Particulant

wordassist

Has anyone experienced a problem with this? Had a major service on my Honda after it had lost power. Told it was because I hadn't had it serviced and didn't do many miles. Straight after the Service went to France and had the same problem. Told to go slowly until it "sorts itself out" Can I ever trust this car again?

Iceweasel

Is this a diesel engined car that does mainly short journeys?

If so do a search for DPF - diesel particulate filter.

Chrishazle

If Iceweasel is correct, it need an "Italian Tune-up" to clear and regenerate the DPF - in other words, get on a decent road and give it loads of right boot!

harveybobbles

Another person who bought diesel thinking they were economical to run..

Give it a thrashing in 4th gear on the motorway for 10 mins to clear any crap out of the DPF

Iceweasel

harveybobbles wrote: »

Another person who bought diesel thinking they were economical to run..

Give it a thrashing in 4th gear on the motorway for 10 mins to clear any crap out of the DPF

No need to thrash the poor thing

Just make sure the engine is fully up to normal operating temperature then keep the speed above 60 for half an hour or so.

10 minutes would likely not be enough to complete the DPF re-generation cycle, especially if has nos not had a re-gen for a while.

wordassist

Thanks for advice, but should this happen after a major service and a promise that the Particulant had been cleaned and checked?

Iceweasel

wordassist wrote: »

Thanks for advice, but should this happen after a major service and a promise that the Particulant had been cleaned and checked?

Ah - you didn't tell us that the servicing garage had said that they had cleaned the DPF.

It can be cleaned - but that is usually an expensive job.

Did they itemize DPF cleaning on the invoice as it certainly isn't part of any regular service - not even a major one?

wordassist

Hi,
good point and yes it was itemised on the bill and softwear upgrade too, whatever that means.

bigjl

Cleaning a DPF is not an expensive job.

And despite what some think has formed part of regular maintenance on dpf equipped buses and LGVs since they were introduced.

There are two companies in the UK that do this service, Ceramex and DPF Genie.

On top of the cost of removal the price is a few hundred quid.

Annoying but much cheaper than fitting a manufacturer branded replacement or an aftermarket part that may or may not work to the same standard.

The DPF on my Jag is over £2k for the part alone and a further £1k to fit at Jag.

A DPF can need cleaned at as few as 15k miles if used round town all the time and on short journeys.

Though in normal use the figure is usually 80/100k.

As the OP is a little bit unclear with terminology it is possible that the DPF was never cleaned and was actually.given a forced regen, after a forced regen you need to change the oil and filter due to diesel getting into the oil during the process.

Many faults can cause DPF issues.

Egr problems, poor servicing, wrong oil used or even injector issues.

Anything that could cause a diesel engine to smoke will cause a dpf to be filled up quickly.

A low mileage driver should plan on taking the car for a run every week or so if possible.

When my dpf light comes on it usually takes about 8/10 miles at a constant speed to sort it out.

The constant speed with foot on the throttle all the time is the important bit.

I have found no difference in holding the revs above 2k or just driving normally with revs at around 1500 at a constant 70 or so.

I have driven at 50/60/70 and the dpf light always goes off at the same place within a few hundred yards on my extended route home.

I must admit that Honda dpf systems seem to have a better reputation than most, Vauxhall, Fiat, Saab and Alfa seem to be more problematic with the 1.9cdti engine i have no experience with the 2.0cdti.

When the wifes non DPF Clio is up for replacement it will not be getting replaced with a DPF eqipped diesel.

When my Jag is up for replacement it is likely it will.not be getting replaced with a DPF equipped diesel either, petrol with LPG due to the mileage i do.

Iceweasel

wordassist wrote: »

Hi,
good point and yes it was itemised on the bill and softwear upgrade too, whatever that means.

Straight back to complain then - your trip to France should have helped it not brought the error back.

Updating the software was a good idea - no problem there - but depending on the age of the car, I might have expected it to be free.

maxmycardagain

My DPF regenerates, the tickover rises and it smells of burning


another good reason to avoid diesels