DPF Cleaning - Snake oil?

[Next Stop]

Hi All,
My trusty VW Crafter likes to flag up the orange DPF light every so often, Apart from when we go away it only gets used for short trips, so I know I'm not helping, it has done 110,000 miles now so it is probably a bit clogged.
I thought after our last trip (1600 miles) it would clear it out a bit but since then (End of May) it has come on twice.
I've seen various companies offering to "clean" it for around £85, is this a waste of my fine cash or should I just look at getting it replaced, although I would think that the latter would be quite expensive!

Cheers in advance.
Martin

 

[The Wino]

Hi All,
My trusty VW Crafter likes to flag up the orange DPF light every so often, Apart from when we go away it only gets used for short trips, so I know I'm not helping, it has done 110,000 miles now so it is probably a bit clogged.
I thought after our last trip (1600 miles) it would clear it out a bit but since then (End of May) it has come on twice.
I've seen various companies offering to "clean" it for around £85, is this a waste of my fine cash or should I just look at getting it replaced, although I would think that the latter would be quite expensive!

Cheers in advance.
Martin

I wonder if they actually clean it or just put in some fuel additive and give it a thrash!

 

[Diabalo]

This is interesting, DIY DPF cleaning put this fella in hospital.

 

[Gromett]

This is interesting, DIY DPF cleaning put this fella in hospital.

He is entertaining and I like him but he is very dangerous. NEVER do anything he recommends.

 

[Gromett]

On the DPF filter cleaning thing. This is the guy to watch.
He does this for a living and shows the cowboys up and gives extremely good info. Worth watching a few videos before paying for a cleaning service.

https://www.youtube.com/@ORileysAutos/videos

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[windboy]

Snake oil for sure, get it looked at by someone reputable, by that I mean a specialist with references.

 

[Gromett]

This is interesting, DIY DPF cleaning put this fella in hospital.

Oh and you don't need to remove the DPF filter to clean it. He really doesn't know what he is on about on that one His comparison with a hoover filter is bogus.

 

[Mzracer]

On some vehicles you can force a manual regeneration of the DPF, this does a partial clean of the DPF.

Don't know about VW but certainly some GM vehicles had this in the past.

 

[gus-lopez]

I wonder if they actually clean it or just put in some fuel additive and give it a thrash!

The ones I have seen recorded for a you tube channel have shown in full detail what has been done. Removed & chemically treated

This is interesting, DIY DPF cleaning put this fella in hospital.

& as above full breathing gear required

On the DPF filter cleaning thing. This is the guy to watch.
He does this for a living and shows the cowboys up and gives extremely good info. Worth watching a few videos before paying for a cleaning service.

https://www.youtube.com/@ORileysAutos/videos

Yes i have seen him sort out other peoples muck ups many times.

 

[Next Stop]

He is entertaining and I like him but he is very dangerous. NEVER do anything he recommends.

I've watched a few of his vids before, As you say quite entertaining

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[Next Stop]

I wonder if they actually clean it or just put in some fuel additive and give it a thrash!

I've only ever given it a good thrash as it seems to clear it out. Looking at the one I've seen it appears to be a "flush" rather than a proper clean as they say if it doesn't work then they will remove it and do a proper job. I think I'd rather have the proper job first time around.

The van seems to run ok, I'm just sure it shouldn't be coming up frequently.

 

[Steve4267]

Oh and you don't need to remove the DPF filter to clean it.

It depends how blocked and what with: both soot accumulation above the critical level where there isn't sufficient airflow through the matrix for an on-vehicle clean, and accumulated ash can only be cleaned by back-flushing off the vehicle.

'DPF filter' is tortology by the way, just like 'VIN number'

 

[Raul]

Hi All,
My trusty VW Crafter likes to flag up the orange DPF light every so often, Apart from when we go away it only gets used for short trips, so I know I'm not helping, it has done 110,000 miles now so it is probably a bit clogged.
I thought after our last trip (1600 miles) it would clear it out a bit but since then (End of May) it has come on twice.
I've seen various companies offering to "clean" it for around £85, is this a waste of my fine cash or should I just look at getting it replaced, although I would think that the latter would be quite expensive!

Cheers in advance.
Martin

First think I would give it a scan, and find out the soot level. It will be calculated soot level in grams. Then watch f diferential pressure its high 30 plus milibar on idle. If soot level is high and diferential pressure its high, a static regen can be done.
After regen look at soot level again, 3-8grams is acceptable.
If soot level is very high, 50-60 grams, them a regen its risky. To much to burn and will get very hot. Solution, dpf cleaning off the van, or new dpf. About 2 years ago, i had mine taken off in Germany and swapped it for a new one plus 1800 euro. At VW Dusselforf, the one near the airport, not the one in town.
The software you need is vcds, with a HEX 2 dongle. I got mine from gendan.

 

[Mr Mousy]

Next Stop

We used this company who are well established.

I took it to their depot (off vehicle) and collected it 24 hour later.

Report with photos/weights/condition etc.

£250 inc vat

Very good service from their Newport depot.

Driveline Emissions Technologies

DPF, Catalyst and EGR Cleaning and Maintenance | Emissions System Upgrades | Operating throughout the UK and Europe.

www.drivelineemissions.com

 

[Steve and Denise]

We had a DPF issue on a 3ltr Fiat and a light came on and would not rev, I added a Wynns type of treatment to the tank no expecting any good results,
That said next day van started still in limp mode so struggled for around 5 miles in low gears until we hit a long hill, the rpm steadily increased until the exhaust sounded like a space heater and a strong paraffin smell.
The noise stopped after a few minutes and the van ran as normal but the light stayed on.
When I looked into the additive on the net I did read that it lowered the burn point of the fuel when trying to regenerate? But it worked for us

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[gus-lopez]

What i fail to understand is all this tat is on vehicles to combat emissions yet we have to flush said tat with chemicals & set them on fire to clear the matrix so polluting the atmosphere?

 

[pagey]

Mine decided to do a regeneration yesterday as I was queuing to get on to the eurotunnel I think you are not supposed to turn it off so I'm sitting there with the engine running at 1100 revs for 15 mins

 

[bigtree]

Next Stop

We used this company who are well established.

I took it to their depot (off vehicle) and collected it 24 hour later.

Report with photos/weights/condition etc.

£250 inc vat

Very good service from their Newport depot.

Driveline Emissions Technologies

DPF, Catalyst and EGR Cleaning and Maintenance | Emissions System Upgrades | Operating throughout the UK and Europe.

www.drivelineemissions.com

View attachment 808429

And the results were.

 

[Mzracer]

What i fail to understand is all this tat is on vehicles to combat emissions yet we have to flush said tat with chemicals & set them on fire to clear the matrix so polluting the atmosphere?

They do these regenerations every 1000 miles or so, never mind the chemicals mentioned.

When doing a forced manual regeneration on a GM vehicle, the heat from the exhaust is off the scale higher than normal, you are warned not to park the vehicle too close to combustible materials.

Crazy.

 

[Gromett]

This is the best explanation of a DPF I have seen. You can see that removing the DPF as he does in the above video is unnecessary.
The chemical used (solvent) breaks down the carbon into much smaller particles and allows them through the walls of the filter.

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[Gromett]

What i fail to understand is all this tat is on vehicles to combat emissions yet we have to flush said tat with chemicals & set them on fire to clear the matrix so polluting the atmosphere?

It is a particulate filter. It captures unburnt clumps of diesel/carbon in the filter. Once the filter gets up to temperature it causes the caught carbon to decompose into CO2 which is then released.
Far better for the lungs of those nearby.

 

[pagey]

It is a particulate filter. It captures unburnt clumps of diesel/carbon in the filter. Once the filter gets up to temperature it causes the caught carbon to decompose into CO2 which is then released.
Far better for the lungs of those nearby.

There was enough of them yesterday the train was late

 

[Next Stop]

This is the best explanation of a DPF I have seen. You can see that removing the DPF as he does in the above video is unnecessary.
The chemical used (solvent) breaks down the carbon into much smaller particles and allows them through the walls of the filter.

Simple but informative video that. Mine seems to do a regen without a dash warning light, I only notice because the tick over is higher, if you don't go for a long run then this eventually signals a dash light to come on, although last time this happened (without the dash warning light) I drove for 40 mins and it still didn't clear, then a few days later the dash light came on so I blasted it again, this time is cleared within 15 mins

 

[Steve and Denise]

It is a particulate filter. It captures unburnt clumps of diesel/carbon in the filter. Once the filter gets up to temperature it causes the caught carbon to decompose into CO2 which is then released.
Far better for the lungs of those nearby.

We had a forced regeneration on our Fiat back in 2012 it burnt the paint off the floor in the Fiat dealership even sparks coming out of the tail pipe, it put the light out briefly but turned out to be the pressure differential sensor,
a well documented thing on Fiats.

 

[ontheroadagain]

I only notice because the tick over is higher,

On our Fiat Ducato the cooling fan roars like a jet engine when it is doing a regeneration.

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[Dazzlin]

Absolutely nothing to do with dpf as our van is 1986 and never heard of such rubbish, but it failed on emissions last month.

It does smoke a bit under pressure so I tend to baby it when driving to save those behind us from choking.

Last few mot's no problem, this one - 2 x allowed emissions! I had everyone giving me doomsday scenario saying you need a new engine.....

Booked it in for a retest after a lot of welding, new headlights (again) and a couple of little bits. They promised to change oil and air filters, and tweak stuff to try n help, but were not optimistic.....

On the way to the retest put a bottle of magic juice from Wilco motosave in, threw it on the motorway and did 20 miles in 4th gear, at a speed not usually attempted in our old n delicate jalopy, and I made sure swmbo was out of the van or it would not have been allowed, and then dropped it off at the garage.

They tested the emissions first, before changing the filters and it passed , so left the old ones in, and we are good for another year, and driving down to Spain next month to our place with complete peace of mind

Only negative outcome was that it rattled that much while I was braying it on the motorway, that a piece of plastic trim fell off, now replaced with a nice piece of duct tape until....

 

[RobbyMClark]

Hi All,
My trusty VW Crafter likes to flag up the orange DPF light every so often, Apart from when we go away it only gets used for short trips, so I know I'm not helping, it has done 110,000 miles now so it is probably a bit clogged.
I thought after our last trip (1600 miles) it would clear it out a bit but since then (End of May) it has come on twice.
I've seen various companies offering to "clean" it for around £85, is this a waste of my fine cash or should I just look at getting it replaced, although I would think that the latter would be quite expensive!

Cheers in advance.
Martin

We used to have a fleet of VW Crafters for a Parks and Gardens contract a few years back.
When the orange wRn light came on I would take each one for a run at a steady 40mph in 4th for about half hour - we only needed to have 2 dpfs replaced in a fleet of 20 over the 4years we had them, and thats a the d1ckheads driving them never reported the light being on. The original handbook recommended the above.

 

[Gromett]

This is interesting, DIY DPF cleaning put this fella in hospital.

Decided to watch the video all the way through for all the tips on how not to do it
Jeez. You weren't kidding about hospital. That was serious.

Wouldn't wish that on anyone. Another example of why I don't listen to him on anything with safety implications.

 

[Next Stop]

We used to have a fleet of VW Crafters for a Parks and Gardens contract a few years back.
When the orange wRn light came on I would take each one for a run at a steady 40mph in 4th for about half hour - we only needed to have 2 dpfs replaced in a fleet of 20 over the 4years we had them, and thats a the d1ckheads driving them never reported the light being on. The original handbook recommended the above.

Maybe I need not worry about mine too much, ran it this evening for 20mins and then left it ticking over on the drive for 10 whilst I got ready to go out again and by the time I got back to it theblhht had gone out.

 

[CAB96]

Mine decided to do a regeneration yesterday as I was queuing to get on to the eurotunnel I think you are not supposed to turn it off so I'm sitting there with the engine running at 1100 revs for 15 mins

Just turn it off.

It will continue next time you start up and it gets hot enough.

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