DPF cleaning - it's worth?
 

Hi there! Bought a Volvo V50 1.6d DRIVe (2010) two months ago for £1500 with 148.000 miles on board. Never bought a car before, and I think it wasn't the best car I could buy, but I can't go back in time. When I bought it, I didn't see any issues, the body is in really good conditions. Anyway, in a few days, I went to auto service because there was a small stone between brake pad and brake and there was a noise, but nothing serious. Also, they said that I need to replace injection seals and I did it for £250. I drove roughly 100 miles since I bought the car, and "Engine service required" appeared on my dashboard. I went to auto service again and they said that DPF filter must be replaced and this will cost me £650. I searched on the internet and I found there are some people who clean it and it could cost up to £320 or I can use some special liquids in diesel to clean the filter, so I bought three different DPF cleaners, and once I drove roughly 30 miles on motorway with 3rd gear with 50 mph speed, but it didn't help. I would ask your opinion it worth to clean it or to try to sell the car and buy a Honda Jazz is a better option?

Particle filters can't be effectively cleaned by means of additives , the regeneration process is the only way when the temperature is very carefully controlled at 600C which burns the deposit off . the particle filter has millions of tiny 90 degree corners which trap the soot , and it sticks there until burned off . revving the engine has no effect on cleaning what so ever , all you are doing is wasting fuel , just a drive at 50 mph in top gear for 20 minutes or so is enough .

Your particle filter is the long lasting type (if there is no additive tank on the back axle ) , at 150,000 miles it is probably at the end of it's effective life especially if the injectors have been leaking combustion gas which would have put the final death blow on the Particle filter.
You have bought somebody else's neglected cast off . so with a new particle filter you should have a good car again.

So I just visited a garage specialised in Volvo and they said it is not worth to invest more money in my car, because there could be other issues with the turbo too and it would cost more than £1000

Thats the easy way out for them , there is only one volvo specialist and that is the volvo approved workshop 👍

volvo main dealer will give the car a full inspection, and a diagnostic/software update for about £100 or if you speak to them first. Depending how much you outlayed, I'd be inclined to do this as will at least let you know where you stand. If car is otherwise good, and £600 buys you another 2 years motoring before something else goes wrong, it may be more cost effective than selling and buying another car that still needs work.

At the moment I don't think you have enough information to make a good decision

cleaning a dfp either on or off the car has mixed results on many forums , if you can do it your self its worth a try if not your in the hands of the garage

A few points...

- I think what you really need is a decent honest garage - maybe one injector seal needed doing but this shouldn't cost £250 and how they discovered that when removing a stone from the brake caliper?

- Too much of a coincidence for me that you have a DPF issue a few days after someone has worked on the injectors...

- Pattern DPF's are available quite cheaply, circa £200.

- Any "in-tank" cleaning additive is not going to help you...

This is a really excellent point. Did you only ask about the brake noise and they came up with the injector issue all on their own?? This does sound very suspect.

- this is the bad part when you don't know too much about fixing a car. :sad_smile: I have no idea how to do it, so this is why they can tell me so many weird things to try to get some money out of me.
Regarding injectors seals, there was a diesel smell and I asked them to inspect why it is there, so they found out the issue and replaced all injectors seals. I live in Woolwich, so if anyone knows a good garage with honest people not to far from where I live, I would like to know. Thank you

It's a false economy to only replace the seal of the leaking injector. It can also be a time consuming job if the injector has been leaking for a while. Regarding the DPF, they can be cleaned very effectively using compressed air and running water. You don't need a power washer to clean them out as many would suggest. A power washer can actually damage the honeycomb structure. Removal of the DPF on these engines isn't particularly difficult. After cleaning and refitting you will need to update the additive module/ECM to let it know that the DPF has been 'replaced'. It's a job that's within the capabilities of a competent diy'er with the right equipment. Failing that there are companies that specialise in cleaning DPFs. This could be a more cost effective option rather than opting to replace the unit.