DPF rob hp?

I would think it would rob some power. I increased the effective power on my pre-egr Detroit 60 by going with a ported/coated exhaust manifold, larger turbo, and high flow mufflers. Freeing up restriction was a major improvement. Since the DPF is more restrictive, it has to be causing some loss of power. How much? I suppose the engineers at the engine plant know. Not sure how much they are able to, or if they are able to, compensate in the engine design and ECM to account for this loss. The first engines with DPF suffered. How the newer engines are doing... the jury is out yet.

 

I have one of these DPF engines. Cat SDP. You can tell when the system finished a burn off, it runs very well. Then, slowly, it begins clogging again ... under normal operation where I can keep my turbo boost at or below 10 psi, it will burn off every 3-4 hours. When it does get clogged it feels like you have, no joke, maybe half the power. It is rated at 550 hp. It averages 5.8 mpg with little to no idling, no west coast mountains. When the cash allows, it IS coming off this truck. It is in theory a good design to control emissions, but is designed very poorly. I think the best way for emissions is the DEF system. I will never buy another DPF only motor.

 

Every DPF truck I ever drove was always sluggish and laggy. Drove several ISX's from pre-egr, egr, to egr +dpf all rated at 450hp and the latter just did not feel at all near as powerful as the earlier versions. Recently drove a rental '09 Prostar with an ISX. Granted it was poorly maintianed but dropping gears on mountains while bobtailing is pretty sad. As was the 5.2 mpg average with a governed speed of 66mph. The 387 Pete I had set at same 66mph with the same motor didn't get much better on fuel mileage. This was with 5% idle or less on both trucks. And yes I understand how to drive those motors they are best operated at and shifted (progressively) in lower rpm ranges for better fuel economy/power than my MBN is.

 

Shove a paper towel up your butt and tell me, did ya lose any power?

 

Does the DPF rob power? I'm sure it does, however I also think that a lot of it really depends on the motor, plumbing used for the DPF, routing of that plumbing and the make of that engine.

I am comparing apples to apples here, I have 8, 2010 Cascadia's with 410/1450 DD13's DPF trucks with a 3.42 gear, I also have my 2010 384 Pete 384 with the 425/1450 Cummins ISM with a 3.07 gear, pulling the same identical load and trailer, the Pete will flat WALK the DD 13's, EVEN though they are an almost 2 litre larger motor and have more gear.

The Pete also gets at least a 1/2 to gal better fuel mileage, if this is any indication of how the new Detroits run, we will NOT be buying any more!

JMHO

 

I should also add that the thing does not always properly execute a burn cycle and then throws a check engine light or the DPF light. If you decide to keep running (with a de-rated motor), it does not have the power to even try it again. To work properly you need 550 hp and hot temps. If you ignore the CEL and keep going, eventually it will park you on the side and you will have to get cat out to come put their computer on it. Maybe even a tow. Hasn't happened to me yet. When it throws that CEL on, I am able to park somewhere and push the button to force a regen. It is all around just a PITA.

 

I've got a sdp junk. Mine spent 2 days on dyno at local cat dealer. It made 1/2 decent power from 13-1500 rpms. Above 1500 rpms the hp dropped like a rock. The engine can't breath. I was not a happy camper with the hp #s, and cat thought they were just fine. But that's old news.

 

You think they would design a DPF with a heat element that runs at all times so that the filter stays clean , there has got to be a way to stop the filter getting so restrictive.

 

Cat sdp - mine also runs awesome around 1400-1500 rpm. When it is done a cook it is excellent ... for an hour or two. I should also note if the environment permits, and I can run around 62 mph or so, (without holding up traffic really bad), and keep the motor hardly working, it also works well. It just sucks when you really need it to work. This thing IS coming off my truck. To hell with california!