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3500 Dodge Ram Woes #2689522
08/19/19 07:50 PM
08/19/19 07:50 PM
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Wind Gap,Pa.
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Sammy Offline OP
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New 3500 Cummins diesel Ram truck with 7012 miles on it puts up a nice DEF alarm warning.
150 miles and it goes into 5mph limp mode.
I was 6.5 hours away last night. I only thought Duramax's had this problem and Cummins diesels were fool proof. Now i'm nervous its going to happen over and over.

Needed a Nox sensor. Why?

Re: 3500 Dodge Ram Woes [Re: Sammy] #2689526
08/19/19 08:05 PM
08/19/19 08:05 PM
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North East USA
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BIGGERED Offline
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Are you sure your def tank level isn’t to low?

Do you have a code reader that will clear code?

Do you know what relay(s) you need to jumper to get you 150 more miles (on one key cycle)?

Hit up a Cummins forum, it’s a modern diesel you need to be prepared!

Red


Last edited by BIGGERED; 08/19/19 08:06 PM.
Re: 3500 Dodge Ram Woes [Re: BIGGERED] #2689528
08/19/19 08:08 PM
08/19/19 08:08 PM
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Def refill intervals on modern diesels tend to follow oil change intervals. Depending on your duty cycle it could be time to refill!

Red

Re: 3500 Dodge Ram Woes [Re: BIGGERED] #2689563
08/19/19 09:48 PM
08/19/19 09:48 PM
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Hastings MN
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moparfrank Offline
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I have a 15 Ram 3500 that did that when it got below -15. It left me stranded in Iowa once and in Wisconsin twice both times on a weekend. I cured it with a EFILive tuner and programming. No problems since and I have over 130K on the clock. It had been to the dealer at least six times to be fixed.

Last edited by moparfrank; 08/19/19 09:55 PM.
Re: 3500 Dodge Ram Woes [Re: BIGGERED] #2689655
08/20/19 08:56 AM
08/20/19 08:56 AM
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Wind Gap,Pa.
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Sammy Offline OP
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Originally Posted by BIGGERED
Are you sure your def tank level isn’t to low?

Do you have a code reader that will clear code?

Do you know what relay(s) you need to jumper to get you 150 more miles (on one key cycle)?

Hit up a Cummins forum, it’s a modern diesel you need to be prepared!

Red




I always keep it at 100% full.
It cleared the code once then 35 miles later, no engine light but said it was going to to 5mph after the next 150 miles.
I was 450+ miles away from home yesterday.

Re: 3500 Dodge Ram Woes [Re: moparfrank] #2689657
08/20/19 08:58 AM
08/20/19 08:58 AM
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Sammy Offline OP
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Originally Posted by moparfrank
I have a 15 Ram 3500 that did that when it got below -15. It left me stranded in Iowa once and in Wisconsin twice both times on a weekend. I cured it with a EFILive tuner and programming. No problems since and I have over 130K on the clock. It had been to the dealer at least six times to be fixed.



It was 91 degrees yesterday and the truck has 7800 miles on it.
3rd time adding DEF Fluid.
Container of DEF was new and never opened.
This sure does not give me a warm a fuzzy feeling to drive long distances on the weekends now.

Re: 3500 Dodge Ram Woes [Re: Sammy] #2689699
08/20/19 11:14 AM
08/20/19 11:14 AM
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Granted my truck is a 1500 Eco Diesel but there is a way to jumper a relay to get you out of limp mode if you reach the end of the count down

Red

Re: 3500 Dodge Ram Woes [Re: BIGGERED] #2689706
08/20/19 11:44 AM
08/20/19 11:44 AM
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Sammy Offline OP
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Originally Posted by BIGGERED
Granted my truck is a 1500 Eco Diesel but there is a way to jumper a relay to get you out of limp mode if you reach the end of the count down

Red


I'd like to know how to do it.
I was told you can only do it once with a hand held code remover.

Re: 3500 Dodge Ram Woes [Re: Sammy] #2689726
08/20/19 01:04 PM
08/20/19 01:04 PM
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Originally Posted by Sammy
Originally Posted by BIGGERED
Are you sure your def tank level isn’t to low?

Do you have a code reader that will clear code?

Do you know what relay(s) you need to jumper to get you 150 more miles (on one key cycle)?

Hit up a Cummins forum, it’s a modern diesel you need to be prepared!

Red




I always keep it at 100% full.
It cleared the code once then 35 miles later, no engine light but said it was going to to 5mph after the next 150 miles.
I was 450+ miles away from home yesterday.


I was digging on the Cummins forums and there was mention of letting your def tank level drop a bit as when you continually top it off the system thinks you are not using any DEF.

Something to consider!

Red

Re: 3500 Dodge Ram Woes [Re: BIGGERED] #2689749
08/20/19 02:32 PM
08/20/19 02:32 PM
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Sammy Offline OP
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Originally Posted by BIGGERED
Originally Posted by Sammy
Originally Posted by BIGGERED
Are you sure your def tank level isn’t to low?

Do you have a code reader that will clear code?

Do you know what relay(s) you need to jumper to get you 150 more miles (on one key cycle)?

Hit up a Cummins forum, it’s a modern diesel you need to be prepared!

Red




I always keep it at 100% full.
It cleared the code once then 35 miles later, no engine light but said it was going to to 5mph after the next 150 miles.
I was 450+ miles away from home yesterday.


I was digging on the Cummins forums and there was mention of letting your def tank level drop a bit as when you continually top it off the system thinks you are not using any DEF.

Something to consider!

Red




Diesel tech says there is a shelf life once added to your DEF tank. If you're not driving it a lot and putting a load on the engine, theres a great possibility that the DEF fluid is getting old and contaminating the system causing error codes.
Just throwing this out there which does make sense. Truck isn't driven much at all.

Re: 3500 Dodge Ram Woes [Re: Sammy] #2689956
08/21/19 10:16 AM
08/21/19 10:16 AM
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Marion, South Carolina [><]
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It's a shame that deleting that crap on the newer trucks voids the warranty. It ought to extend it, lol.


CHIP
'70 hemicuda, 575" Hemi, 727, Dana 60
'69 road runner, 440-6, 18 spline 4 speed, Dana 60
'71 Demon, 340, low gear 904, 8.75
'73 Chrysler New Yorker, 440, 727, 8.75
'90 Chevy 454SS Silverado, 476" BBC, TH400, 14 bolt
'06 GMC 2500HD LBZ Duramax
Re: 3500 Dodge Ram Woes [Re: an8sec70cuda] #2690013
08/21/19 01:17 PM
08/21/19 01:17 PM
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Tulsa OK
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Like someone mentioned I would let the DEF tank get low so you can reduce the average age of what is in the def tank. We have had a few DEF pickup trucks here at my work and the DEF systems have given very little trouble. Each truck has had a DEF tank and heater replaced once in its life but beyond that no other problems. When we quit driving our ford truck every day it eventually came up with a contaminated DEF code that would come back as soon as you cleared it. It had a 1/2 tank of DEF so I topped it off with fresh and the problem hasn't come back. The 2016 chevy I use as my personal truck uses so little DEF with my driving that I worry about it getting old so when it says it is low(no gauge) I only put 2.5 gallons in it instead of the 5 it holds.

Last edited by Bad340fish; 08/21/19 01:24 PM.

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Re: 3500 Dodge Ram Woes [Re: Bad340fish] #2690051
08/21/19 03:33 PM
08/21/19 03:33 PM
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my new 2500 has just under 9k on it and I've put about 4 gallon in it so far and it's down to a 1/4 tank of def now and I just purchased 2 new jugs of fluid today. I haven't had any issues. I do let mine run down usually to around 1/2 before I top it off. I have read someplace that it's mostly water.

Re: 3500 Dodge Ram Woes [Re: kenworth_goose] #2690093
08/21/19 05:53 PM
08/21/19 05:53 PM
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Re: 3500 Dodge Ram Woes [Re: Sammy] #2690135
08/21/19 09:13 PM
08/21/19 09:13 PM
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Central Michigan
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Originally Posted by Sammy

I always keep it at 100% full.
It cleared the code once then 35 miles later, no engine light but said it was going to to 5mph after the next 150 miles.
I was 450+ miles away from home yesterday.


Keeping it full is your problem. I bought a new aerial fire truck at work (over $1M), and it was the first the department had with DEF. They "topped it off" 2-3 times a WEEK, so the level sensor never moved. Threw a code for a defective sensor and the entire tank had to be replaced under warranty. 6 weeks later, same thing. That's when we found the root cause. It's one of the many safeties required by the government to make sure you don't mess with the system. let it go down to AT LEAST 1/2 is what Cummins told us...

Re: 3500 Dodge Ram Woes [Re: kenworth_goose] #2690822
08/24/19 12:04 AM
08/24/19 12:04 AM
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Downtown Roebuck Ont
Twostick Online content
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Originally Posted by kenworth_goose
my new 2500 has just under 9k on it and I've put about 4 gallon in it so far and it's down to a 1/4 tank of def now and I just purchased 2 new jugs of fluid today. I haven't had any issues. I do let mine run down usually to around 1/2 before I top it off. I have read someplace that it's mostly water.


If you ever get stuck somewhere and run low, distilled water will get you on your way.

I won't own a diesel anything built after Oct 2003, and my preference is pre 1998. 1998 is when the low NOx software started and EGR started Oct 2003.

Kevin

Re: 3500 Dodge Ram Woes [Re: nuthinbutmopar] #2690840
08/24/19 08:10 AM
08/24/19 08:10 AM
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Sammy Offline OP
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Originally Posted by nuthinbutmopar
Originally Posted by Sammy

I always keep it at 100% full.
It cleared the code once then 35 miles later, no engine light but said it was going to to 5mph after the next 150 miles.
I was 450+ miles away from home yesterday.


Keeping it full is your problem. I bought a new aerial fire truck at work (over $1M), and it was the first the department had with DEF. They "topped it off" 2-3 times a WEEK, so the level sensor never moved. Threw a code for a defective sensor and the entire tank had to be replaced under warranty. 6 weeks later, same thing. That's when we found the root cause. It's one of the many safeties required by the government to make sure you don't mess with the system. let it go down to AT LEAST 1/2 is what Cummins told us...



The last time I filled it right up to the top was when it was just above 1/4 tank.
I was towing when it went down.
Now 800 miles later driving with no trailer, the gauge hadn't moved.
I've been driving it every day since to get that gauge to come down some.

Re: 3500 Dodge Ram Woes [Re: kenworth_goose] #2691038
08/24/19 08:58 PM
08/24/19 08:58 PM
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Granite Bay CA
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Originally Posted by kenworth_goose
I have read someplace that it's mostly water.


I thought it was mostly piss.

Re: 3500 Dodge Ram Woes [Re: Kern Dog] #2691044
08/24/19 09:12 PM
08/24/19 09:12 PM
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Downtown Roebuck Ont
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Originally Posted by Frankenduster
Originally Posted by kenworth_goose
I have read someplace that it's mostly water.


I thought it was mostly piss.


Urea diluted with distilled water apparently which is why distilled water won't hurt it, at least in above freezing. Tap water will cause problems because of the various chemicals and minerals in it.

Kevin

Last edited by Twostick; 08/24/19 09:13 PM.
Re: 3500 Dodge Ram Woes [Re: Kern Dog] #2691045
08/24/19 09:18 PM
08/24/19 09:18 PM
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South Bend
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Originally Posted by Frankenduster
Originally Posted by kenworth_goose
I have read someplace that it's mostly water.


I thought it was mostly piss.



That's what Urea is. Dried up piss. Sure gets expensive when you gotta buy it by the gallon.


July 19th should be "Drive Like Rockford Day". R.I.P. Jimmie.
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