Greetings Friends, new diesel owner here with 165k e250 and AEM done at 150k. I've been reading the forum for few days now and wanted to ask for advice regarding the DPF regen. I've purchased the ScanGauge 3 to be able to monitor the DPF Regen and have few questions. The device did not recognize the x-gauge for Regen ON/OFF during the auto scan so I entered it manually, however, when it was added to the gauge screen it showed "no data". I contacted the company and they instructed me to use the built-in "Regen Status" gage which does seem to work. The Regen Status changes from OFF to Active when I accelerate the car while it is warmed up, however, the active status only stays on for as long as I accelerate and then it switches back to OFF.

1. Does this seem like the correct behavior?

After reading some of the posts on this forum I assumed the regeneration process would stay on (active) for few minutes and not just for few seconds during the acceleration.

2. What triggers the DPF regeneration and which gauges should I be monitoring?

There is a Regen Trigger gauge which currently is at about 60%

3. Does the Regen activate once the Regen Trigger reaches 100%?

My current DPF fill is at 42%, the gauge also indicates there has been 19 regens and the average distance between regens was 720 miles. Any additional info about this topic would be greatly appreciated since the MB diesel world is all new to me...

That almost sounds like it is monitoring the fuel consumption or throttle position. Regens should last for a good little while. kajtek1 would know more about the specific scanners and how they function, he has several of them.

A regen usually will come on when it is required, the vehicle is warmed up to temp, and steady state driving. Not sure about these cars but my truck will even do it at idle (if warmed up) if I leave it running during a regen.

More then likely the trigger percentage will actuate it at some given percentage. The 750 miles will depend on driving style and conditions.

Regeneration showing during heavy acceleration seems normal, although I never could figure out if that is software glitch, or actual regeneration.
There are several parameters, who will trigger regeneration and several parameters that will prevent it.
So most common regeneration is due to soot build up. Once your gauge will show 100%, it might take additional minute to start the regeneration.
When you have good DPF, who doesn't build soot easily, there are mileage and fuel consumption limits.
Better scanner will pull you history with explanation what and when happened.
SG III seems to be really good gauge, but I used SGII for years, where regeneration X-gauge was pretty lousy. I used DPF temperature to monitor pending regeneration.
Alse consider that DPF do self-regeneration, what might be the light you see when accelerating.
Lately I was pulling 4000 lb trailer with my Sprinter and climbing 15 miles Baker, CA grade I was really pushing it. My soot contest dropped by 30% on this climb as DPF temperature went above 500F. Normal regeneration temp is about 580

Bottom line, I never had EGR issues on my vehicles and often wonder why other owners do.
I concluded that it is "Italian tuneups" I do as I don't hesitate to "floor it" entering freeways, so don't hesitate to do it.

Thanks kajtek1, do you have a list of these parameters? Also what scanner do you recommend? I am in the process of obtaining das/xentry via openport 2.0, would I be able to see the history with that?

Something interesting happen today when I entered the highway at low speeds with low engine temperature (temp gage just started rising when I entered the highway). Scangage was showing the DPF fill % at around 53% and the regen trigger at around 82% when the DFP fill % started to decrease steadily for the next few minutes until it reached 26% (engine still fairly cold when this happened). I assume this was not a DPF regeneration process but just a DPF clean process? How is it triggered?


pic of the gage

Could be mileage limit, could be fuel consumption.
Higher end scanner will give you regeneration history with full explanation.
ScanGauge is just monitoring scanner, giving you only live data with no further explanation.