BY JIM BIGLEY
POO87 SAGA
I just returned to Illinois from Quartzsite towing my 12,000-pound fiver. I have 123k miles on my ’09 LMM Duramax at this point. I had no problems going south in January, but the truck experienced several P0087 episodes on my return to Illinois last week—usually on the bigger hills and a couple of hours into the day and with a lower fuel level in the tank (the usual cast of characters, evidently).
This is an absolutely stock truck that is regularly serviced by our local Chevy dealer. I have faithfully used Power Service fuel treatment in every tank since day one. I’ve also equipped the truck with auxiliary fuel filtration almost from day one. Both the auxiliary and stock fuel filters have been regularly serviced at their recommended intervals.
I’ve spent a lot of time online doing research on the trouble code P0087, looking for any possible short- or long-term solutions. Getting home the last 1,000 miles was a big problem. I tried to keep post-turbo EGTs in the 1,000 degree range and never let it exceed 1,100. I used that as a proxy for the temps the injectors and incoming fuel might be experiencing. I operated the transmission in manual mode, which allowed me to select transmission gearing on hills; in turn, this allowed for better management of exhaust temperature.
Since returning home, I returned the truck to my dealer, and they found nothing wrong. The injectors tested solid (as they did just before I left). No codes were remaining, of course. Absent the load from towing a heavy trailer on hills for hours on end while hot, there was no way to get their equipment to confirm my truck’s problem. In addition, at my request, they inspected all fuel lines (they appeared solid or had already been replaced), the fuel cooler was clean, and they found no fuel leaks anywhere.
These are two guys who have known the truck since it was new, have serviced it thoroughly and regularly, and otherwise have my full confidence. They did mention that freeing up the exhaust might help keep overall exhaust temperature down and thus keep the returned fuel cooler. Coming from a dealership, I found that interesting. For now, I guess I'll drive carefully and see what the future holds