DPF regen conditions

[paultownsend]

Chaps,

Can you please confirm what conditions are required for a DPF regen.

Car is a Golf 2009 2.0 Tdi CR.

[Drive Blind]

for an active regen?

The soot loading on the dpf reaches a trigger point and then I think the rules are along the lines of..
Engine fully up to temp
Speed over 40mph
Fuel warning light not on

[paultownsend]

Much appreciated. Iv caught it doing a regen a couple of times now over the last few months arriving home. I have always gone up and down the nearest dual carriageway at 70 in 4th. 20 minutes later all is good with the world.

[Sheepshanks]

paultownsend said:

I have always gone up and down the nearest dual carriageway at 70 in 4th. 20 minutes later all is good with the world.

I think you only need to do that sort of thing (70 in 4th) if you get a dpf warning light. On an active regen it puts fuel into the dpf to heat it up so you can just drive normally.

[paultownsend]

That’s great. Cheers.

[hepy]

paultownsend said:

Much appreciated. Iv caught it doing a regen a couple of times now over the last few months arriving home. I have always gone up and down the nearest dual carriageway at 70 in 4th. 20 minutes later all is good with the world.

I had an Audi A3 2008 model and was to do that once a week by the dealer, never had another dpf problem .

[paultownsend]

Iv never had a problem as such. The light has never come on. I have obviously arrived at my destination before the regen has finished. If I catch it again it appears I just need to drive the car normally.

[Phenry]

I do a lot of small journeys in my car but I take it a long run. I can tell when the DPF is regenerating as the revs go upto 900rpm and the fan comes on. When driving the car I always like to make sure it completes the cycle. If that means going a drive then that’s fine. I drive the car fast and hard when it starts so that I clear it all out.

[Sheepshanks]

paultownsend said:

Iv never had a problem as such. The light has never come on. I have obviously arrived at my destination before the regen has finished. If I catch it again it appears I just need to drive the car normally.

My experience is with the newer EA288 engine but that had only just been fitted to the Tiguan when we bought it so all my research was on cars with the older EA189. However I think the regen drill is the same.

Most surprising thing is, in normal UK use, they never passive regen - the dpf doesn't get anywhere near hot enough. On a Golf forum I looked at some owners have done tests with diagnostic tools attached and it doesn't matter how you drive, it makes little difference to the temp of the dpf.

So they only active regen, and the big thing is to give it enough time (10-15 mins) to complete - distance doesn't matter. Ours appears to be regenning every 2-300 miles. The older engines used to regen less, but reports suggest it's more frequent if the emissions update has been done.

I concluded that the business of taking these cars for a thrashing once a week or so is pointless. Indeed we did a 300 mile motorway round trip, then next day on the 3 mile school run the car started an active regen. I know some people say they can tell if a regen is in progress, but I can't until I get out the car and hear the engine fan roaring. Stop/start gets disabled but we don't use that anyway. Idle speed doesn't change in any obvious way in ours.

[paultownsend]

I went for this one as it hadn’t had the emissions fix undertaken.

You definitely know when a regen is in process. For one it stinks, as the engine bay gets super hot and burns off any oil that’s been leaking from the rocker gasket! Only noticed it maybe 8 times in 18 months. The car is now on 120k. Iv had it for the last 20k and have always filled up with Costco premium diesel and changed the oil every 5k. It does get. Few good runs out on the motorway.