Engine: D5: Soot Filter driving me crazy...HELP !

[Bill_56]

Originally Posted by cityblue1980

Mine have been on for a couple of days now & went for a drive last night, a good 40 mins each way on the motorway doing 70 & this morning it was still sluggish.
Seriously thinking of having it removed as its not that often i do go for long runs & to be honest i havnt got the time to stop what im doing & head towards a motorway whenever my car decides i should

I totally agree about not wanting to let the car decide how you should spend the day for you, that to me is the most ridiulous thing about DPFs.

That said, there is no need for motorways or 'Italian tune ups', just a decent run (say 20-30 miles) at legal speeds (say, 40-50mph) on A-roads. If you are already doing that, then the possibility of a fauty pressure sensor exists, which could rectify matters cheaply.

Personally I'd hesitate to have it removed. The current MOT won't pick it up as the emissions test doesn't currently check for particulates, but the MOT has a habit of being updated to follow legislation a few years later, and it is often then 'backdated' to the extent the car should meet its original factory spec.

I personally dealt with my DPF issues by trading it in for an orherwise identical S60 2.0t, and have never looked back. It is a delight to drive, blissfully smooth and quiet, and currently showing 35mpg averaged over 8k miles, not all that far short of the diesel.

[cityblue1980]

Its getting looked at & "regenerated" on wednesday so will know more then, if it does fix it i will be happy but if it happens again it will be removed.
I dont really travel that often, sometimes i only go to work (5 mins away) & around town the whole month so from what i have read can see this being a regular thing

[izools]

<deleted>

[Bill_56]

Originally Posted by cityblue1980

Its getting looked at & "regenerated" on wednesday so will know more then, if it does fix it i will be happy but if it happens again it will be removed.
I dont really travel that often, sometimes i only go to work (5 mins away) & around town the whole month so from what i have read can see this being a regular thing

It is my understanding too, that your usage pattern might present a problem with the DPF. Mine was fine when commuting 50 odd miles on 'A' and 'B' roads, but became a problem quite quickly after I quit work and rarely drove further than the supermarket.

Conversely, some folks have described similar usage to me and thee, yet say they've never seen a problem. That surprises me, I admit.

Good luck any way, and do keep us posted as to any eventual solution.

[cityblue1980]

Originally Posted by Bill_56

It is my understanding too, that your usage pattern might present a problem with the DPF. Mine was fine when commuting 50 odd miles on 'A' and 'B' roads, but became a problem quite quickly after I quit work and rarely drove further than the supermarket.

Conversely, some folks have described similar usage to me and thee, yet say they've never seen a problem. That surprises me, I admit.

Good luck any way, and do keep us posted as to any eventual solution.

Thank you, yeah will do

[cityblue1980]

So was cleaned & reset just over 2 weeks ago now & has been running great..........
Until yesterday when i had to do a short trip in the snow (neices birthday) & the "soot filter full" light came on
went for a 45 min (each way) drive on a quiet motorway doing 60 - 70 in 4th - 5th gear with high revs then my system service required light came on.

Its being removed monday morning

[foggyjames]

Originally Posted by Bill_56

the possibility of a fauty pressure sensor exists

I think this is something people don't put enough emphasis on. I'm pretty certain it's safe to say that in cases where the error is showing only days after it has been cleaned out, it's not full again. A colleague ended up trading a 2 year old A3 after the second pressure sensor failed.

The only problem with the 2.0T argument (and I do take the point...) is that they're not at all common in V70 form. Plenty of S60s, but few estates.

cheers

James

[Bill_56]

Originally Posted by cityblue1980

Its being removed monday morning

I would strongly advise you check on whether the new MOT tests will be forgiving of that... and if not this year's, next year's.

If you proceed, I would ask the garage for a guarantee that removal won't affect future MOTs. Some such guarantees may only refund you for the work, leaving you with a car that still fails. So make sure the terms are that they'll actually cover the full costs of rectification should a stricter MOT ever lead to failure.

As FoggyJames already emphasised, there may be other - fixable - factors at play.

[cityblue1980]

I have had a good chat with a couple of garages who say that it would not fail an mot, will be having another chat & going through everything with him before he does it.
It has been on computers so i would have thought a fault would have shown.
Since it was cleaned i have only been to work etc with really short trips & it hasnt exactly been warm.
I may be wrong & it may be something else but ever since discovering what a dpf is & knowing that my type of driving (not much motorways) means quite often i will have to stop what im doing & head towards a motorway whenever the soot filter full warning comes on (apparently every full tank) really isnt ideal. & £100 every time that doesnt work will soon add up to a new filter if the mot laws do change, its just a chance im willing to take for the inconvenience that i really could do without.

Thanks for the help & warnings

[cityblue1980]

So have had my dpf removed, has been remapped & as it was a tuning garage they give it a bit of a tune.
Took it for an m.o.t today expecting the worst & although it did fail it had nothing to do with the emissions (anti roll arms or something), so at least i know for now that isnt going to be a problem