Your DPF experiences: positive and negative

[Carabosse]

Calling all diesel owners whose cars have a Diesel Particulate Filter!

It looks like it may be some while before I can get rid of my DPF and, in fact, I am starting to wonder whether it is worth bothering anyway.

I would like to hear your personal experiences... good and bad.

Also if anyone can give me some idea of whether my DPF is likely to work as it should (regeneration etc) that would be very much appreciated.

Just to give you an idea of my pattern of driving: every week I do maybe four or five trips of 2-4 miles from start to stop engine; I also do about four motorway trips of 7-8 miles each incorporated in a total journey of approx 16 miles. Occasional longer trips. My annual mileage is about 8000.

 

[WG M-B]

Give it a good run once a month with some forte dpf regen additive

 

[Carabosse]

Give it a good run once a month with some forte dpf regen additive

Sorry, I've never owned a diesel before so I'm afraid you'll have to spell it out for me!

What is "good run", ie is it something different from the regular longer runs I do about 4 times a week, which include some motorway?

What is this additive and what do I add it to? Are there any downsides to the additive?

Thanks.

 

[rich599]

I only have 2 negatives for the dpf on my sprinter,it is on the motorway every day but still blocked up,ok it was at just over 800k but cost just under £1800 to have it replaced only for it to be stolen two weeks later along with the rest of the exhaust with a cost of £2200 to be replaced inc a guard

 

[WG M-B]

A dpf equiped car really does need a good thrashing from time to time to help force regen.
The additive helps regen and keeps the soot content down in the dpf. Ultimately they get blocked due to short journeys and poodling about.

 

[Developer]

Mine has been faultless (though I do give it a regular blast).

It's manufactured to do a job and is invisible to the driver - I'd worry about rising inflation or the state of the NHS, not a modern DPF.

 

[tode]

Sorry, I've never owned a diesel before so I'm afraid you'll have to spell it out for me!

What is "good run", ie is it something different from the regular longer runs I do about 4 times a week, which include some motorway?

What is this additive and what do I add it to? Are there any downsides to the additive?

Thanks.

Your New Year's resolution should be " I will get out more"

You've got a very nice car - try visiting Devon and Cornwall, not to mention Dorset. You could even visit Scotland.
And France

And your DPF will be happy, too.

 

[Carabosse]

I have no intention of doing unnecessary journeys just for the sake of the DPF!

I would rather have it removed once a solution is found which does not cause transmission problems.

 

[S.Speed]

I never thought I would say this but I recon you have the WRONG car for your type of use...
You better look for a petrol one or at least learn to do long drives and actually enjoy them..
I bought my car to drive.. Not to polish and look at!

Mine doesn't even have a DPF but if it did then it would be clean all the time.

 

[mersum1es]

I remember reading that there are few different 'states' for DPF regenration, i.e. it can be performed with different driving occasions (and regeneration itself is done according these environmental parameters).

Like above, if your car is having decent long runs, and proper oils used, there should be no trouble. Of course turbo or sensor failures may clog up DPF. I've owned my 'DPF-infected' car now over an year, without troubles (knocking the wood). In my opinion, leave it be, when/if it start causing troubles, remove it.

 

[tode]

I have no intention of doing unnecessary journeys just for the sake of the DPF!

I would rather have it removed once a solution is found which does not cause transmission problems.

If you really only want to use it for 7 - 8 mile trips, then I would regretfully tend to agree with S.Speed above.

There is, of course, nothing 'wrong' with just doing short trips, if that's what you bought the car to do. I also have a 350, but most of our journeys are 30+ miles, often 150+ . Usually the engine is up to temperature after 4 or 5 miles, but I would imagine that the regeneration would require a certain time to be completed - of the top of my hat I would about 20 minutes - which means that your use probably won't ensure complete regeneration, especially in cold weather.

I apologise if my suggestion to "get out more" offended you - I meant to suggest that you use the car more for your own enjoyment, and certainly not simply to clean out the filter.

Ed Just an after-thought: does your green ECO light come on regularly? I read somewhere that it will stay orange if a regen is needed - this may be a good indicator of your DPF condition.

 

[Carabosse]

I feel I need to be more specific!

I do about 4 regular weekly trips of about 16 miles each, about half that distance motorway, in addition to shorter trips.

Is that sufficient to keep the DPF clean and unclogged?

(If not I will get the DPF removed as soon as a solution to the transmission issue is found).

Thanks.

 

[Developer]

I feel I need to be more specific!

I do about 4 regular weekly trips of about 16 miles each, about half that distance motorway, in addition to shorter trips.

Is that sufficient to keep the DPF clean and unclogged?

(If not I will get the DPF removed as soon as a solution to the transmission issue is found).

Thanks.

As an aside, there may be insurance issues with a modified car.

I think 16 miles, four times a week will enable the DPF to function properly, though I have not technical info to back that up.

I sometimes do less and mine has been fine - I've owned it for getting on three years/30K.

 

[tode]

Before buying the 350, I searched the net for details about the Mercedes DPFs - how they fuction, time and temp. required, etc. , but Mercedes don't seem to be very talkative on the subject.

 

[Carabosse]

As an aside, there may be insurance issues with a modified car.

I think 16 miles, four times a week will enable the DPF to function properly, though I have not technical info to back that up.

I sometimes do less and mine has been fine - I've owned it for getting on three years/30K.

Thanks. That's what I needed to know.

No insurance issues. I always declare mods.

As my own aside, I think there is an impression out there that any mods invalidate warranty. In fact the manufacturer has to prove the mod caused the problem, whatever it may be, before being able to wriggle out of liability.

 

[mercmancdi]

I feel I need to be more specific!

I do about 4 regular weekly trips of about 16 miles each, about half that distance motorway, in addition to shorter trips.

Is that sufficient to keep the DPF clean and unclogged?

(If not I will get the DPF removed as soon as a solution to the transmission issue is found).

Thanks.

I think you motorway runs ,if done at high revs should be enough . I had a car and the dpf light came on a few times and 5-7 mls at sixty mph steady always cleared it .

 

[Carabosse]

I think you motorway runs ,if done at high revs should be enough . I had a car and the dpf light came on a few times and 5-7 mls at sixty mph steady always cleared it .

When you say high revs, what do you mean?

At 70mph in top my engine is turning at 1750rpm. Would I need to change down?

 

[gawdzinner]

for the DPF on my 0m642 used in my jeep, it "regenerates" every 1200KM. I track regens and I do ensure I'm doing a highway run when a regen is about to occur.

Is that a problem in my mind? No.

 

[Carabosse]

What is you are actually looking to achieve by modifying your car, it sounds as if you rarely drive the thing apart from short regular commute's to and from work.

When someone tells me to "drive the car hard" or "give it a good run" in my mind that means keeping the car in the upper half of the rev range for most of the journey.

I don't use my car for work at all - it is strictly a toy plus a shopping trolley. But do I like my toys to be enjoyable when I do use them.

The rev limit on my car is about 4200rpm. So presumably "upper half" would be 2000rpm or over?

 

[Carabosse]

Oh I drive my car hard, don't worry! But all this DPF/regen stuff is a closed book to me.

Does one get any warning before the DPF gets clogged, or does it just go into limp mode? That's the thing I dread.