"cleaning exhaust filter" smoke?

[wide body]

my truck has been trying to "cleaning exhaust filter" for most of this week. I've noticed it happen two different times now where i'm seeing a fair amount of smoke coming from the tailpipe when i pull away from a light. as soon as i noticed the smoke i scrolled through the dash display and it was indeed "cleaning exhaust filter". so if the DPF was really plugged from trying to clean itself all week and not getting the job done, would it be normal for that thing to smoke on initial "start-up"? the smoke was only apparent for a short time and then it cleared up. i tried a couple of different things to see if i could make it smoke but it wouldn't do. anybody else seen this before?

[strokinpower]

yes my 6.4 used to do it but only when it got cold.

[wide body]

thanks for the input. the temps have definitely been dropping out here. down into the 30's and 40's at night.

[Vet4jdc]

Mine smokes almost everytime that I see the "cleaning exhaust filter" message.

[wide body]

it may have been doing it the entire time i've owned the truck but i just never noticed it. i just happened to notice it this week and started to panic that something was wrong.

thanx for the input.

[BlueF350]

If it keeps trying to clean then you need to run it for 20 minutes or so to allow the cycle to complete and clean out the dpf. The old days when the message stayed up and then said "complete" was a better way to manage this process IMO.

[JBB1970]

I have never seen smoke when mine cleans the exhaust filter. At least I have never noticed it.

It does however seem to be going into a regen more often, like every 100-150 miles.

[Monty Klein]

Oh ya,

Mine is a 2009 6.4 and it cleans the exhaust filter often - like weekly and sometimes even more often than that. It smokes a TON well before it displays the "Drive to Clean Exhaust Filter" and continues smoking right thru the "Cleaning Exhaust Filter" mode. The smoke is soooo bad i get flipped the bird and snide comments from other drives...some even pull up and tell me my truck is on fire...no joke...at first it was funny but now it's embarrassing. Today i was even pulled over by an RCMP (I'm in Canada) who said he could impound my truck for spewing out noxious exhaust and indicated it is becoming a real problem "with you Ford diesel pick ups"

My ford truck is a standard while my pals have the same truck only with automatics - it seems they do not have the same problem i have so i think the standard has a lot to do with it...i tend to drive around at lower RPM's and the ruck probably lugs a bit in city traffic.

It has gotten a lot worse and longer since my last ford service - the dealer must have re-calibrated something as it can take several days for it to run its cycle now - why today i was on the road for 5 hours with 4 stops and it still has not completed a cycle - longest runs was an hour - laying out a smoke screen the whole time. I have not checked too closely but i sure seems to suck the fuel during these cycles.

My dealer say geez....i don't know what to do - like i'm the only one in the world having the issue. Which is disappointing because i have dealt with these guys for 10 years, bought 6 vehicles and they have always - up till now - been great.

Any advice out there would help - I'm one step away from going to my dealer, parking in his lot and let the truck run its cycle (for 2 or more hours). I know then i'll get some attention....specially after someone calls the fire department to report that it looks like the building is on fire. No joke - it is that bad.

[Alberta Advantage]

Sounds like you might have a plugged filter if you're getting regens that often. I get the drive to clean exhaust message sometimes too and when I do get those, I hit the highway and just run flat out. I keep checking my system check to see when I'm out of regen and then head back to where I was going. I've had cycles last close to 2 hours. Drove from the north, way down to the deep south before the cleaning exhaust filter message disappeared from the system check when I ran it. Luckily, I haven't had one of those regens in a long time. They're super annoying and it always seems I'm almost home when I get the drive to clean exhaust filter message. I get a little puff of smoke here and there when I'm in regen and hit the pedal hard but am by no means spewing out black smoke like I'm rolling coal.

[dwcok]

Mine was doing this about 15,000 miles ago and I took it in and they replaced all the sensors on the exhaust and put in a new dpf since they determined it was cracked due to my tail pipe being black. It just recently started staying in regen again and was stuck for a solid week. On my way to the dealer it of course "finished" regen. The dealer said it needed to be reprogrammed so thats what they did.
While I was waiting and waiting and waiting some more for them to get finished, I got in my mini maxx, so the regen process is now history. Not sure if the reprogram actually fixed it this time or not since it wasn't home for 15 minutes and that thing was laying in the garage floor looking like a bad science project.
I love driving the truck (off road of course) and not seeing that cleaning exhaust message now! I figured if I am gonna drive the truck, spending $1000 is part of the cost to drive it.

Oh and I would blow smoke so thick cars behind me would have to back way off because they couldn't see and this would take place at EVERY stop sign/light and last for about 3/4 to 1 mile! I am quite sure that is NOT good for the motor. 7MPG wasn't good for my pocket book either.