Can I get back home?

[Fredster4]

I live on the east coast of MA and I am vacationing here in the Adirondacks of upstate NY. On the drive here, the dreaded Exhaust Filter 100% Full See Dealer for Service message appeared on the Dash of my 2016 Ram EcoDiesel with 103K miles on it. I can't find anyone who will work on this vehicle anywhere in the Adirondacks. What are my chances of being able to Drive home (288 miles) without the vehicle going into "Limp Mode". What are the conditions where the vehicle goes into "limp mode"? It's something I've only heard about. I'm sure someone might say, why not try driving to Albany? The issue is, one repair tech was telling me, is that the odds are that it needs a new SCR Cat, and that part takes a week to order. So if I were to drive to Albany, and it DOES need a new SCR Cat, then I would have to get a hotel for a week?! That's insane. The best scenario is if I can somehow get back home. Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[Martin Camarena]

I live on the east coast of MA and I am vacationing here in the Adirondacks of upstate NY. On the drive here, the dreaded Exhaust Filter 100% Full See Dealer for Service message appeared on the Dash of my 2016 Ram EcoDiesel with 103K miles on it. I can't find anyone who will work on this vehicle anywhere in the Adirondacks. What are my chances of being able to Drive home (288 miles) without the vehicle going into "Limp Mode". What are the conditions where the vehicle goes into "limp mode"? It's something I've only heard about. I'm sure someone might say, why not try driving to Albany? The issue is, one repair tech was telling me, is that the odds are that it needs a new SCR Cat, and that part takes a week to order. So if I were to drive to Albany, and it DOES need a new SCR Cat, then I would have to get a hotel for a week?! That's insane. The best scenario is if I can somehow get back home. Thanks in advance for the help.

Fredster4:
I had to drive it like that from Center of México to Texas. A 1,200 miles trip. It was tricky on the acceleration but I could manage. Just take it easy, don't floor it.

 

[John Jensen]

Drive it home. If it shuts you down you can restart it and continue.
If the ECM gives you the "Engine Will Not Restart" message here's how to get it started.

Pull out the starter relay (in the fuse box), and put the key in the RUN position.
Take a short piece of wire and jump between where pins 30 (3) and 87 (5) on the relay would go.
The engine will start right back up.


will start right back up.

By the way, the SCR and DPF are two separate systems. A full DPF has no effect on the SCR (DEF)

 

[BEPlus]

I live on the east coast of MA and I am vacationing here in the Adirondacks of upstate NY. On the drive here, the dreaded Exhaust Filter 100% Full See Dealer for Service message appeared on the Dash of my 2016 Ram EcoDiesel with 103K miles on it. I can't find anyone who will work on this vehicle anywhere in the Adirondacks. What are my chances of being able to Drive home (288 miles) without the vehicle going into "Limp Mode". What are the conditions where the vehicle goes into "limp mode"? It's something I've only heard about. I'm sure someone might say, why not try driving to Albany? The issue is, one repair tech was telling me, is that the odds are that it needs a new SCR Cat, and that part takes a week to order. So if I were to drive to Albany, and it DOES need a new SCR Cat, then I would have to get a hotel for a week?! That's insane. The best scenario is if I can somehow get back home. Thanks in advance for the help.

I had this happen a couple of times. Fortunately I heard the thing to do is continue driving as till the % goes down and the warning disappears. They said the worse thing was to stop the engine from running. I always make sure you have DEF tank filled too.

 

[Older Slower Wiser]

Drive it home. If it shuts you down you can restart it and continue.
If the ECM gives you the "Engine Will Not Restart" message here's how to get it started.

Pull out the starter relay (in the fuse box), and put the key in the RUN position.
Take a short piece of wire and jump between where pins 30 (3) and 87 (5) on the relay would go.
The engine will start right back up.


View attachment 4035 will start right back up.

By the way, the SCR and DPF are two separate systems. A full DPF has no effect on the SCR (DEF)

I had an issue where I got a message - truck will not start in 250 miles due to DEF system fault. Was about 550 miles from home. Found a dealer who could not get parts for five days. Left me stranded. Was wanting to do your start procedure and was told by tech that when I got the 3,075 dollar check for ECM flash they removed that start option.

 

[John Jensen]

I had an issue where I got a message - truck will not start in 250 miles due to DEF system fault. Was about 550 miles from home. Found a dealer who could not get parts for five days. Left me stranded. Was wanting to do your start procedure and was told by tech that when I got the 3,075 dollar check for ECM flash they removed that start option.

Interesting. I've had to use it and it had no effect on the ECM or anything else. The first time I was at the dealer and the tech showed me how to do it. It's a fairly common procedure, never heard of it bricking an ECM