Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) Maintenance

Any driver of a modern diesel vehicle should be aware of the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) and it's maintenance requirements. There has been alot of press in the last few months about this and as usual there are some horror stories of car owners receiving large repair bills, ways around this and other items.
At Advanced Motorcare we undertake the Diesel Particulate Filter regeneration process when this is required and can replace the DPF when it is beyond regeneration. There are however some things you can do to ensure the long life of the DPF in your car and avoid any expensive repairs.

The DPF filter is, as the name suggests, a filter that traps particles (soot) in the exhaust system of Diesel engined vehicles to reduce the emissions,
Unlike other filters, the DPF does not need replacing regularly and has a regeneration (sometimed called recharge) process that is built into the cars engine managment system to burn off the soot that is collected in the filter,

Great - so the Diesel Particulate Filter is a filter that can be cleaned !

Yes, and even better, the filter cleaning process is managed by the car's engine / exhaust management system and is usually completed automagically without you needing to do anything.

So why the problem with Diesel Particulate Filters and Regeneration / Recharge ?

Like many items with vehicles and their correct maintenance, it depends on how the vehicle is used and it's duty cycle. With the DPF automatic regeneration process, this is only completed over a long journey, and requires a relatively long journey at some speed (over a motorway for instance) to complete effectively. Many diesel vehicles are used only over short distances, perhaps without the engine even having chance to reach full operational temperature before the engine is switched off for the day and this cycle simply does not provide the DPF regeneration system a chance to operate.
When this occurs, the vehicle indicator light or message warning will appear indicating a problem with the DPF / Soot collection system and this is when the difficulty with the system becomes apparant and needs manual intervention to complete the regeneration / recharge.

Call Advanced Motorcare today on 0161 723 1111 for your DIESEL-PARTICULATE-FILTER servicing needs.

So what can we do ?

Being aware of your driving cycle allows you to take steps to prevent the DPF system having a difficulty and some practical examples include;

  • Use the vehicle over longer distances occasionally to create the required conditions to allow regeneration,
  • Multi-car families could swap cars around if one partner usually completes long distances and one short to give the shorter duty cycle vehicle an opportunity to instigate regeneration if it's required - although there is no way of forcing or checking the regeneration has or is taking place without special equipment,
  • The DPF Soot level is not checked as part of a service. However if you are aware that your driving cycle consists of many short journeys then it is worth pointing this out when the vehicle is booked in, we can then pay particulay attention to the battery condition as well as the DPF system.

DPF Removal ?

The DPF is fitted for a reason, to reduce emissions and emision tesitng forms an important part of the vehicle MOT test. It is now mandatory to check that a factory fitted DPF is still present and functioning in addition to the vehicle exhaust emisions being within tolerance.

Removal of your vehicle Diesel Particulate Filter will therefore cause future immediate MOT inspection failure with the replacement of the missing DPF being the only remedy.

Call Advanced Motorcare today on 0161 723 1111 for your DIESEL-PARTICULATE-FILTER servicing needs.