T6.1 - DPF Failure at 30,000 miles?

T

T6_Bluey

Member
VIP Member
Hello,

I have a VW T6.1 2.0 TDI (150ps) with a Revo Stage 1 remap and TVS gearbox map. A couple of thousand miles ago the EML came on however the van drives exactly the same and it has never gone in to limp mode.

A fault code scan shows:

>>>> Basic OBD2:
>>>>
>>>> P226D (Confirmed) - Manufacturer-specific code
>>>> Engine:
>>>>
>>>> 32110 - Particulate Filter Deteriorated/Missing Substrate Bank 1
>>>>

I cleared the code myself, and it came back after a few hundred miles. The soot level was around "12" I believe at the time I checked the code.

I put it in to a local (independent) garage who replaced a sensor in the DPF but weren't optimistic and said it's likely the DPF has failed. Sure enough, a few hundred miles the EML came back on. It's like it comes on at a set distance travelled since it was cleared.

This is what DPF Monitor shows at idle:

View attachment 248047


View attachment 248048

Oil Ash Residue as %

View attachment 248049

The (independent) garage are now saying it will likely need a new DPF and the quote given is as follows:
1719342042296.png

This is quite a bitter pill to swallow for a van that's only 4 years old with 30,000 miles on the clock, and searching the forum I couldn't find another case like it in amongst the numerous threads on regen questions etc.

  • Is it possible for the DPF to completely fail at such low mileage but without any other symptoms or is there another avenue I should be exploring?
  • If the DPF has failed, is that price for replacement reasonable?
  • How can I be sure that if I went ahead with a replacement, that it wouldn't happen again in another 30,000 miles?
  • Given the van drives normally, are there any ramifications of "ignoring" the fault?

Thanks in advance,

T6_Bluey
 
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There’s a calculated ash value in the ECU for the DPF. It has a limit set, I forget what it is, but when it reaches it, it’s dpf replacement time. I’m sure there are other values also measured that trigger it too.

30k seems low, but my neighbour had a 110 he used to deliver Amazon parcels, lots of stop starts and short intermittent journeys. His dpf was done by 40k.

Mines on 144k, I doubt original dpf, last time I checked it was 80% through its lifespan. Which I calculated a rough 18k miles left on it - very crude calculation and probably not reliable.

Darkside now have a proper dpf cleaner so they can flush out the ash, but not sure how much it costs. Maybe give them a call?
 
Thanks, that's really helpful.

I spoke to Darkside and they said they don't see issues with DPFs on these vehicles and would advise it's the Revo remap that's the issue. They suggested flashing it back to stock and seeing if the issue goes away as the first step in the investigation.
 
Hmmm, I doubt they are a fan of revo doing their own maps. I guess you could get the revo dealer to put it back to stock.

I no longer have my revo map - I liked the way it drove but they do not provide any tweaks over and above their stock file so I had it removed and another company map my van with some tweaks. It definitely isn’t as powerful low down the RPM now but combined with their egr off and a couple of other tweaks it’s getting a lot more mpg than it was.

I didn’t see any issues with the revo map on mine but who knows.

I guess their advice might be sound, I mean you probably want to rule out anything else and make sure it is a blocked dpf before going through expense of removing and cleaning, but I’m skeptical it’s that. Their dealers flash the latest factory software then just make some tweaks on top of that, and their files have been used on 1000’s of vans.

Did they give you an idea on price? Assuming you told them the story as to why it might be blocked?
 
I've contacted the Revo dealer (and Revo themselves in the first instance as I would hope they'd be interested from a product development perspective) so will see what they say. Seems like the quickest/cheapest option to try first so makes sense. I certainly don't wish to start a battle between the tuning houses, just get to the right outcome.

I do like the remap, and it needs the extra grunt to shift the conversion weight, so if Revo wasn't compatible with my vehicle due to some quirk, I'd be looking at alternatives. Who did yours out of interest and what other tweaks did you get? My mpg is quite poor 27-29 long-term average, so anything that could potentially improve that would be of interest to me.

A clean itself would be £246 including collection, then there's the removal refit costs I'd have as well.
 
T6_Bluey said:
My mpg is quite poor 27-29 long-term average
Click to expand...
Sounds like it’s either being driven hard or there’s an issue with the fueling. More fuel especially if running excess fuel will quickly clog the DPF.
Maybe check for injector failure.
You haven’t mentioned oil consumption?
 
It certainly isn't driven hard, if it is then it's down in the low 20's which is worse than my Mk4 R32 used to get! Haven't noticed excessive oil consumption, but if those figures aren't normal (I just assumed they were with the conversion weight) then I'll get that looked in to as well.
 
T6_Bluey said:
It certainly isn't driven hard, if it is then it's down in the low 20's which is worse than my Mk4 R32 used to get! Haven't noticed excessive oil consumption, but if those figures aren't normal (I just assumed they were with the conversion weight) then I'll get that looked in to as well.
Click to expand...
I have a 180PS CFCA, the MPG hasn’t noticeably changed since going from a stock Kombi to full camper conversion.
 
T6_Bluey said:
I've contacted the Revo dealer (and Revo themselves in the first instance as I would hope they'd be interested from a product development perspective) so will see what they say. Seems like the quickest/cheapest option to try first so makes sense. I certainly don't wish to start a battle between the tuning houses, just get to the right outcome.

I do like the remap, and it needs the extra grunt to shift the conversion weight, so if Revo wasn't compatible with my vehicle due to some quirk, I'd be looking at alternatives. Who did yours out of interest and what other tweaks did you get? My mpg is quite poor 27-29 long-term average, so anything that could potentially improve that would be of interest to me.

A clean itself would be £246 including collection, then there's the removal refit costs I'd have as well.
Click to expand...
I got a local garage to do it who make their own maps, I had EGR off, DTC off and mild stg1 with Adblue done at the same time. Kept the DPF as I still don’t want to choke people and the environment and have a stinky diesel :)

Your MPG looks low. Simple check - is the air filter ok? Or contaminated. I bought my van and the ‘major’ service the muppets didn’t change the air filter - van felt strangled at anything over 2.8k rpm.

Price seems ok for a clean. I guess it’s just paying someone to take it off then refit it.
 
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T6_Bluey said:
It's just had a full service and the air filter was replaced so can't be that unfortunately.

What is "DTC off"?
Click to expand...
Diagnostic Trouble Code, otherwise annoying ones that can seem to not be resolved or as the result of modifying the factory software, IE adblue / egr / DPF etc.

You can have any DTC disabled in the ECU program via downloading then modifying the bin file in a suitable program.

If you look up winOLS or XDecoder DTC removal on YouTube you will see some examples. If you have an actual problem though it’s not advisable to just get the error turned off. I had a pump error disabled (voltage) because it still works, and three garages including a head VW tech couldn’t figure it out. It was either replace ecu and wiring (which had already been changed) and keep changing pumps on hope it went away, or just disable the stupid error in the ECU. I’ll still get an error if the pump fails but at least the persistent pain in my ass has gone lol.

So what’s your plan of attack? I still think the revo map is unlikely the culprit, but most revo dealers will remove and reflash for free if you go back to them. I had mine removed once and put back on for some work at the dealer (before they washed their hands of my adblue warranty and wanted to them charge me £1000’s more!).

Maybe do some more DPF analysis? There’s a useful thread here somewhere with some software. One moment…
 
Thanks, appreciate the extra information.

The dealer who did it wanted £90+vat to flash it back to stock, so I've contacted Revo HQ instead and they are going to see what they can do and get back to me. I'm not convinced it'll solve it either, from what I've read the software is fairly well deployed and tested, so perhaps that fault and my seemingly low mpg point at another issue, but hopefully Revo can take some logs to shed some light on it for me. The logs will inform what I do next I expect, but start simple/cheap and work up!
 
T6_Bluey said:
I do like the remap, and it needs the extra grunt to shift the conversion weight
Click to expand...
o_O Is your conversion made of lead-lined pig iron? I've got a stock 150ps LWB with a full conversion and no problems shifting it up and down some very big local hills (I'm talking 20 to 30% gradients).
 
T6_Bluey said:
Thanks, appreciate the extra information.

The dealer who did it wanted £90+vat to flash it back to stock, so I've contacted Revo HQ instead and they are going to see what they can do and get back to me. I'm not convinced it'll solve it either, from what I've read the software is fairly well deployed and tested, so perhaps that fault and my seemingly low mpg point at another issue, but hopefully Revo can take some logs to shed some light on it for me. The logs will inform what I do next I expect, but start simple/cheap and work up!
Click to expand...
I’d do some more analysis before paying to get it flashed / reflashed if that ends up not being the issue. It would be good if you can get something that maybe give you insight into the ECU’s DPF parameters and assumed condition, then it’s just your time instead of splashing out on a garage.

Hopefully the guys I tagged will be along soon to comment. I haven’t tried that DPF app or done any real analysis yet.
 
T6_Bluey said:
Don't get me wrong, it moves around just fine, but it's my first van so I'm (wrongly) comparing to the sportier VAGs from a former life :)
Click to expand...
Yeh I get you.

My daily was over 400hp / ft lb and weighed 40% less than my van. So going to a 150hp 2 ton brick was a bit of a shocker. Foot flat to the floor at 60 or so in 6th nothing happens. Wheras I could drive up any hill from 30mph in 6th in my ttrs lol. No idea how it did it.
 
T6_Bluey said:
Don't get me wrong, it moves around just fine, but it's my first van so I'm (wrongly) comparing to the sportier VAGs from a former life :)
Click to expand...
Plenty of cases on the Forum where the owner has tried to create a Ferrari and ended up without transport and a headache of a bill to repair.
If I needed a more powerful vehicle I’d sell what I had and buy one, preferably buy the right one in the first place.
 
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