Diesel Particular Filter Solutions
- Are you having problems with your DPF ?
- DPF or Anti-Pollution warning lights on your dash ?
- Car in “limp home” safety mode?
- Poor acceleration and high fuel consumption ?
- Facing expensive repair costs to replace the Diesel Particulate Filter?
- Confused what the best solution is for you?
What is a DPF?
D.P.F. (Diesel Particulate Filter) is a filter fitted to the exhaust system that is very similar to a catalytic converter in looks. It is designed to remove diesel particulate matter or soot, and the objective is to produce cleaner exhaust gases.
However, as many people will agree, they often cause a lot more trouble than they actually do good.
As with any type of filter, a Particulate Filter needs to be cleaned regularly to function properly.
With Diesel Particulate Filter this is done by a process known as regeneration.
This involves a combination of functions in the Diesel Particulate Filter system to burning the soot to a very high temperature!
Regeneration should be an automatic process taking place in the normal use of your vehicle, you may have noticed this in the form of a blast of white smoke from the exhaust on occasions.
Diesel Particulate Filters have been in common use in passenger cars and light commercials from around 2003 in preparation for Euro 4 regs (2005), with Peugeot, Renault and BMW being early takers.
Euro 5 (2009) made it compulsory for diesel cars and light commercials to have a DPF fitted and Euro 6 2014 will tighten this up further.
Problems encountered with DPF
If regeneration doesn’t function properly it leads to a build up of soot affecting performance and fuel economy.
Left unattended this will result in a blocked DPF which can ultimately cause very expensive damage to other engine components. A blocked DPF is also potentially dangerous as it can cause overheating in the exhaust system and in turn presents a fire risk.
To prevent this damage most newer vehicles will go into “limp home” safety mode at this stage, meaning the vehicle will have minimum power!
For regeneration to take place it requires the vehicle to be driven regularly at some speed on open roads e.g. motorway driving, typically driving at around 2500 RPM for approx 30 minutes at least once a month, this will keep things working, however, many diesel vehicles are used primarily in urban areas or on short journeys, e.g. local deliveries, taxis, school runs etc, So the vehicle does not get the chance to heat up sufficiently and is unable to carry out a full regeneration process.
Even if the regeneration functions as it should, over time the ash residue will build up in the DPF and have the same affect ultimately resulting in a blocked Diesel Particulate Filter.
For this reason a Diesel Particulate Filter is classified as a serviceable Item by the vehicle manufacturers, like brake pads or air filters etc, and not covered under warranty. Diesel Particulate Filter systems therefore need to be maintained properly.
Dashboard common symbols
If your DPF warning light or Anti-Pollution warning is on dash, please do not ignore it and get professional advice!
Leaving it will ultimately cost you much more in additional repair bills and as mentioned above, it can be dangerous.
Dashboard common symbols
If your DPF warning light or Anti-Pollution warning is on dash, please do not ignore it and get professional advice!
Leaving it will ultimately cost you much more in additional repair bills and as mentioned above, it can be dangerous.
What are my options?
By the time your DPF warning lights are visible, your DPF will already be significantly blocked.
Forced regeneration by a Workshop or a “blast down the motorway” is not likely to cure the problem, these only work as preventative maintenance.
So at this stage realistically you have the following 4 options:
- Replace the DPF filter with a genuine OEM part with an average price starting from $3000
- Replace the DPF filter with an after market part, but we strongly recommend against this. As after market DPF filters (in our experience) Don’t last very long and can also be very troublesome to fit.
- Have the Diesel Particulate Filter filter cleaned as we can provide this service with specialist cleaning agents combinded with regeneration .
- Removing the DPF altogether is a guaranteed solution at a fraction of the cost of replacing it.
Contact us now for free expert advice.
We guarantee you will receive friendly, knowledgeable advise & will make huge savings over main dealer costs.
All our DPF removals come with a lifetime guarantee on software.
