Focus and stupid DPF regeneration

FreddieFrugal

Hi there,

Yesterday I drove my Focus 1.6 tdci from Beverley in East Yorkshire to Birmingham, and then Birmingham to Newquay in Cornwall. So just short of 400 miles.

Almost the entire journey was spent doing 70 on motorways and dual carriage ways. So why on earth would the car decide it needed to regenerate the DPF JUST as we arrived in the car park of the premier inn we were stopping at.

Had to leave car with the engine fans whiring like crazy.
Surely a really long continuous motorway journey (shortest continuous part being 200 miles) should be perfect conditions for the DPF to be sorted passively?

Not sure if the heavy wind or rain would have had an effect.

Anyway it's not a huge problem, it'll clear out today when we head off somewhere...it just seems really stupid.

(Also just so you know, it's not used for town journeys very much at all, its everyday use is 36 mile round trip to work on country A road going 50 - 60 most of the way - so it doesn't have a hard stop start life the rest of the time)

OddballJamie

I'm keeping quiet on the subject for once.

GolfBravo

IanRi wrote: »

So why on earth would the car decide it needed to regenerate the DPF JUST as we arrived in the car park of the premier inn we were stopping at.

Because during passive regeneration only a small portion of the particulates are converted to carbon dioxide (usually only at the front of the DPF) - the temperatures are too low for full regeneration. You may have higher temperatures in the exhaust for a few moments, but just not long enough for full regeneration - hence the active regeneration kicks in from time to time.

IanRi wrote: »

it just seems really stupid.

Why? The DPF is doing its job. It is a passive-active type of DPF so both types of regeneration occur.

Steve059

Just be thankful it regenerated.

Paperbird

"Almost the entire journey was spent doing 70 on motorways and dual carriage ways. So why on earth would the car decide it needed to regenerate the DPF JUST as we arrived in the car park of the premier inn we were stopping at."

How does your car know when you reach your destination ?????

bigjl

I thought the 1.6d Focus was fitted with an Eloys tank?

But as already mentioned you vehicle will regen when it feels the need and can do so when on a long run.

I would stick to good quality diesel as i noted a Ford Galaxy regened an awful lot more often on supermarket fuel for some reason.

I put £30 of supermarket fuel in my new (to me) car and it regenerated on the way back from Chichester. Could tell by the mpg readout dropping like a stone.

Next day the dpf full warning came on so took it for a drive, during which i put in £20 of top spec diesel into the nearly empty tank and carried on my drive, light went out 10 minutes later.

And thankfully has not been on since despite going into London a couple of times.

Luckily there is a Murco station near me which price matches Tesco and an Esso that is normally only one pence a litre dearer if i want tesco points.

As has been said be glad it did regen as if it didn't you would have had to go on a pointless drive around.

I am going to use dpf cleaner once a month or perhaps once a fortnight. Then keep the tank above half so there is always some in the fuel mix.

A mate has only ever used Shell V Power in his 7 series diesels and has never had a dpf full warning in more than 100k miles with lots of idling and round town use.

Gloomendoom

IanRi wrote: »

Had to leave car with the engine fans whiring like crazy.

Why? Surely if the regen had been interrupted the car would just resume the regen next time it was driven. That is how both our DPF cars work. Four years of ownership and I've never given DPF regens a second thought. They just get on with it.

Are Fords different?

yangptangkipperbang

Complain to Ford - they could probably modify your car so that it doesn't happen in a Premier Inn car park - sorry, did you say you were stopping in a Travelodge next time................:rotfl::rotfl:

Retrogamer

DPF's, DMF's EGR valves and swirl flaps mark the end of cheaper motoring via a diesel car. I can understand why they're there, but if i had a modern diesel with a DPF, then i'd get it replaced with a straight bit of pipe and have the ECU ammended to ignore the DPF sensor.
Worse for the envoirment, but friendly for the wallet.

Already removed the cat from my diesel and just about to remove the EGR valve and it's cooler as well.

JustAnotherSaver

So let me get this straight, as i've only fairly recently learned about these DPF nightmares.

My understanding was these modern diesels have these stupid bloody DPF things installed & you need to take it for a 'spirited drive' now & then i'm told, to get it up to temperature enough to burn off the deposits.

So you've taken yours on a 200 mile motorway run. Now i sit at 60mph on the motorway these days, but i suspect you'll be doing a minimum of 70mph .... for TWO HUNDRED miles.

If that doesn't get it up to temperature to burn the bloody stuff off then what on earth does?


I guess that modern day diesels are not worth the hassle. Every time i look at a fairly modern diesel i just read horror stories of injectors, EGR valves, swirl flaps.

Yet you struggle to get a quick/fast (depending on your take on what either word means) economical petrol.

Great.

daveyjp

My X type used to do the same. You would do a long journey and a few miles after doing decent mileage it would regenerate.

Some manufacturers advise not to turn off mid generation as it can cause problems. Advice is to drive the car until regen is finished.

My mileage has reduced and going back to a petrol hasn't increased my fuel costs, it does similar mpg round town as all my previous diesels. I'm now looking at 150-200 bhp auto petrols which get mid 30s mpg around town.