DPF Regen Frequency / Issues / Force discussion.

[huw169]

Hi All,

Had exact same problem, had flashing coil light for months, people scanned it and couldn’t find anything. Came on couple of weeks ago, restarted engine and went off. But accompanied by turbo whining.
Took it for a smoke test to see if had any leaks on pipes, none.
Took it to another garage and he spotted problem within 20mins. DPF was blocked, not letting gasses through. Them being pushed back and making turbo work overtime. And it’s just failing.
So now booked in for a new turbo and considering getting DPF removed and deleting. Really don’t want this again.


Hi Merryman.

Have you had any issues with your DPF removal. Considering mine doing as it’s caused turbo fail when blocked. And really don’t want it happening again. Cheers.

Or, bear with me for my crazy idea, buy a £25 Carista and a £40 a year subscription so you can be monitoring your DPF.

DPFs don’t just block for fun. Either you have
a) been ignoring the issue for a while, or
b) another engine issue that blocked it really quick, or
c) been doing lots of short journeys and never letting it complete a regen, or
d) a combination of a b and c.

The van tells you when it is doing a regen by increasing the revs, keeping the fans on if you happen to turn it off, and stinking.

 

[jimc91]

Or, bear with me for my crazy idea, buy a £25 Carista and a £40 a year subscription so you can be monitoring your DPF.

DPFs don’t just block for fun. Either you have
a) been ignoring the issue for a while, or
b) another engine issue that blocked it really quick, or
c) been doing lots of short journeys and never letting it complete a regen, or
d) a combination of a b and c.

The van tells you when it is doing a regen by increasing the revs, keeping the fans on if you happen to turn it off, and stinking.

The below dpf app is better for monitoring your dpf in combination with a basic Carista and cheaper imho

 

[Amymax18]

Hi folks is there a way to check regen history? Backstory, van was in at garage where a forced regen was done and I was charged for. I then jump into the van to drive away and it starts a regen. I check VAG dpf and sure enough it's at 24g of soot and regen is in full swing. Went back to the garage who are adamant they did a static one. Zero fault codes but garage are suggesting pressure sensor could be misreading soot content. I'm not totally convinced. Apparently the lower reading is a negative value in VCDS but from my reading on the forum this can be normal? Apparently it went from 18g to -3g when they did the regen.

I have vag dpf and carista, unfortunately I had logging turned off on vag dpf.

 

[Howzat]

The DPF Monitor App above shows you the miles and minutes since last regen BUT it resets both to 0 once you complete a regen, so if your current regen has completed that'll be no use to you in this situation.

 

[Amymax18]

The DPF Monitor App above shows you the miles and minutes since last regen BUT it resets both to 0 once you complete a regen, so if your current regen has completed that'll be no use to you in this situation.

Yeah that's the snag.

Interestingly the distance since last regen was at zero when the regen was still taking place (I've got a screenshot), like you say I'm sure it doesn't go to zero until it's complete, so maybe something was done.

 

[Derek99B]

The DPF Monitor App above shows you the miles and minutes since last regen BUT it resets both to 0 once you complete a regen, so if your current regen has completed that'll be no use to you in this situation.

Hi
There is a log results file in a VAG directory. That keeps all the history.
Sample attached.

 

[Alvaro.G]

Hello!! After reading the entire thread about DPF issues, I still have some doubts. My vehicle is a T6 199hp DSG 4Motion, year 2019, with 90k miles. I monitor the regenerations with Carista and VAG DPF, and it performs them approximately every 300km. I don’t have any warning lights on or errors, but there’s one detail that worries me: the "Oil Ash Residue" level. I think it’s alarmingly high at 61g and 56%, and I believe this is causing high fuel consumption.

What is the lifespan of this before it triggers a failure? 70, 80, 90? Every time I drive, I see that it inevitably increases, and the soot regenerations don’t lower it. Would it be advisable to have it cleaned before it gets clogged, or should I consider emptying it?

I’m attaching a screenshot at 2000 RPM in 6th gear in case anyone notices anything unusual in the readings.


Or do you think I shouldn’t worry, just drive and enjoy?
Sorry for the translation.

 

[Bigsidavies]

I’m planning on getting my dpf professionally cleaned soon. Mileage 137k miles 204 biturbo Cxeb engine.
Not based on any mechanical knowledge just the evidence that a blocked dpf will destroy the turbo, for me it seems a no brainer to spend £210 to prevent a £5k turbo bill.

 

[mopardave]

Let us know how you get on mate....been thinking about this myself.

I’m planning on getting my dpf professionally cleaned soon. Mileage 137k miles 204 biturbo Cxeb engine.
Not based on any mechanical knowledge just the evidence that a blocked dpf will destroy the turbo, for me it seems a no brainer to spend £210 to prevent a £5k turbo bill.

 

[Bigsidavies]

Let us know how you get on mate....been thinking about this myself.

I will do. Just need to get around to booking it in at Darkside. I intend to have the inlet walnut blasting done too.

 

[Steve1978]

Interesting. I’ve had an EGR delete and a mild over tune to 150 on my 2016 t6. (Euro5) and I have had a pretty amazing 102k miles in it. I would like to try and get another 102k!

It feels a bit lose and although nothing is wrong and I never get any dpf warnings but infeel like some preemptive work is required

 

[mmi]

"Oil Ash Residue" level. I think it’s alarmingly high at 61g and 56%, and I believe this is causing high fuel consumption.

What is the lifespan of this before it triggers a failure? 70, 80, 90?

The ash is the residue what is left when soot is burned - soot burns, ash doesn't.

61 grams is just normal for the mileage (144000 km). The calculated maximum is 110 grams - which at current rate would be reached at 260000 km. I don't think it will trigger any fault alone. Maintenance workshop manual instructs to check the value at 200000 km and thereafter every 40000 km.

I’m attaching a screenshot at 2000 RPM in 6th gear in case anyone notices anything unusual in the readings.

Next to impossible to say anything useful without knowing a lot of other parameters - air flow, EGR position, engine load, boost pressures, etc.

I'd like to propose to use VAG DPF to monitor the following (screenshots perhaps)

1. Cold engine ticking over - to capture low end value of DPF differential pressure reading (normally would be less than 10 hPa)
2. After a journey (DPF input temp about 200-250 °C) - to capture "normal" reading (should be less than 20 hPa)

Note: the values depend on the soot level.​

Anyways, it seems that the (1) was perhaps already captured? The recorded low was 5 hPa on your journey. The maximum 227 hPa.

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