Diesel Particulate Filters (DPF) issues and comments

medievil2003

Hi Guys,

Its been a long time since this post has been used but i thought i may aswell add my opinion.

From the post:

"RANGER8
is correct this happens on the Vauxhall Meriva. Because I owned one for six months and now got rid of it. I have owned 2 diesels previously without any problems (pre-DPF).
I WILL NEVER BUY A DIESEL CAR AGAIN.
Unless you are doing frequent long motorway type journies do not buy a modern diesel.
This problem is becoming more and more common just read the AA site regarding DPFs they are getting called out frequently for this problem.
Dont listen to car dealer salesmen they will not tell you the truth.
Google:- Vauxhall DPF and read about all the nightmares people have had with the Meriva's and Zafira's, I learn't the hard way and got rid of my Meriva before the engine blew up!!!!!
Luckily the main dealer mechanic was driving the car when the car broke down during a test drive to establish the problem with the car. He confirmed that the regeneration of the DPF was not taking place as it should have thus resulting in diesel being dumped into the sump. If I would have continued driving the car like this then the engine would have blown up!!!!!!!
AT NO POINT DID A WARNING LIGHT COME ON, (IT SHOULD HAVE). It was only because I didnt feel the car was running as it should have that I took the car in to be checked over. The car was only 2 years old and covered under warranty. Some main dealers will not acknowledge the problem claiming that people continued driving there cars when the warning light came on. Many people like myself never had a warning light come on.

MY ADVICE IS STAY WELL CLEAR (I WISH I DID) "

Exactly the same happened to me in my Mazda 6 2008 2.0d, apart from the fact i wasn't so lucky but luck did play a part in some of it. I had been travelling on a motorway for 2 hours doing a constant 60-70 mph, all of a sudden the car accelerated away on its own, all i could do was switch the engine off and force my way between the lanes at 100mph approaching a roundabout 700rds away...I managed to stop safetly. To cut it short, i have a 62% diesel to oil contamination.

Mazda's response to all of this?? It was my fault for not driving the car how it should be driven or we must have gone into a petrol station and put diesel fuel inside the engine oil.... haha

So anyway, i have been fighting my case since August 2009 - nearly come to accept some mazda's offers but i have refused seeing as i want to prove this fault! obviously as this post says and most of you are correct, when a DPF regen cycle fails or interupts then the diesel fuel that the cylinder uses can leak down into the sump.

"He confirmed that the regeneration of the DPF was not taking place as it should have thus resulting in diesel being dumped into the sump. If I would have continued driving the car like this then the engine would have blown up!!!!!!!
AT NO POINT DID A WARNING LIGHT COME ON, (IT SHOULD HAVE). It was only because I didnt feel the car was running as it should have that I took the car in to be checked over. The car was only 2 years old and covered under warranty. Some main dealers will not acknowledge the problem claiming that people continued driving there cars when the warning light came on. Many people like myself never had a warning light come on."

I had exactly the same, apart from my car was only 10 months old and still had full warranty. I had NO WARNING light and proof of this. Mazda state that i had multiple failed DPF regenerations but no warning code has ever been stored nor was any warning light ever on.

Funnily enough, perhaps its mazda error - this is quoted from a letter i have received from them:

"I can confrim that the vehicles on-board diagnostic system does monitor oil dilution and particulate matter, which would lead to warning light illumination"

If that is correct then i would have had this warning light appear!

To cut this short, do you know that the new 2009+ diesel engines are fitted with a different system?? being the oil levels do not seem to rise and never seem to fill up with diesel..

Why? Because the new designs have its own injector which is located in the DPF system! Mazda's system uses the injectors/cylinders that the whole engine uses. This is something that is in questions by AMSOIL:

Unfortunately, i cannot post links so just youtube, 'fuel dilution' you should see 2 parts. Its an old guy in front of a class.

This is my post on another forum:

He then said that dodge owners are filing a law-suit because of the dpf regeneration procees leaving them with diesel contamination in the sump. This including rapid engine wear due to lubrication issues. This guy above explains that different manufacturers designed their engines to reach a certain temp, but have not had the chance to design the engine to get hot enough to burn the diesel fully inside the engine oil...all being because even in the USA the government forced manufacturers to implement this whilst they have already designed their engines, which they did.

2009+ versions just like here the problem does not exist, the actual filter its self has its own single/duel injection which takes the fuel directly to the filter. Which brings me back to findings from HJ email of "open & closed loops"

I am having my over due experts inspection on monday, please feel free to post anything you think may help! Because this will be going to court, im going to address EVERYONES problems so drop me an email if your interested in helping.

There may be a few things ive missed above, please accept my apologies, im in a rush to write my own report on the findings i have for court.

I have a campaign site up, just google mazda campaign (I cant post links on here yet)

Mehdi

harveybobbles

I never did understand why Mazda had this !!!!!! system where the unburnt diesel ended up in the sump! What total !!!!!!!

andy8442

My advice is quite simple. Stay away from VAG cars/vans with DPF's. I sold my VW T5, not because the DPF was getting clogged, but because it was constantly going through the regen process. VW know they have a problem with their DPF's but they will never admit to it.

Look on the net, there's a whole industry built up in the last couple of years for companies who will re-program the DPF out of your system.

Some recent research suggested the the DPF doesn't get rid of the nasty stuff anyway,and a lot of manufacturers are moving away from them all together.

gilbert_and_sullivan

andy8442 wrote: »

Look on the net, there's a whole industry built up in the last couple of years for companies who will re-program the DPF out of your system.

I certainly don't disagree with you, and i imagine a candid chat with some manufacturers engineers would confirm colourfully that they never wanted to put the damned things in the cars either.

The new proposals for testing the emissions of Diesel cars at MOT time could well end that particular (pun not intended) industry pdq.

cepheus

Tightening type approval regulations have forced some manufacturers to use them. Admittedly DPFs don't necessarily get rid of the finest fraction of particulate which are most dangerous. Diesels are poor value for low mileage users anyway.

Ranger8

flyingscotno1 wrote: »

Fiat as far as I know, did not fit DPF on the 1.3 engine in the 500 or Panda. Strange that Vauxhall did!

Not all 1.3CDTi Vauxhalls have DPFs, the wifes 58 plate Astra doesn`t for instance

ianb4056

I have been looking into the purchase of a second hand fiesta and considering wether petrol or diesel would be best. In conversation with a ford dealer master technician I discovered that they will want around £1400 to replace the DPF filter in the diesel engines, which falls due at 75,000 miles...CRIKEY! For me this rather blows the consideration of fuel/ tax advantages between petrol and diesel into the long grass.

patman99

cepheus wrote: »

The whole point of a DPF is to reduce particulate emissions, if it is removed then the car is technically illegal since it doesn't meet type approval exhaust regulations proven by the manufacturer in its standard set-up. This is the case with all re-chipping backyards. The manufacturer has to trade off a delicate balance of Particulate, NOx, fuel consumption/CO2 and power/drivability. Obviously if you couldn't car about the emissions the others can be 'improved', this is not very responsible though!

The MOT probably doesn't check this, their Diesel emission monitors are crude smokemeters, largely useless for particulate and NOx.

It is not a legal requirement to fit DPFs in the UK at the moment. The proper companies remove the actual core from the DPF section rather than replacing the section with a straight through pipe. That way no one can tell it has been removed.
The one advantage of doing a DPF removal & reprogram is a large increase in mpg.

cepheus

patman99 wrote: »

It is not a legal requirement to fit DPFs in the UK at the moment.

A straw-man argument if there ever was one!

It is a legal requirement to keep the original emission control equipment, whether it contains a DPF or not, in it's original design configuration, or else obtain a new type approval certificate.

fred7777

In my experience DPFs aren't a problem.

I have a 307 with DPF and DMF and neither has been an issue. It was bought when i was doing far more miles but I drive about 6 miles to and from work then occasionally bigger trips of 40+ miles at weekends.

However:

1.The 307 has a special tank of Eloys fluid which it uses to clean the DPF and this needs to be refilled every 96k miles costing £177.

2. In good weather with a couple of longer trips on A roads and motorways I can get over 65mpg but on short trips in the cold winter weather when the engine hardly warms up it's around 45mpg!