Mornin all.
Heard a fella going on about particulate filters in diesel cars,now I’d never even heard of them 
he reckoned that if they get clogged up and " go " it costs over £2k to repair.
He also said to keep them clean you’re supposed to drive your car for 45 minutes a week at 70mph.
I’ve got a 06 Ford Maxi TDCI,had it for 2 years and only use it for a run about,so how do you know if your particulate filter is on its way out 
I blasted up the M1 earlier this morning,everything seemed to be ok. 
Anybody know the score with these P F’s ?
Cheers.
People go on about this but I don’t know much about them. I have been told never to do short runs as this buggers them, how the hell do you not do short runs 
just drive round and round until you have done a long run. 
I have a Focus with 74k on the clock, I have never treated it any different than any other car, and had no problems so far.
some diesels have them, some dont.
only one i have driven was a pug with 170k on the clock,i came up on the dashboard about filter change/exhaust system, it will slow your power down,if badly choked up. take a look on euro carparts for particulate filters.
they vary from £300 up wards, depending on make etc.
they look very similer to a cat in your exhaust.
p.s the bloke who told you to give the car a blast down the motorway was right,
all you need do is give it a 70 plus run every other week to keep it clean.
hope this helps.
Partly true.
Diesel Particulate filters catch bits of soot in the exhaust.
As with any filter they have to be emptied regularly to maintain performance. For a DPF this process is called ‘regeneration’ — the accumulated soot is burnt off at high temperature to leave only a tiny ash residue. Regeneration may be either passive or active.
Passive regeneration takes place automatically on motorway-type runs when the exhaust temperature is high. Many cars don’t get this sort of use though so manufacturers have to design-in ‘active’ regeneration where the engine management computer (ECU) takes control of the process.
Active regeneration, When the soot loading in the filter reaches a set limit (about 45%) the ECU can make small adjustments to the fuel injection timing to increase the exhaust temperature and initiate regeneration. If the journey’s a bit stop/start the regeneration may not complete and the warning light will illuminate to show that the DPF is partially blocked.
It should be possible to start a complete regeneration and clear the warning light simply by driving for 10 minutes or so at speeds greater than 40mph.
If you ignore the light and keep driving in a relatively slow, stop/start pattern soot loading will continue to build up until around 75% when you can expect to see other dashboard warning lights illuminate too. At this point driving at speed alone will not be sufficient and the car will have to go to a dealer for regeneration. If warnings are still ignored and soot loading continues to increase then the most likely outcome will be a new DPF costing around £1000.
Heres the wanring lights
I’ve not heard that one, I used to have a 306 turbo diesel. It had 200k on the clock and I treated it like crap tbh. Never missed a beat. I think that engine would have stopped bullets.
My V.W Transporter had one of these things, every now and then when booting it out of a junction, or accelorating hard, I’d see a mass of black soot coming out of the exaust. Spoke to a mate who is a diesel specialist, he told me exactly what bubsy has just said…
My advice? Rag it every now and then!!! 
Nice one fellas,had this C Max for 2 years and as said only use it as a run around,will be cloggin it up the M1 once a fortnight from now on. 
Cheers.
I’ve got a 2006 VW Caravelle and it has a DPF. It’s only on the more modern engines that has them. I got mine taken out and it makes a huge difference to the car. It improves the airflow and give you more power and torque. I also got an ECU remap done and the car is totally transformed. More power and torque and less fuel used. It also passed the emissions test in the NCT ( The Irish equivalent of the MOT) with no problem whatsoever. I reckon your better off in the long run removing it, as it is very expensive to replace. Also when they clog up it can increase the back pressure in the exhaust system and end up damaging your turbo eventually.
Its mainly newer cars from the mid 2000’s that have them to get their emissions down
A diesel should really only be considered if you’re doing the sort of driving that will help keep the DPF clear. What’s the point of having a diesel for short journeys then having to take it for a blast to clear it out?
Can you not do away with them in a car? Last 2 cars I’ve had (Cavalier 1.7TD and 52 Mondeo 2.0 TDCi) I replaced the cat with a straight pipe and have no problem and a bit more poke… no one done the same with a DPF?
our light came on last week on a 307 diesel and car went into limp mode
took it off, 15mins with a power washer and its like new
no problems now
pete904ni:
Can you not do away with them in a car? Last 2 cars I’ve had (Cavalier 1.7TD and 52 Mondeo 2.0 TDCi) I replaced the cat with a straight pipe and have no problem and a bit more poke… no one done the same with a DPF?
The cav wouldnt have had one, not sure on the mondeo, probably not.
I think if you took them off it wouldnt do your car much good as id have thought they help the ecu determine parameters such as fuel and air mixture, so might not run properly…
Beetie:
pete904ni:
Can you not do away with them in a car? Last 2 cars I’ve had (Cavalier 1.7TD and 52 Mondeo 2.0 TDCi) I replaced the cat with a straight pipe and have no problem and a bit more poke… no one done the same with a DPF?The cav wouldnt have had one, not sure on the mondeo, probably not.
I think if you took them off it wouldnt do your car much good as id have thought they help the ecu determine parameters such as fuel and air mixture, so might not run properly…
I’m talking about cats which both of them had
If you have a DPF then it can’t be taken out without a remap of the ECM.
They are nothing but trouble on a big diesel engine and are one of the reasons why CAT no longer makes truck engines for any market with emission control legislation, there are class action law suits in the US (where else) against CAT, ■■■■■■■ and Detroit all concerning DPF related problems, I had a truck with a DPF and all it ever managed was to drive between workshops.
Some DPFs will run a seperate (seventh) injector to inject fuel into the filter to burn off the excess particulate matter trapped within it, that’s an ‘active’ regeneration, a ‘passive’ regeneration will happen as you drive down the road normally.
My company have 10 trucks with DPF systems, they are our newest trucks and, due to the fact that they’re forever breaking down and out of warranty the costs are astronomical, the last one was over $25k, they will be the first ones sold when my company manages to find something that is worth buying, at present the new trucks on the market have untried SCR technology combined with EGR and DPF, so we can’t even look at the reliabilty of the Euro SCR engines to get an idea as it’s all different here 
Hi, I have a 2001 citroen C5 2.2 diesel owned for 3 years with or should I say had a particulate filter fitted, the contents were knocked out last year so no more blockage (the cat was also removed at the same time).
It is possible to do this with out upsetting the ECU, I purchased a cable and was given some software which you can use to remap the ECU, this will work on any vehicle fitted with the DPF system.
cost? £23 plus a couple of hours of my time to do it, there are remappers advertising on the net who will also do this for you.
As for the MOT no problem passing what so ever, money well spent.
This vehicle is a taxi, and very rarely ventures above 40 mph all town work. the system worked fine for over 2 years, but the service cost was out of the question £600 plus so had to disable it.