DPF regen cycles-how often, how to know & what to expect?
Discussion
Glosphil said:
I have driven over 12,000 miles in a 2012 Octavia vRS 2.0TDi and only once noticed a regen taking place. I stopped the car and the engine fan continued to run for a couple of minutes. Never noticed any sign of a regen when actually driving although they have obviously been happening.
Same for me.VW 2.0 TDi over 40,000 miles, I have only noticed it twice as the fan continued to run for a few minutes after parking up and there was a strange hot metal smell coming from the car.
I do a lot of motorway miles, so perhaps it does it more frequently without me knowing?
mcgandalf said:
On this note - I drive a diesel Vectra (I know...) with 120k on the clock. I use it almost exclusively for long-ish treks on the motorway network.
Although I'm assuming the DPF never clogs up sufficiently to need a re-gen (not that I've ever noticed one!), am I to expect the DPF to suddenly die on me at some point?
Or should these things - providing I drive a diesel like a diesel - soldier on for the life of the car?
Does your car have one? Not all Vectras do. Estates have them, automatics do in any body shape and the Signum does, and the later 3.0 diesels have them even if they're manual but 99% of the 1.9CDTi engines don't have them in hatch or saloon spec. There are a few that do have them though.Although I'm assuming the DPF never clogs up sufficiently to need a re-gen (not that I've ever noticed one!), am I to expect the DPF to suddenly die on me at some point?
Or should these things - providing I drive a diesel like a diesel - soldier on for the life of the car?
So...
NONE of the DTi engined cars have them, in any spec or body shape.
If you have a 1.9CDTi hatchback with manual box, 99% chance it won't.
If you have a 1.9CDTi hatchback with an auto box, it will.
If it's a 1.9CDTi estate with a manual box, it will.
Sounds like you're doing the kind of driving that suits it, if you car does have one then don't worry about it. Lots of round town driving in the 1.9CDTi kills the DPF.
I have a Volvo XC70 D5.
Although I've never noticed it 'regenning', when I picked up the car, I doubt the previous owner ever took it past 2k revs... It was very smokey all the time. Since then, with frequent oil changes, it's cleared up.
The key to owning a modern diesel, is getting it warm enough, and enough air-flow to 'blow' the rubbish and soot out of it. I try and hit the red-line a few times every journey, assuming the engine is fully warmed. Since then, no problems. It's still a little smokey when I plant it, but it's done almost the equivalent of a trip to the moon, so it's not exactly a new engine....
Although I've never noticed it 'regenning', when I picked up the car, I doubt the previous owner ever took it past 2k revs... It was very smokey all the time. Since then, with frequent oil changes, it's cleared up.
The key to owning a modern diesel, is getting it warm enough, and enough air-flow to 'blow' the rubbish and soot out of it. I try and hit the red-line a few times every journey, assuming the engine is fully warmed. Since then, no problems. It's still a little smokey when I plant it, but it's done almost the equivalent of a trip to the moon, so it's not exactly a new engine....
twink said:
Does your car have one? Not all Vectras do. Estates have them, automatics do in any body shape and the Signum does, and the later 3.0 diesels have them even if they're manual but 99% of the 1.9CDTi engines don't have them in hatch or saloon spec. There are a few that do have them though.
So...
NONE of the DTi engined cars have them, in any spec or body shape.
If you have a 1.9CDTi hatchback with manual box, 99% chance it won't.
If you have a 1.9CDTi hatchback with an auto box, it will.
If it's a 1.9CDTi estate with a manual box, it will.
Sounds like you're doing the kind of driving that suits it, if you car does have one then don't worry about it. Lots of round town driving in the 1.9CDTi kills the DPF.
1.9CDTi manual hatchback (07 C facelift) - I was assuming it did have one.So...
NONE of the DTi engined cars have them, in any spec or body shape.
If you have a 1.9CDTi hatchback with manual box, 99% chance it won't.
If you have a 1.9CDTi hatchback with an auto box, it will.
If it's a 1.9CDTi estate with a manual box, it will.
Sounds like you're doing the kind of driving that suits it, if you car does have one then don't worry about it. Lots of round town driving in the 1.9CDTi kills the DPF.
Can you confirm?
911Motorsport said:
Glosphil said:
I have driven over 12,000 miles in a 2012 Octavia vRS 2.0TDi and only once noticed a regen taking place. I stopped the car and the engine fan continued to run for a couple of minutes. Never noticed any sign of a regen when actually driving although they have obviously been happening.
Same for me.VW 2.0 TDi over 40,000 miles, I have only noticed it twice as the fan continued to run for a few minutes after parking up and there was a strange hot metal smell coming from the car.
I do a lot of motorway miles, so perhaps it does it more frequently without me knowing?
Weird thing. I ran a Golf 1.6tdi for 3 years and 80k miles and the DPF light came on only once in that time -I did the usual thing of giving it a blast up the dual-carriageway in 3rd, and the light went out.
I've now got a Leon 1.6tdi, which has no warning light but does an automatic regen, and I use the car for exactly the same purpose, under the same driving conditions, and the regen happens 2 or 3 times a week. It's a pain in the bum, but the dealer says ti's normal. I like to think I'm sympathetic mechanically, and I really do not like the smell, the heat, and the fan going bonkers. It's not something I'll get used to.
What's going on? Same engine, maybe updated a little. Why the difference?
I've now got a Leon 1.6tdi, which has no warning light but does an automatic regen, and I use the car for exactly the same purpose, under the same driving conditions, and the regen happens 2 or 3 times a week. It's a pain in the bum, but the dealer says ti's normal. I like to think I'm sympathetic mechanically, and I really do not like the smell, the heat, and the fan going bonkers. It's not something I'll get used to.
What's going on? Same engine, maybe updated a little. Why the difference?
mcgandalf said:
twink said:
Does your car have one? Not all Vectras do. Estates have them, automatics do in any body shape and the Signum does, and the later 3.0 diesels have them even if they're manual but 99% of the 1.9CDTi engines don't have them in hatch or saloon spec. There are a few that do have them though.
So...
NONE of the DTi engined cars have them, in any spec or body shape.
If you have a 1.9CDTi hatchback with manual box, 99% chance it won't.
If you have a 1.9CDTi hatchback with an auto box, it will.
If it's a 1.9CDTi estate with a manual box, it will.
Sounds like you're doing the kind of driving that suits it, if you car does have one then don't worry about it. Lots of round town driving in the 1.9CDTi kills the DPF.
1.9CDTi manual hatchback (07 C facelift) - I was assuming it did have one.So...
NONE of the DTi engined cars have them, in any spec or body shape.
If you have a 1.9CDTi hatchback with manual box, 99% chance it won't.
If you have a 1.9CDTi hatchback with an auto box, it will.
If it's a 1.9CDTi estate with a manual box, it will.
Sounds like you're doing the kind of driving that suits it, if you car does have one then don't worry about it. Lots of round town driving in the 1.9CDTi kills the DPF.
Can you confirm?
Our Yeti appears to massively prefer the driving style of my parents over it's previous owner.
The previous owner was a lady, and we noticed that literally on the way home from picking it up, it was throwing out a lot of white smoke and it was releasing a burning rubber smell. My parents were alarmed by this, but I told them not to worry about it, chances are it's the DPF.
Sure enough, the next day, my mum had to do nearly 150 miles, and the car was running smoothly and there were no issues, and certainly no burning rubber smell.
So I think as long you just, every now and again, give the car a nice long stretch then it'll be fine.
The previous owner was a lady, and we noticed that literally on the way home from picking it up, it was throwing out a lot of white smoke and it was releasing a burning rubber smell. My parents were alarmed by this, but I told them not to worry about it, chances are it's the DPF.
Sure enough, the next day, my mum had to do nearly 150 miles, and the car was running smoothly and there were no issues, and certainly no burning rubber smell.
So I think as long you just, every now and again, give the car a nice long stretch then it'll be fine.
TheInsanity1234 said:
So I think as long you just, every now and again4-500miles, give the car a nice long stretch then it'll be fine.
FTFY
If the regen is every 4-500miles then no wonder people are having issues with them when they buy them to tootle round down and never go out on a decent run.
Driven and serviced in the manner diesels are designed for nothing should be noticed.
All this fan over running thing is nonsense. A "forced regen" can be done via the OBD port if needed. There are a few ways the DPF regenerates itself. The most common is by late injection of diesel to raise exhaust temperature.
All this fan over running thing is nonsense. A "forced regen" can be done via the OBD port if needed. There are a few ways the DPF regenerates itself. The most common is by late injection of diesel to raise exhaust temperature.
twink said:
mcgandalf said:
twink said:
Does your car have one? Not all Vectras do. Estates have them, automatics do in any body shape and the Signum does, and the later 3.0 diesels have them even if they're manual but 99% of the 1.9CDTi engines don't have them in hatch or saloon spec. There are a few that do have them though.
So...
NONE of the DTi engined cars have them, in any spec or body shape.
If you have a 1.9CDTi hatchback with manual box, 99% chance it won't.
If you have a 1.9CDTi hatchback with an auto box, it will.
If it's a 1.9CDTi estate with a manual box, it will.
Sounds like you're doing the kind of driving that suits it, if you car does have one then don't worry about it. Lots of round town driving in the 1.9CDTi kills the DPF.
1.9CDTi manual hatchback (07 C facelift) - I was assuming it did have one.So...
NONE of the DTi engined cars have them, in any spec or body shape.
If you have a 1.9CDTi hatchback with manual box, 99% chance it won't.
If you have a 1.9CDTi hatchback with an auto box, it will.
If it's a 1.9CDTi estate with a manual box, it will.
Sounds like you're doing the kind of driving that suits it, if you car does have one then don't worry about it. Lots of round town driving in the 1.9CDTi kills the DPF.
Can you confirm?
I'm sure I read somewhere that it's the weight of the car which determines whether a DPF is required. That would make sense as an estate, auto or Signum would weigh more.
Just sold a C4 Grand Picasso fitted with that PSA 1.6 diesel used by Ford, Volvo, Mini etc etc. Regen was once a tankful and basically made it juddery at low throttle gutless and thirsty. The C4 forum was full of tales of woe of particulant system failure, I had it but managed to cLear it with a change of all filters some oil and fuel cleaner additives and a good caning.
Was increasingly sick of diesels anyway and that was the final straw.
Was increasingly sick of diesels anyway and that was the final straw.
Regen frequency depends on driving conditions. It is possible to remove all the soot 'passively' through a reaction with the NOx that the engine produces, this would typically happen at motorway speeds BUT there will always be a mileage trigger at which a regeneration will be attempted anyway, in case there is a monitoring issue.
If you do not complete a regeneration it is not the end of the world, just make sure if the light does come on that you give it a run.
Worst case for causing problems ("thermal events" or "fires") is having a regeneration start, get up to temperature and then have the engine drop down to idle. Under these conditions the DPF will see lots of oxygen and the soot will burn in an uncontrolled manner. This should not happen if the manufacturer has done their development work thoroughly - the regeneration is usually started at a soot level that would avoid this and/or the temperature target is adjusted to account for this eventuality.
Answering an earlier post, the regeneration does not just chuck out everything that has been collected. Soot is basically partially combusted fuel, created when there is insufficient oxygen to burn the fuel (although diesels run excess air, the soot is formed in the fuel spray in the cylinder where it is locally rich). A regeneration takes the DPF up to a temperature at which the soot will burn of it's own accord (analogy: it is soot burning hat causes chimney fires).
If you do not complete a regeneration it is not the end of the world, just make sure if the light does come on that you give it a run.
Worst case for causing problems ("thermal events" or "fires") is having a regeneration start, get up to temperature and then have the engine drop down to idle. Under these conditions the DPF will see lots of oxygen and the soot will burn in an uncontrolled manner. This should not happen if the manufacturer has done their development work thoroughly - the regeneration is usually started at a soot level that would avoid this and/or the temperature target is adjusted to account for this eventuality.
Answering an earlier post, the regeneration does not just chuck out everything that has been collected. Soot is basically partially combusted fuel, created when there is insufficient oxygen to burn the fuel (although diesels run excess air, the soot is formed in the fuel spray in the cylinder where it is locally rich). A regeneration takes the DPF up to a temperature at which the soot will burn of it's own accord (analogy: it is soot burning hat causes chimney fires).
My 2013 1.6 superb is driven on 2 60 miles trips 5 days a week and has done 5500 miles since i bought it in december.
It had the fix in july 2017 and has done 22000 miles since
Sometimes the tickover rises from 750 to 950 and S/S doent work, is this a dpf regen?
It averages 53mpg overall (true, not board computer)
It had the fix in july 2017 and has done 22000 miles since
Sometimes the tickover rises from 750 to 950 and S/S doent work, is this a dpf regen?
It averages 53mpg overall (true, not board computer)
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