop to help people clear the problem?

I have never claimed that there are no problems. As I have posted numerous times, including in this forum, I have never been made aware of any problems due to sulfur in Mexican fuel for Ford, Dodge and GM products with model years 2007.5 through 2012. Nor have I ever been made aware of problems due to sulfur in Mexican fuel for Cummins engines in motorhomes 2007.5 through 2015. I have already explained the reasons why these model years and engines experience no problems.

I have also explained, many, many times, on every forum I can access, that I have never been made aware of a single problem due to sulfur in Mexican fuel for model year 2013 through 2015 Ford and Dodge diesel pickups.

I have also explained, many, many times, that GM diesel pickups, 2013 and later years, WILL produce codes, and CAN go into limp mode, but these problems can be managed.

If no problems exist why does the writer need to train 4 people to fix the problem?

Per the above, I have never said that no problems exist. I have always made it clear that problems, if they occur, are completely manageable and there is no need for an owner to ship a vehicle back to the USA.

If the writer suggests to drivers that it is OK for them to drive in Mexico and they do experience these problems does he charge them for the service he provides when he has to fly to rescue them? Or does he provide this service for free?

I NEVER charge for my services. I am retired, and I do not need to derive income from the misfortunes of others.

Do the other trained and properly equipped people provide this service for free and how long would a driver with problems have to wait for them to arrive?

All four of the people I have trained have agreed to carry out services FREE OF CHARGE. It goes without saying that it would depend where an owner was how long it would take for assistance to arrive, but this is not the AAA or Good Sam Roadside Assistance. This is people helping other people, which seems to really upset some of the users of this forum. Nobody, on any other forum discussing this topic gets upset that there are Snowbirds helping other Snowbirds and expecting nothing in return.

Found out that by the time they hit the U.S. border they had DPF problems and where towed to a dealer.

Talking to the Cummins tech support there is no way for me to do a manual regen.

Why did these folks have problems with their DPF after travel in Mexico?

Please ask those folks to contact me and give me the full details of their story, because as of now the story is nothing other than hearsay. If the experience actually happened, I would have to guess that the problem was completely unrelated to the fuel being used.

And why does Cummins say there is no way to manually regen?

You need to ask Cummins why they say that. I am not going to start second guessing their motives.

Absolutely every owner who contacts me with codes on 2013 GM pickups has been using the truck unloaded in Mexico for a few weeks after arrival at his/her winter destination. The slower speeds when driving around town using LSD, with no trailer in tow, don't allow exhaust temperatures to get high enough to prevent the deposit of sulfur compounds, so codes are guaranteed within a few hundred kms.

Seems there have been owners who did have problems?

Answered in detail above.

Does this mean you can only use your vehicle to tow your 5th wheel but you cannot use it to drive around town?

Of course not.

This is where the trouble begins. A clogged DPF filter can result in diesel soot backing up into the engine, causing damage to the VGT actuator, turbo, fuel injectors and EGR solenoid. Also, the unburned fuel injected into the exhaust system, as part of the regen cycle, can go into the crankcase contaminating the engine oil.

Unfortunately, because there is no information about the make, model year, and circumstances surrounding the above, it is impossible to comment, other than to say that the claims in the quote have nothing to do with Mexican diesel fuel. The amount of sulfur in diesel fuel has nothing to do with the mechanics of soot collection in a DPF. As I have already mentioned in earlier posts, clogged DPFs happened very rarely in the earliest model years of DPF technology, and are not something the average owner should be concerned about. Millions of diesel pickups are on the road with DPFs and clogging is virtually unheard of these days.

This is a quote from one of the many websites I found online about this. So let me try to rephrase one of my previous questions. The above quote mentions a number of things that can go wrong when a DPF gets clogged. From Googling about this I have seen other potential problems. So look at each of these potential problems. This is what I am asking if these codes or whatever they are that show problems with the engine or exhaust system remain in the computer and can be seen by the tech with a computer. I do not know. I am asking. What other problems can result from a clogged DPF? It would seem to me if these problems occurred they would be stored in the computer and a tech would then see them later to help in diagnosing a problem. Would the tech then be led to diagnose that this problem may have been caused by improper fuel. The more we hear about all of this the more questions arise. However long the answers seem to be here I do not find the real question is being answered. Can using improper fuel cause any problems of any kind and can any of these problems be seen when a tech using a computer to check the ECM to try to diagnose the problem? I am sorry that I may have confused anyone that I was only talking about a tech with a computer seeing codes related only to the DPF - there are other problems that could be caused by using improper fuel - at least according to what I have found by Googling. Can the tech not see these codes and eventually determine that improper fuel was used? Can this lead the manufacturer to void the warranty?

As this topic continues year after year I personally find that more questions arise than are being answered. It certainly seems to me based on what has been said in quotes above - on this thread - and on previous threads over the years - that there can most certainly be problems experienced by those who drive newer vehicles in Mexico.

Clogged DPFs, as mentioned above, are a completely separate topic to the amount of sulfur in Mexican diesel fuel. There is no connection between the two. The questioner has an unreasonable and unjustified fear of DPFs.

Please list the other codes you have found that are related to the use of improper fuel, as I would like the opportunity to comment.

The subject of technician response to stored codes has been covered at length already. Please refer back to earlier posts.