Euro 5 D5 - DPF regen, how often?
 

Hi all,

Does anyone know a ball park mileage you’d expect the DPF in an early E5 D5 (205bhp) to regenerate? I’ve been chasing what I perceive to be poor mpg since I got the car last summer, with COVID it’s not seen a lot of use (like most others I guess).
Anyway now I’ve been able to get some mileage up, I’m using an ELM327 and a car scanner app to monitor the DPF soot level and see how often it initiates a regeneration cycle. I’ve found that with 85% motorway driving at 75ish (adaptive cruise set to 75 so it’s up and down a bit with traffic) the DPF is full and regenerating at around 330 miles.
Not had one of these ‘modern’ diesels before, so unsure if this is expected mileage to fill it with soot, I have a mild turbo whistle that I can hear with the window down, and am wondering if I’ve a mild boost leak somewhere. Vida not showing any related codes,
Car is as per my sig, but approaching 174,000 miles now.

keep an eye on your oil levels to high can affect dpf regens and soot messages

Mine does it every tank and a half or approx 1200kms.

The scanner app (Car Scanner) suggests it the DPF gets up to about 25 to 30gms of soot before it does a burn.

I do a mix of city commutes and highway. It will do a burn regardless of the driving conditions.

To corroborate Aus2012XC60's post:

I once did the math on my XC90 D5, based on the data published in VIDA, and it showed that the DPF will fill up and trigger a regen cycle at every 1 to 2 tanks of fuel.

Match confirms real world observations, isn't that fantastic!

That’s useful, mines regenerating too often and is showing 25-26g of soot when it starts. Guess I’m hunting for a small airleak somewhere - most likely down the back of the engine.
Thank you

Is it possible within VIDA to see when regen last took place? While I am dealing with a swirl port oil leakage I've read info that with the flaps not operating properly automatic regen may not occur? I know with VIDA you can force a regen. Wondering if I should do this or no?

Thanks :)

Buy torque and an adapter.... and watch the throttle and then create an alarm around that value (normally the throttle is more open during normal driving)
also the egr valve shuts during regen so an alarm can also be created

But i think that the ecu of this model d5 also gives dpf or catalyst tempratures...
So creating an alarm around 550 celcius is more effective

If that is the case then try during a regen to drive under a load that raises the catalyst temp almost near the dpf temperature.. then you complete the regen with the least amount of total fuel and the least amount of fuel that gets in the crankcase because the biofuel only evapourates only above 380 celcius and if you can get a load(heat) to start the burning in the cylinder u can prevent fuel condensation.
The most effective load is as you just increase it enough to get the catalyst temp raising with a jump (far above 400 celcius ) .... but not more than that because than the total fuel wil raise again (not the fuel condensation)
With my older d5 the optimal load is around 110 km/h in 6th this gives the least of km/h to complete a regen and also the least of total fuel used (120km/h is not that much more)it plateaus a bit.
Take also notice the airmass /s during the established optimal load... and you can use that airmass under lower speeds and gears to optimise the regen given the speed restrictions

You also notice that when the regen starts under a lower load the catalyst temperature is much much lower than the dpf and the regeneration takes longer and uses also more fuel and a lot more fuel condensation

My D5 regens about twice per tank but that was with a turbo not doing its thing.
It gets to about 20 grams and set about burning it off.
I've found that sitting at 60mph seems to be the optimal speed to hold the heat above 550° put your foot down too much and the temperature actually drops.
It'll be interesting to see what it does now the turbos are working properly.

Too much airflow in the dpf can indeed cool it... but if the load is constant the throttle will keep the temperature pretty constant

Hi have you looked through the list of sensors on the carscan app? . On my vehicle admittedly newer there is a readout of when the last regen occurred ( distance since last regen) the soot level on mine shoots up to 17.2 grams , dpf temp climbs to almost 700deg , and the distance since last regen drops to 0 . It usually takes up to 7 to 10 miles to complete .The time varies a bit depending on where you are driving
The most recent regen was at 516mls