Flat battery - DPF warning

nathandelabrum_2

Hi all.

So Monday I went to start my diesel van and the battery was dead. I had a tradesman doing work at my house so we connected some jump leads he had from his van to mine. Eventually we got my van going. Hooray.

After about 30 seconds of driving though I got the engine management warning light on with a message informing me that the DPF is at risk of blocking. This seemed logical to me - I haven’t done on a long run in it for some time due to COVID. So I stuck some DPF cleaner in the fuel tank and gave it a ragging down the motorway for an hour - no joy, warning lights still lit.

So I had a mate connect his diagnostic tool to the van. It’s showing a few faults, namely DPF faults and an unknown error, so I’ve got it booked in for next week for a garage to sort the error codes and try a forced regen.

It’s only this afternoon though that I’ve been reading about the potential to damage your ECU by jump starting. It seems so coincidental that after jump starting I immediately get the DPF messages. I’ve never had them in 18 months of owning the van. 

I’m starting to think I may have damaged the ECU. Just wondering what you all think, what’s the most likely culprit - the ECU or have I really been that unlucky to have a dead battery and then immediately after DPF problems?

AdrianC

No, pure coincidence.

missile

Damaging the ecu would not cause DPF regen fault

nathandelabrum_2

Interesting. Well let’s hope I haven’t damaged the ECU as well as having a blocked DPF! Ha!

ratrace

the only way you would have damaged the ecu is by cnnecting the leads the wrong way round which does not seem like it so its pure coincidence really, dfp may have tried to regen in the past but mayhave failed due to the short stops

i would check my oil level if i was you and see if its high ie: past the max if so i would get a oil change done as soon as, before the more expensive problems that come with failed regens show up

nathandelabrum_2

ratrace said:

the only way you would have damaged the ecu is by cnnecting the leads the wrong way round which does not seem like it so its pure coincidence really, dfp may have tried to regen in the past but mayhave failed due to the short stops

i would check my oil level if i was you and see if its high ie: past the max if so i would get a oil change done as soon as, before the more expensive problems that come with failed regens show up

Oil level is fine - pretty much smack in the middle between min and max. Here’s hoping they can force a regen. If not is the next option getting it flushed out by a company such as terraclean?

Money_Grabber13579

Have you replaced the battery? When the battery was low on my previous car, the electrics started playing up, such as throwing up warning lights, the indicator refusing to turn off etc

cattom

the anti pollution systems on vehicles these days, are a little o.t.t in my opinion. I had engine management light come up on my peugoet and I ended up have 3 things replaced. the fuel additve pump,( because it stopped working} the nox sensor (because it couldn't read the emmissions any more) and a catalyst ( because it was cracked). total 2k. and thats with peugeot paying 25%. this is on a 5yr old car thats done 32k miles. I was not very happy with that.

HansOndabush

You can damage the ecu and other modules by normal jump starting. This is due to the high voltage spikes that occur when you connect up the two vehicles. Normally you can get away with it but if unlucky, you can end up with malfunctioning electrics.

AdrianC

I'd love to hear the physics behind connecting a battery at 12.5v to a battery that should be 12v but isn't, giving a "high voltage spike".

tedted

if you try and start it to quick the alternor will provide the spike fords where known for it