Manual regen on 2017 Ford F350

4x4ord wrote:
After reading people's concerns on here I think the best solution would be to not let the driver know that the truck is doing a regen. If I see the "cleaning exhaust filter" come on 10 minutes or 2 minutes before getting home, I carry on just as though the warning light didn't exist, park my truck in the garage when I get home and forget it. Why all the fuss?

The issue is making a bunch of short trips and clogging up the DPF then head on towing your rig and it gets to the point that the truck shuts down (cuts power) because its too clogged. You are stuck on the side of the road now waiting for a tow

For the OP, the work trucks (XL and XLT) have the manual regen feature because they are usually used for shorter trips which are bad because you never drive enough to unclog them. The easiest way to do a manual regen is to buy an Edge Insight CTS monitor.
https://www.amazon.com/Edge-Products-83830-Insight-Monitor/dp/B003Y323NC

I had one on my '15 SD and not only did I use it for monitoring engine temp, coolant temp, boost etc I could also do a manual regen when necessary. You basically raise the hood, and the engine revs up like a jet engine. It takes about 20 minutes and about .5 gallons of diesel.
Before you buy the Edge Insight CTS make sure that the '17 SD is supported. Edge is slow as molasses on putting out updates.

Because commons sense isn't common. And people don't educate themselves.

^ That was my point. Idk if the avg Joe consumer could handle doing a re gen. Gotta remember we have people here, that admittedly can't do more than maybe check the oil buying big dooleys and 5vers and hittin the open road. I applaud the sense of adventure and this is not a dig on anyone in particular, but there is a certain amount or skill or experience that is needed to safely accomplish some tasks in life and everyone's skill set is different.
I think it would be a great feature, but maybe not for everyone.

4x4ord wrote:
After reading people's concerns on here I think the best solution would be to not let the driver know that the truck is doing a regen. If I see the "cleaning exhaust filter" come on 10 minutes or 2 minutes before getting home, I carry on just as though the warning light didn't exist, park my truck in the garage when I get home and forget it. Why all the fuss?

That is one of the reasons Ford changed that message around 2010. Too confusing for the consumer having that message come on thinking something was wrong.

After reading people's concerns on here I think the best solution would be to not let the driver know that the truck is doing a regen. If I see the "cleaning exhaust filter" come on 10 minutes or 2 minutes before getting home, I carry on just as though the warning light didn't exist, park my truck in the garage when I get home and forget it. Why all the fuss?

FishOnOne wrote:

Redwoodcamper wrote:
Or you could buy a ram and not worry about it. Just my opinion after pulling the heads/cabs/ egr coolers on 10+ Ford's.

Obviously you're leaving out the ~67k mile required EGR system cleaning/maintenance process that cummins requires on their non DEF engines. And yes the DEF equipped cummins do soot up as well, but not as bad as the pre DEF trucks.

In addition some cummins produce so much carbon they have a special oil that you have to run in them to clean the soot/carbon behind the rings to prevent ring jacking.

^Funny stuff, yeah it ain't a Ford!
But what you will be pleasantly surprised with is IF you have to do a forced re gen on a new Cummins, it will idle up a bit, cook off the bad stuff and idle back down with zero fanfare. Re gen the Pstroke and it sounds like you're either trying to blow it up or launch a jet liner!

Or just get a gas engine and not worry about it.

Redwoodcamper wrote:
Or you could buy a ram and not worry about it. Just my opinion after pulling the heads/cabs/ egr coolers on 10+ Ford's.

Obviously you're leaving out the ~67k mile required EGR system cleaning/maintenance process that cummins requires on their non DEF engines. And yes the DEF equipped cummins do soot up as well, but not as bad as the pre DEF trucks.

In addition some cummins produce so much carbon they have a special oil that you have to run in them to clean the soot/carbon behind the rings to prevent ring jacking.

OP,
No clue why some models would have this option and others don't. Having said that my 6.7 Power Stroke has 115k miles and I just drive it. Partial regen or full regen it doesn't care and this process hasn't caused any issues to date. Miles between regens has been the same since the truck was new and fuel economy has been essentially the same with a slight improvement at ~60k miles for some reason.

Man, I would have killed for a manual switch! I don't need one at all, now :) but I think it should be standard on all new trucks.