Trouble seems to follow us...

ddschuman wrote:
This time it is vehicle problems. I am sure I am not the first but I must say, I absolutely HATE the new DEF exhaust systems they have on newer trucks these days. 2nd truck, same problem...only this year we were stranded in the mountains 100 miles to nearest dealership.

We left central Texas on Friday and headed to Santa Rosa, NM State park for one night. No issues that leg of trip. Got up Saturday morning and headed towards Colorado. Destination was to be Blue Spruce RV Park at Valecito. We got about 30 miles from Chama, NM and vehicle message came on stating "cleaning exhaust filter. Keep driving until message clears". No biggie, this is what it is supposed to do. Unfortunately the process would not complete (apparently filter is clogged or something) so power was severely reduced. When this occurs, we were going up hill. Engine power reduced us to 5mph and there was no shoulder to pull off the road. We managed, thank God, to make it to the top and safely pull off the road. At this point we have no cell phone service but we do have Onstar if needed. Turned truck off for a little bit to see if could reset. It worked! We moved on about 11 more miles and it happened again right at the bottom of another incline so we pulled over. Tried to get to reset but no such luck. We called Onstar who routed us to Chevrolet Roadside Assistance. They tell us they can tow truck but not trailer. I am not leaving trailer on side of road. I call Progressive Roadside Assistance who say they can tow trailer but not truck. Chevrolet calls back and says they will tow both for $1000 but will be towed only to dealership. It is Saturday evening and dealership will not be open until Monday. This would force us to stay in hotel for a couple of days.

Before letting either Chevrolet or Progressive dispatch anyone, a nice man stopped and asked us if we needed help. He advised that he could go get his big rig and pull us up Tia Hill and it was down hill from there all the way to Chama. We had already been on the side of the road for 2 hrs at this point and were open to any suggestions. I didn't really like the idea of being pulled up the hill but said I would agree to it if Chama had an open site for us. I called Sky Mountain RV Resort (we are scheduled to stay here a couple of days next week). They were so nice and said they had a summer seasonal guest that they would ask to come get the trailer and hopefully the truck would make it without the extra weight. Awesome! We made it and are here until at least Monday. The owner here said he personally knows a diesel mechanic in town that works on his truck and has worked on several guest trucks over the years. He said very trustworthy and reasonable and he should be able to fix truck and get us back on the road Monday....we hope anyway. Otherwise, we will need to be towed 100+ miles to be fixed at dealership which will really put a damper on our trip.

From reading the Duramax forum, this is a common problem. The exhaust system cleans filter automatically but occasionally it needs to be taken apart and thoroughly cleaned. Sure wish it would gave happened on flater ground like at home vs on vacation in the mountains pullin a fiver.

Oh well, I refuse to let it ruin my trip! We have beautiful views here, it is a nice park and everyone has been extremely helpful and friendly. We couldn't have had this trouble in a better place. We even had one guest offer to let us use his vehicle to sight see or go to town. Of course we refused the offer but it was certainly a nice gesture. We are on flat ground here and can make it into town and back if need be.

how many miles are on your truck? I have a 2012 ford dually, just over 20,000 miles. Ford has a similar 'Reduced Power' mode, usually when one of the exhaust temp sensors fails (there are 4). I carry 2 extras, tools and a code reader to handle it on my own.. 5 minutes to change one.

here's hoping your problem is just a bad sensor. (seems that way with the cool down time working for you).