Warning Light - Minimum Diesel Additive Level

alibali73

I have a peugeot 307 52 Reg and its got a intermitant warning light coming up on the dash as follows (Comes on after about two minutes from turning the engine and goes off shortly after):

" Minimum Diesel Fuel Additive Level"

have been intouch with my lovely Peugeot dealers who said ah yes its the diesel filter and additive which needs replacing at a cost of £200 in total. :mad:

Apparantly my diesel car needs three litres of this additive to reduce the emisions and carbon build-up, @ £25 a litre and it takes two hours to fill @ £60 per labour hour!

Has anybody heard of this fact, cos I took it to two independant garage and they hadnt heard of it either, but peugeot only sell the additive required due to COSH (Health and safety laws) and I cant seem to get round this problem.

Any ideas solutions so I dont have to line the pocket of my dealer yet again??

Thanks

philhuff

What you've got is some fancy exhaust gas recirculation system, and it requires an additive to keep things clean*. I don't believe there's any harm in running it without the additive, but things may get a bit sootier out the back of the car. That may mean it won't pass the emissions test on an MOT, but I'm just speculating there.

Citroen dealers charge about £200-250 for the same job (it's the same engine in the C5) so the charge, while high, seems normal.

My advice? Fill it up yourself, and pay a local independent garage to reset the ECU. Probably get the whole lot done for less than £100.

*Proper description: The additive is injected into the fuel tank, modifying the particulates in the diesel fuel and making them burn at a lower temperature. This also promotes burning within the filter by using post injection, the process of which will promote burning to continue down the exhaust pipe and therefore burn off any particulates that have been held in the filter. A system reset is required when the additive tank level drops below a pre-determined minimum. Once you've filled it up, the system can be reset via the serial diagnostic socket using the SP MAP system.

rosscobley

What a rip off. how long does it last for when its full then. I have never heard of that before on anycar...

alibali73

wrote:

@ Philhuff

Yes good idea, I got some diesel fuel additive that clears out the injectors which you put straight into the fuel tank after you have filled up with Petrol, improved performance slightly but doesnt get around the warning light still re-appearing.

But dealers recon this additive has to be drip fed into the tank (dont think means petrol tank?) by a machine using a feed rate which takes two hours, dont suppose that I could do it manually then? Plus the additive that Peugeot use is not for general resale and its full of nasty chemicals and comes under COSH/Health and safety laws!! Prob why is so expensive?? So I dont know of a product to use?

The car is due for its mot by the end of this month so I need to get it sorted pretty quick me thinks.

espresso

alibali73 wrote:

@ Philhuff

Yes good idea, I got some diesel fuel additive that clears out the injectors which you put straight into the fuel tank after you have filled up with Petrol.............

No please don't put petrol in!

:eek:

philhuff

But dealers recon this additive has to be drip fed into the tank (dont think means petrol tank?) by a machine using a feed rate which takes two hours, dont suppose that I could do it manually then?

They're right, it is a different thing. I'm no expert on the COSHH rules, so if the garage says it's not available for your own use, I'd be inclined to agree with them.

The car is due for its mot by the end of this month so I need to get it sorted pretty quick me thinks.

Take it for an MOT now - it'll be valid from the day your current one expires and, should it fail on emissions, you'll have time to sort it out.

If it passes, then just find a local independent place or try an owners club, and find out if the light can just be reset.

rosscobley

philhuff wrote:

They're right, it is a different thing. I'm no expert on the COSHH rules, so if the garage says it's not available for your own use, I'd be inclined to agree with them.Take it for an MOT now - it'll be valid from the day your current one expires and, should it fail on emissions, you'll have time to sort it out.

If it passes, then just find a local independent place or try an owners club, and find out if the light can just be reset.

Ture if you go now take your old mot and they will date the new one from the date the old one finishes. Its all well and good not having it refilled but if it has something to do with emissions then you should be carefull apart from damage to the engine from carbon you could have problems if you get pulled by the transport police and they check it.

rosscobley

Found This on the net about it -

Exhaust Particulate Filtration system reset as used on Citroen/Peugeot HDi diesel systems.
Particulate filtration is used to remove the un-burnt particulates from a diesel engine’s exhaust gas to lower the emissions. Without a further ECU controlled process this filter would become blocked and need regular replacement.
An additional ECU controlled function is used which injects an additive into the fuel tank, this additive modifies the particulates in the diesel fuel and makes them burn at a lower temperature, The ECU will also promote burning within the filter by using post injection (injection of fuel via main injectors when the exhaust valve is open). This post injection process will promote burning to continue down the exhaust pipe and therefore burn off any particulates that have been held in the filter.
A system re-set is required when the additive tank level drops below a pre-determined minimum. This should occur at about 50,000 miles.
The additive should be purchased from the manufacturer’s main agent and used to top up the additive tank (found in the main fuel tank) once the top up has been done the system can be re-set via the serial diagnostic socket using the SP MAP system.

Sounds like there is a way to do it yourself i will look in to it more see what i can find. I have an Autodata workshop disk at home i will look at that when i get home

bbruce

It is supposed to last 60,000 miles so £200 isn't too bad. I first got the message on my C5 & had it filled up at 70,000 and had the particulate filter cleaned out. Had to get a garage with a ramp to do it as it's fiddly but doesn't take 2 hours. AOK for a while but got the message again at 75,000. Bought more but it overflowed. My garage connected it to their £5,000 diagnostic machine but couldn’t reset it. Decided the message is spurious. Maybe a genuine Citroen diagnostic can.
As long as the performance is normal, I decided to ignore it!

daveyjp

Don't ignore it. It will lead to much more expensive problems including a new filter. Lots of modern diesels use this system - nice earner for the dealer, but I'd never buy one with it. Too many horror stories out there.

Hintza

Interesting thread and probably helps serve as reminder that diesel is not necessarily best. For those that do medium to low mileage petrol is starting to look like the more cost effective option.

These new diesel engines seem to require lots of expensive work.

Keep it simple by a petrol?