Colorado Duramax thread

[upcruiser]

Little update, had to take the truck in to the dealer. The check engine light came on and after plugging in my scan tool found it was showing a code for the particulate filter. I took the truck for a drive on the highway hoping to get it to perform a regen. After stopping I smelled what I imagined was a regen performed. It smells hot and not unlike burning oil (I used to be a Land Rover owner so I became accustomed to various petroleum products burning off on some form of the exhaust system or another, haha). The check engine light was still in. I did another longer drive with it the next day but still no change. My OBDII scanner showed the original code still plus another that was related to voltage and the particulate sensor. I can read the codes but the Colorado doesn't let me clear them which is frustrating. With the check engine light on the tow/haul mode and exhaust brake are disabled as well as remote start but otherwise it had no apparent driveability issues. The first week we had the truck, and ironically the at I flew out of town for work, the truck, without warning went into a limp mode. The dealership had to force a regen in it. Apparently the truck had been trying to regen but my wife was just running short trips around town that week. I took the truck in yesterday to the dealer thinking it was going to need a forced regen. Turns out the particulate sensor failed. The truck do in fact perform the regen like I thought but the sensor wasn't reading correctly. So replacement sensor on the way but check engine light on in the mean time.

We were supposed take our camper this weekend on an outing but we bailed. My wife got the stomach flu so it wasn't due to the truck but I still find it annoying that we wouldn't have been able to take it. Not that if of a problem because we have the Suburban still to tow. But this leads me to my next line thought regarding this platform and really any new modern diesel we have in NA. First off, the fact that this truck doesn't have a way to let you know the status of the particulate filter so you can adjust your driving habits or be aware that a regen is coming or needed is annoying and frankly ridiculous. It seems a common enough issue that I feel GM needs to come up with a way to allow the system to perform what it needs but not to inconvenience the driver with getting stuck in a limp mode.

In our case we bought this truck not for some sort of overland build but for a daily driver and a vehicle to use as a proper truck. BUT if this was my overland rig, my wonder is if long periods of creeping along near idle in some long route where you are easing along a rough trail with the truck essentially idling, or near idle would cause this scenario to happen if the truck needs to perform a regen. Having the truck throw a code or go into limp mode way out in the bush with no way of forcing a regen or clearing the code is a scary thought to me. Perhaps unfounded, but worth consideration for sure.

I realize you can install a scan guage that will let you observe exhaust temps, etc that gives you a better feel for when a regen is happening but still you don't know when one is coming. If we keep this truck long term as is our plan I am definitely going to remove the whole particulate filter and just remove the system since I live in a state that doesn't test. Anyway, I am trying to share the good and bad as much as objectively as I can with this truck as I know many folks on hear are interested yet hesitant with it being a new platform. We really like pretty much all other aspects of the truck and still find it a remarkable package. The powertrain is fantastic when it's not throwing codes relating to particulate filters. ;-)

While driving it the other evening I decided to check the articulation a bit in this sandy area that is pretty fun to rip around in. Despite the Street biased tires the truck did well. The rear locker seems to engage quicker and smoother than on our Burb and the structure proved to be as rigid as it feels. No bed deflection from frame flex at all, and again, this is the long bed.

 

[malibubts]

Are there any forums specific to the Colorado Duramax? There is a pretty popular one for the EcoDiesel and it is a wealth of knowledge on things like the DPF system, especially when vendors who work on the tunes chime in. I've been able to gather estimate regen distances, when the dealer alert pops up, etc.

For what it's worth on my engine holding 1500 RPM will 'trick' the engine into thinking you are meeting the conditions and several people have reported they were able to complete a regen this way. Not really a true force in being able to flip a switch and have it go like the big rigs, but definitely worth knowing. I would imagine you can do the same with the Duramax at a set RPM.

I'd definitely recommend an Edge or Scangauge to keep an eye on the regenerations. With my edge I can see the soot percentage and I know the Ram's specifically start trying to regen at 65% full. On top of that I can see when the ECU attempts to actually start the regen as well as watch the EGTs rise when it does. I wouldn't call it a mandatory accessory, but it sure is nice knowing where you are sitting in your regen cycle. On the Edge there is also a setting to flip the ECU to starting a regen on the next run cycle, regardless of soot percentage.

As far as the long term and overland ability with trucks with a DPF, I see a lot of the systems being modified or deleted. The stock tune on my engine generates a large amount of soot; city I can go around 100 miles and highway about 300 miles. A popular tune out there for my truck will extend this to around 750 miles. I'll be going this route when my warranty expires, but I see a lot of people deleting or modifying these emissions systems.

 

[fitt]

Check and see if the Edge CTS monitor has a unit for the 2.8 My CTS will tell me my depf status and when doing a regen. So you can see haw fast you're plugging up the filter.

 

[Ryanmb21]

Great information Kristian! I hope chevy comes up with a solution!

 

[lqdchkn]

Y'all need to go to coloradofans.com
.
Quite a bit of info on the failed Particulate Mass Sensors there.
.
Also you can buy a WIFI OBD dongle and a Phone app to monitor you soot level, so you know when you close to a regen and let you know when a regen is active so you can keep driving.
.
You can tell when the truck is regening without any of that if youre paying attention. The idle rpm is higher 950rpm instead of 750rpm and it takes a bit more braking force to stop because of that. These are slight and maybe not noticeable to the average driver.
.
Also it takes numerous interruptions of a regen to cause a problem. Ive monitored myself interrupt a regen at least 5 times and not had it have an issue. So one would need to have many many interruptions before there was an issue.
.
.
Again LOTS of info on coloradofans so if you have one of these trucks and aren't there, you are IMO doing yourself a disservice.

 

[upcruiser]

Y'all need to go to coloradofans.com
.
Quite a bit of info on the failed Particulate Mass Sensors there.
.
Also you can buy a WIFI OBD dongle and a Phone app to monitor you soot level, so you know when you close to a regen and let you know when a regen is active so you can keep driving.
.
You can tell when the truck is regening without any of that if youre paying attention. The idle rpm is higher 950rpm instead of 750rpm and it takes a bit more braking force to stop because of that. These are slight and maybe not noticeable to the average driver.
.
Also it takes numerous interruptions of a regen to cause a problem. Ive monitored myself interrupt a regen at least 5 times and not had it have an issue. So one would need to have many many interruptions before there was an issue.
.
.
Again LOTS of info on coloradofans so if you have one of these trucks and aren't there, you are IMO doing yourself a disservice.

Thanks for the tip on the dongle, I will have to look into that. I recently wrapped up my busy work travel season so hoping to find more time for online research and car projects soon. I have done a bunch of reading on Colorado fans but haven't signed up yet.

 

[upcruiser]

Ok a towing update. Ended up pulling our camper for a weekend get away this past weekend. I am VERY impressed by the performance. It ended up being around 250ish miles total. We averaged 13.5mpg despite having strong head winds as well as some good crosswinds at times going there and coming back. I bumped up tire pressure to 45psi all around on the truck and used the weight distribution setup. We had zero sway though the gusts would move us around a bit. By comparison our Suburban is less effected by crosswind, probably due to its weight alone, but the I felt completely comfortable with how the Colorado performed in the wind. That powertrain though, wow. It does great. I felt like it was barely working most of the time. I had no issue maintaining speed on grades, less though than the 6.0 Suburban. Regardless of your opinion of the price, the emissions stuff with the Duramax, outside of the mileage, if for no other reason, this engine is worth it just due to the mellow nature of its towing behavior. It was quiet and often times I would find myself going 10mph over what I was trying to do as it would creep up and you wouldn't notice not using cruise. Seems like going 65 on flat ground at the times we weren't seeing big winds, the read out was showing 15-16mpg. But 13.5 wasn't bad at all.


Had our bikes and the kids, plus the chariot and firewood in the back with room to spare.


This setup makes a pretty good all around setup for base camping and having a nimble rig to bum around in. It's tough to squeeze full size trucks on some of the tight two tracks in this region. This truck is a good size for that stuff.

Other pics from the trip, ghost towns, bike exploring, and family time.















Remote beaches on Lake Michigan's north shore.

 

[Comanche Scott]

Awesome pictures! Trip looks like it was epic! :beer:

 

[Dalko43]

Looks like a fun trip! That mpg for towing that kind of load definitely impresses me. I couldn't even imagine how horrible my mpg would've been with my 4runner's 4.0l v6....that thing just needs the slightest of reasons to start tanking on the mpg.

I'm eager to see how this duramax colorado works out for the longterm. I'm on the cusp of selling my 4runner and getting something (hopefully a diesel pickup). For some time, I've been focused on getting a pre-emissions 3/4ton diesel, but with the arrival of the ZR2, I've had to reconsider my options. I really like the Colorado's size, package, and diesel mpg (even with all the emissions systems). My main concerns with the Colorado are: the price (at least for the ZR2); and the emissions stuff. Like you, I worry about the potential trouble associated with such systems, especially as I head north into Canada.

But so far, your reviews and others have shown the Colorado to be a reliable platform...hopefully it stays that way.

Looking forward to future updates!

 

[lqdchkn]

Looks like a fun trip! That mpg for towing that kind of load definitely impresses me. I couldn't even imagine how horrible my mpg would've been with my 4runner's 4.0l v6....that thing just needs the slightest of reasons to start tanking on the mpg.

I'm eager to see how this duramax colorado works out for the longterm. I'm on the cusp of selling my 4runner and getting something (hopefully a diesel pickup). For some time, I've been focused on getting a pre-emissions 3/4ton diesel, but with the arrival of the ZR2, I've had to reconsider my options. I really like the Colorado's size, package, and diesel mpg (even with all the emissions systems). My main concerns with the Colorado are: the price (at least for the ZR2); and the emissions stuff. Like you, I worry about the potential trouble associated with such systems, especially as I head north into Canada.

But so far, your reviews and others have shown the Colorado to be a reliable platform...hopefully it stays that way.

Looking forward to future updates!

So far on Cfans we are guestimating the ZR2 will loose about 2 MPG over the other models mainly due to the less aero front bumper, this logic is stemming from the hit those of us that have taken the front valance off our regular trucks. So make sure you take that possible hit into consideration if your thinking ZR2 over say Z71

 

[upcruiser]

Awesome pictures! Trip looks like it was epic! :beer:

It's the banana belt of the Upper Peninsula, not far away but a fun little weekend escape. We saw only a handful of people all weekend which is a huge plus.

 

[chilliwak]

Cool pics upcruiser. Above the fact that you have a cool rig and seem to enjoy driving it, how do you like those fat boy tires on your bike? Thanks for posting up. Cheers, chilli..

 

[upcruiser]

Looks like a fun trip! That mpg for towing that kind of load definitely impresses me. I couldn't even imagine how horrible my mpg would've been with my 4runner's 4.0l v6....that thing just needs the slightest of reasons to start tanking on the mpg.

I'm eager to see how this duramax colorado works out for the longterm. I'm on the cusp of selling my 4runner and getting something (hopefully a diesel pickup). For some time, I've been focused on getting a pre-emissions 3/4ton diesel, but with the arrival of the ZR2, I've had to reconsider my options. I really like the Colorado's size, package, and diesel mpg (even with all the emissions systems). My main concerns with the Colorado are: the price (at least for the ZR2); and the emissions stuff. Like you, I worry about the potential trouble associated with such systems, especially as I head north into Canada.

But so far, your reviews and others have shown the Colorado to be a reliable platform...hopefully it stays that way.

Looking forward to future updates!

Interestingly enough, when we bought this camper we still had our FJ Cruiser and had just moved back to the UP. We thought we were going to be living in the camper in various places in the country while my wife did 3 month gigs as a travel nurse. The FJ did ok towing except in regards to sway with crosswinds. Chalk that up to a short wheelbase. We never got more than 8-9mpg with the trailer hooked up even though I kept it below 60mph. It had abysmal range with the stock tank and concerns with freeway speeds and passing semi's in high winds made it not appealing. It did have the factory tow package with the auxiliary oil cooler but I had concerns still with tranny temps though never had any issues. Because of these concerns and wanting more interior space for our expanding family we got the Suburban.



I think the ZR2 is a compelling package. I am curious to see how many diesels they sell due to the cost and to the nature of how most folks will be using these, the gasser might be more appealing. I think before going into the bush I would want the dongle previously mentioned or scan guage to monitor the systems and a way reset codes, etc. I don't see many issues related to emissions when traveling, my wonder is how things would fair if you were deep in the bush idling along in low range and the truck wanting to perform a regen when you lack the ability to really drive it hard and put the engine under a load.

I think the ZR2 would have been appealing to us had we been looking to do more off-roading type of travel but since we have a Land Cruiser, we needed something that could do truck stuff. That said, our LT with the the G80 and traction control seems pretty effective at finding traction. I imagine the ZR2's truck suspension and offroad aids would take it to another level.

 

[chilliwak]

You can sure see that Toyota loaded down Mr Cruiser. Looks like you are the adventurous kind.. Cheers, Chilli.

 

[upcruiser]

Cool pics upcruiser. Above the fact that you have a cool rig and seem to enjoy driving it, how do you like those fat boy tires on your bike? Thanks for posting up. Cheers, chilli..

We went from having a mountain bikes for summer and fat bikes for winter to just using the fatbike year round. They pretty much can do anything. The grip and stability lets you do things that you can't on other bikes. Mine is pretty heavy as it is designed for gear hauling and bikepacking more so but my wive's is carbon fiber and pretty light. I just upgraded my drivetrain to 1x11 and added a front fork to make it more fun on fast, technical stuff. But yeah, they make great do anything bikes.