[toprock]

Thought I was seeing things when the ice warning symbol changed to something which looked like a gust of wind, perplexed parked up and turned the car on and off "keep driving DPF regeneration" message popped up, never had this in my previous cars, but have read horror stories about putting it right.


Over the xmas period i've done an absolute swathe of short journeys, its been very cold which further means the car not getting anywhere close to temp, and to top if off i'm driving round on a tyre which is held up by a fragment of sealant as the tyre repair place washed the rest out and couldn't find the hole (new £120 tyre getting fitted this weekend GRRRRR see my other thread) so i've not gone above 50mph in a while.

Had a quick read on DPFs and the advice on 2500 revs, for 20 mins on motorway, so put her in 4th gear and went for a 20 minute drive out on a quiet festive motorway, after 15 mins light went out, turned around at next junction and drove home in 4th gear for good measure.

That seemed easy

 

[toprock]

Yellow symbol for those that havn't seen it...

 

[toprock]

Alternated with the yellow ice symbol

 

[DogsRule]

Thanks Toprock. Very nice. Glad it resolved.
Wife just got a job less than a mile from home. She may be seeing this soon as well. Now I can fix it and come out the hero.

 

[mgregory]

Interesting... learned something new.

Found this:

"Diesel particulate filters are intended to reduce soot emissions by as much as 80%. When the filter fails, the DPF (diesel particulate filter) light will come on. It indicates a partial blockage in the filter. So, what is the deal with DPFs? Read on to learn more about them.

You have to empty your DPF regularly in order to have optimum performance.

In order to empty your DPF, you have to burn off the collected soot.

Soot is burned off at a high temperature by driving at a speed of more than 40 miles per hour for approximately ten minutes.

When the soot is being burned off, you may notice that you get a hot smell from your exhaust, your idle speed is higher, and your fuel consumption is greater.

If the soot is not burned off, you will notice a deterioration in your oil quality. You have to make sure that your oil level does not rise above the maximum dipstick level, because if it does, you could damage your engine.

So, can you drive safely if your DPF light is on? Yes, you can. Probably. You are not likely going to be harmed. Your engine, however, is another thing. If you ignore the DPF light, and you continue to drive in your usual “gas/brake” pattern, you will probably end up seeing other warning lights come on. Then, you will have to see a mechanic for what is called “forced” regeneration. If you fail to do this, then the soot load is just going to keep on increasing.

Finally, your car will stop running properly, and at that point, yes, you will be looking at a safety issue, because you will see decreased performance levels when you are trying to do maneuvers like passing and merging on the highway. This is where “probably” comes in as far as safety is concerned. You will also likely end up incurring very costly repairs.

Never ignore your DPF warning light. You will have little time between the point where the DPF is minimally blocked, and the point where manual regeneration is the only solution. And if you fail to have the manual regeneration done, it is very possible that you will need a new engine."

 

[toprock]

"Never ignore your DPF warning light. You will have little time between the point where the DPF is minimally blocked, and the point where manual regeneration is the only solution. And if you fail to have the manual regeneration done, it is very possible that you will need a new engine."
"

I also read something similar to this, which prompted me to try the clearance last night, as opposed to waiting for new tyre fitting at weekend and being able to clear it at a higher speed. The site I read also seemed to suggest the car injects more fuel when its in the 1st DPF stage and if you don't continue driving this further soots things up, compounding the problem very quickly, leading to the second warning light.

 

[glennuk]

Dam does that mean when I get mine I will have to thrash it every now and again! man lifes a bitch

 

[Nev]

Never ignore your DPF warning light. You will have little time between the point where the DPF is minimally blocked, and the point where manual regeneration is the only solution. And if you fail to have the manual regeneration done, it is very possible that you will need a new engine."

That's a bit dramatic.

Although with FPT DERV engines you need to be careful about failed regens (unburned diesel can end up in the sump) and eventual blocking of the DPF which can back up into the exhaust manifold. (New DPF, new manifold.)


Definitely need to be wary about allowing regens to complete and to give the engine a good long hot run a couple of times a month, I would say.

 

[Constantin1989]

These DPF filters are a thing to worry about. Luckily I drive the motorway most days but a quick internet read shows that it's very expensive to change one and the average life span is 100 000 miles.

Anyone with more experience in this area ?

 

[sanigerson]

These DPF filters are a thing to worry about. Luckily I drive the motorway most days but a quick internet read shows that it's very expensive to change one and the average life span is 100 000 miles.

Anyone with more experience in this area ?

It would be awesome to drive with 3000+rpm over 20 minutes to burn some carbon, for example monthly. It helps to start regeneration manually.

 

[Constantin1989]

Yeah I read in the owner's handbook that ideally 60MPH at 2000+ RPM for about 10 min. I've also been doing some reading and It does seem that if you do take care of the car the DTF filter should not be a worry.