Driving a diesel 5 miles a day
Discussion
I'll start off by saying I know very little about cars, mechanically
I used to commute 60 miles a day, so purchased a 2.1 deiseal last year. I have now moved to a city, so am no longer commuting far. I drive the car most days, but usually a 5 mile round trip through the city, where I don't go above 30. I will usually go see my family on the weekend, so a round trip of ~50 miles on an A road
My dad (who possibly as little as me about cars) said recently that driving that little distance in a deiseal that size is probably damaging to the engine, as they are designed for long commutes. I know the car is overkill for my situation at the moment, but cannot be bothered with the hassle of selling it at the moment - and I like the car! Is my current situation really putting strain on the engine?... or is it just *not ideal*
Thanks
[https://www.carcheck.co.uk/mercedes-benz/BG63OXS]
I used to commute 60 miles a day, so purchased a 2.1 deiseal last year. I have now moved to a city, so am no longer commuting far. I drive the car most days, but usually a 5 mile round trip through the city, where I don't go above 30. I will usually go see my family on the weekend, so a round trip of ~50 miles on an A road
My dad (who possibly as little as me about cars) said recently that driving that little distance in a deiseal that size is probably damaging to the engine, as they are designed for long commutes. I know the car is overkill for my situation at the moment, but cannot be bothered with the hassle of selling it at the moment - and I like the car! Is my current situation really putting strain on the engine?... or is it just *not ideal*
Thanks
[https://www.carcheck.co.uk/mercedes-benz/BG63OXS]
it's true diesels with PDF's don't like short distances as they never get hot enough and thy can't burn off the particles in the DPF, so it clogs.
Therefore you will need to continue to do longer journeys, regularly and give it some beans in doing that. Finally, change your oil , annually at least and ideally no more than about 10k miles intervals. It'll make all the difference.
Therefore you will need to continue to do longer journeys, regularly and give it some beans in doing that. Finally, change your oil , annually at least and ideally no more than about 10k miles intervals. It'll make all the difference.
With such a low daily mileage you're probably not going to get the engine particularly warm and therefore I'd expect low efficiency from the car, however the main issue here is going to be DPF regeneration - If you are only doing these short journeys then sooner or later the DPF will get blocked and it will be an expensive repair bill.
If you do longer runs every so often, say a run down the motorway for 30mins every fortnight or so then that's likely enough to fully regen the DPF and keep things running smoothly. If the 5miles/day is basically all that you're doing then, IMO, you're probably best swapping the car out for a petrol alternative.
If you do longer runs every so often, say a run down the motorway for 30mins every fortnight or so then that's likely enough to fully regen the DPF and keep things running smoothly. If the 5miles/day is basically all that you're doing then, IMO, you're probably best swapping the car out for a petrol alternative.
Most wear occurs when the engine is cold, so repeated cold starts are bad. Modern diesels are fitted with regenerative particulate filters, which require high exhaust temperatures to operate correctly. This will not happen on a short journey. You risk premature wear on engine components, and damage due to a blocked particulate filter. If I were you I'd buy a bicycle for such short regular journeys, or (god forbid!) given that you are in a city get a bus.
In not, then at least take the car for a longer run whenever you can.
In not, then at least take the car for a longer run whenever you can.
So long as you uprate the servicing to hard use, ie more frequent oil changes in particular, and continue with the weekly long journeys, i see no reason why the car shouldn't last for years, i wouldn't be replacing it.
Worth familiarising yourself with how the car sounds and behaves during a regen, last thing it needs is the engine switching off half way through a regen, might mean once in a blue moon having to travel a little further than you intended on your weekly trip to allow the regen to complete but compared with the cost of changing cars a small price to pay.
If the DPF did start to block you can always get a static regen completed at any decent MB indy with the correct diagnostics equipment.
Worth familiarising yourself with how the car sounds and behaves during a regen, last thing it needs is the engine switching off half way through a regen, might mean once in a blue moon having to travel a little further than you intended on your weekly trip to allow the regen to complete but compared with the cost of changing cars a small price to pay.
If the DPF did start to block you can always get a static regen completed at any decent MB indy with the correct diagnostics equipment.
They certainly dont like short journeys
My 2021 Nissan Navara has returned this weekend from its 4th warranty DPF regen/oil change/ blah blah and its not even cracked 10k yet. If the regen fails then it chucks diesel back into the engine increasing the amount of liquid within but of course diluting the engine oil. Nissan CS say its ok to drive it to a dealer for attention. Tech in said dealer says dont drive it because the oil it diluted (which is common sense to me). It really is a crap system and its not like it does away with the nasties - it just attempts to burn them off somehow and somewhere else. They still end up in the air !
It really would have been nice for the salesman to advise me that its not suitable for my needs before he sold it to me. These vehicles are effectively being missold to JoePublic by commssion hungry and targeted dealers as I politely explained to Nissan Customer Services & the whole situation could be avoided by putting a petrol engine in rather than diesel.
My 2021 Nissan Navara has returned this weekend from its 4th warranty DPF regen/oil change/ blah blah and its not even cracked 10k yet. If the regen fails then it chucks diesel back into the engine increasing the amount of liquid within but of course diluting the engine oil. Nissan CS say its ok to drive it to a dealer for attention. Tech in said dealer says dont drive it because the oil it diluted (which is common sense to me). It really is a crap system and its not like it does away with the nasties - it just attempts to burn them off somehow and somewhere else. They still end up in the air !
It really would have been nice for the salesman to advise me that its not suitable for my needs before he sold it to me. These vehicles are effectively being missold to JoePublic by commssion hungry and targeted dealers as I politely explained to Nissan Customer Services & the whole situation could be avoided by putting a petrol engine in rather than diesel.
I have a Euro 5 diesel, and do relatively short journeys in it, but that's mixed with various longer journeys. I've learned how the car feels if its doing a DPF regen now, if its started, I'll carry on until it finishes (doesn't seem to take long in this) I've had it since the 7th of December, and not had any DPF full warnings.
Ziplobb said:
They certainly dont like short journeys
My 2021 Nissan Navara has returned this weekend from its 4th warranty DPF regen/oil change/ blah blah and its not even cracked 10k yet. If the regen fails then it chucks diesel back into the engine increasing the amount of liquid within but of course diluting the engine oil. Nissan CS say its ok to drive it to a dealer for attention. Tech in said dealer says dont drive it because the oil it diluted (which is common sense to me). It really is a crap system and its not like it does away with the nasties - it just attempts to burn them off somehow and somewhere else. They still end up in the air !
It really would have been nice for the salesman to advise me that its not suitable for my needs before he sold it to me. These vehicles are effectively being missold to JoePublic by commssion hungry and targeted dealers as I politely explained to Nissan Customer Services & the whole situation could be avoided by putting a petrol engine in rather than diesel.
Or to flip it on its head, you bought a diesel without thinking about what your use was.My 2021 Nissan Navara has returned this weekend from its 4th warranty DPF regen/oil change/ blah blah and its not even cracked 10k yet. If the regen fails then it chucks diesel back into the engine increasing the amount of liquid within but of course diluting the engine oil. Nissan CS say its ok to drive it to a dealer for attention. Tech in said dealer says dont drive it because the oil it diluted (which is common sense to me). It really is a crap system and its not like it does away with the nasties - it just attempts to burn them off somehow and somewhere else. They still end up in the air !
It really would have been nice for the salesman to advise me that its not suitable for my needs before he sold it to me. These vehicles are effectively being missold to JoePublic by commssion hungry and targeted dealers as I politely explained to Nissan Customer Services & the whole situation could be avoided by putting a petrol engine in rather than diesel.
Buy an appropriate car for your needs.
Forums | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff