A quick question about DPF regeneration

[BlueDevil]

It is known that short city routes are bad for DPF and regeneration cycle.

I was wondering: if I do short city routes, but when regen starts I keep on driving until it finishes, will that then be good? For example, I'm returning from work, and half a mile from my parking lot the cycle starts: I then decide to keep on driving for those 22 minutes (give or take a minute, that's what it takes on my car) until the cycle is done, and only then do I park for the day, will that then negate those "not good" things about diesels and short routes?

I know that because of short routes and city start/stop driving the DPF will probably need more often regens, but still, if I don't stop the regen mid-cycle but keep it until it's done, my reasoning is it would then be OK.

Or am I completely off the track here?

Thanx!

[Pidgeonpost]

I don't think you're off track. Sounds like a good idea to continue driving and let the cycle complete. My daily journey are short so I tend to go for a longer run (40-50 miles Mway) about once a month to let it do what it needs to do.

[BlueDevil]

I do a 150km trip on highway at least once per month, sometimes more often. That's 150 there and after 2 days 150 back. But never have I noticed the regen taking place on highway speeds (130 kmh is the limit and I drive 130 with only occasional 140 when overtaking). But it did happen for regen to start immediately after I come down form highway and start driving in town, on return from that 150 km trip.

Almost like it doesn't want to regen at those speeds... But I still think it was just a coincidence and that speed doesn't play a role in cmputer's decision to regen.

[Pidgeonpost]

Yes, there have been several comments in other threads that suggest that the car is very capable of looking after its own regens. I tend to be mostly on short trips on A/B and unclassified roads so the Mway run is as much to keep me happy as the car perhaps.

[Deck1ng]

I going to sound like a real dickhead now (sorry for language). I do a mix of local and motorway miles, not as many as I used to. How do I know when a regen is taking place. I can say I’ve never heard it, seen it but I’m sure it must be happening. What should I lookout for or hear?

[BlueDevil]

No-tools way: I see that my "start/stop" icon is "unavailable". I then check in "My Car" menu where start/stop is and there's written why it is unavailable: it can be many reasons, like "climate control" or "outside temperature" which prevent start/stop, but the one you're looking for is "Engine system". In not-so.helpful description it says "high altitude or engine temperature" is the reason. Since I'm nowhere near "high altitude" and the engine is warmed up nicely, then I know it's the DPF regen running.

I then take a peak at the clock, and leave the computer at the start/stop menu, and after 22 minutes the start/stop suddenly becomes "available" - meaning the regen has finished.

[Tannaton]

You can usually tell as the economy nose dives. Wife has been using my XC60 around town for about 6 weeks, took it to Bimingham and back, instantaneous MPG was ~30 for the first 10-12 miles then it went back to 39 (on cruise at 75).

[RDesign4Life]

I use my car scanner app every couple of weeks to check how full the filter is. Mine always starts a re-gen at between 23.2g and 23.4g. It then takes 10 minutes to bring it down to 3 or 4g before it starts climbing up again.

So I can usually work out when it;s going to happen and make sure I don't interrupt the cycle.

This is in a 2.4 D5 auto (MY2016).

[BlueDevil]

May I ask you what app you use? I use a bluetooth obd2 reader and “car scanner” app with P3 profile but can’t get “DPF soot” nor “DPF temperature” to display any info. Other things work, show data, but thisnot

[RDesign4Life]

Originally Posted by BlueDevil

May I ask you what app you use? I use a bluetooth obd2 reader and “car scanner” app with P3 profile but can’t get “DPF soot” nor “DPF temperature” to display any info. Other things work, show data, but thisnot

Yes Car Scanner Pro android app (paid about £3 for the upgrade from the free version to get extra features) and a wifi dongle from Argos in the OBD port (my ELM copy off Ebay died after 6 months).

Have you upgraded the app to the Pro version?