DPF problems.

[Belker]

I don't know a lot about engines so any help on this would be appreciated.

The story so far, my 171 avensis 'DPF full' light came on last Feb and I had it cleaned by JD motors fer 600 Euro.

4 months later the same light came on intermittently at weekends but went off again after a few hours and has been on-going fer the last 3 months.

[Belker]

Eventually I brought it back to JD motors who checked the car last week and said that it had needed 3 litres of oil and as it was burning that much oil it is prob a Turbo problem ??

So seemingly the next step is to bring the car back to them tomorrow and they will send the turbo off to be checked and he added that it might need a re-conditioned engine costing 2.5k.

[mercenary for hire]

Three liters of oil.....the fukkin thing only takes 6.

You might be better off driving a rental Belker and let someone else take the pain.Your repair bills are in Frank Spencer territory.You could be looking at 4/5k on repairs.

Think carefully whether you wanna spend all that money on same car when you could buy something else like a Prius for a few grand extra.

[Belker]

Thanks MFH, but my Avensis will be staying on the road till 2027 regardless of the cost.

I just don't wanna be led up the garden path by yer man who seemingly cleaned the DPF fer 600 notes only fer the DPF light to show again 3 months later.

I contacted my own mechanic whom I trust 100% and he said that so far yer man in JD motors is correct about the turbo issue. I'm OK with that, it's the 2.5k fer the maybe reconditioned engine that troubles me.

[mercenary for hire]

"Regardless off cost".....that sounds like something the crypto lads say when they're losing money..it's not rational for a business owner to say that.

You must not have been checking the oil levels to lose so much oil.For a bloke even with your limited mechanical knowledge that should be a weekly event.The type of oil you use is critical to the longevity if your engine ,turbo and dpf.

DPFs will keep clogging up even without any other mechanical failure.The DPF is like a hoover bag on your exhaust that can't be opened easily.Diesels aren't meant to be kept in town at low speeds.

I gaurantee you will be back in the same position in a year or two.It's the wrong vehicle for the work you do around town.

I dunno why you ask for advice if you never take it.

[taxi1990]

I had DPF trouble with my taxi. had to put a brand new DPF into the car, 700 or 800 it cost. then id say a year later I was driving and the cars fan was in overdrive, the power wasn't there at all. My mechanic said it needed to be remapped. got that done, cost 300 I think. that was 2 and a half years ago, no problems since, except I never pass the emissions test, not sure if that is linked to getting the car remapped.

[Belker]

Thanks 1990, what do you drive ? 
And how do you manage to pass NCT with emission problems ?

[Belker]

..... I gaurantee you will be back in the same position in a year or two.It's the wrong vehicle for the work you do around town.....

I'm a night driver, I don't do that around town traffic thing at all.

[Rat Catcher]

I've discovered a bit of an oddity with VAG DPF diagnostics. In fact it was last time you mentioned your DPF problems that prompted me to research what the figures in the diagnostics read out mean. There's one set that'll tell you about soot which seems straightforwatd enough... how full it is, when it last regenerated, when it'll next regenerate, etc... then there's another about ash. The ash is produced when the soot is regenerated (burnt) and it's the ash volume that dictates when the DPF is fucked. However, here's the oddity... the % full figure is calculated not measured so the cars are essentially programmed to render the DPF useless at a predetermined kilometreage (c.360,000 kilos in my case). Not sure what I'll do (if anything) if I still have the motor at that stage but it is possible to reset the ash level to zero so provided the yoke is working and not excessively regenerating I guess that'd be the way to go.

I guess a useful bye product of the way they're programmed is the ability to verify a vehicle's mileage. In fact I did just that when my brother was shopping for a used Audi. We looked at a few and in each case I could calculate that the DPF fill level was consistent with the oddometer kilometreage to within a few hundred kilos.

[mercenary for hire]

There are too many holes in your story Belker.Someoe isn't doing maintenance somewhere.I'd be afraid to leave ya in charge of a shopping trolley.Thankfully the Freenow bonus system will cover all the damage to yer vehicle that happened while you were chasing imaginary medals.I'm done here.

[Belker]

There are too many holes in your story Belker.Someoe isn't doing maintenance somewhere.I'd be afraid to leave ya in charge of a shopping trolley.Thankfully the Freenow bonus system will cover all the damage to yer vehicle that happened while you were chasing imaginary medals. I'm done here.

GOOD !
You weren't much help.

[mercenary for hire]

Yer a spoofing cunt Ken I wouldn't believe you're even telling us half of the truth.

[Belker]

I've discovered a bit of an oddity with VAG DPF diagnostics. In fact it was last time you mentioned your DPF problems that prompted me to research what the figures in the diagnostics read out mean. There's one set that'll tell you about soot which seems straightforwatd enough... how full it is, when it last regenerated, when it'll next regenerate, etc... then there's another about ash. The ash is produced when the soot is regenerated (burnt) and it's the ash volume that dictates when the DPF is fucked. However, here's the oddity... the % full figure is calculated not measured so the cars are essentially programmed to render the DPF useless at a predetermined kilometreage (c.360,000 kilos in my case). Not sure what I'll do (if anything) if I still have the motor at that stage but it is possible to reset the ash level to zero so provided the yoke is working and not excessively regenerating I guess that'd be the way to go.

I guess a useful bye product of the way they're programmed is the ability to verify a vehicle's mileage. In fact I did just that when my brother was shopping for a used Audi. We looked at a few and in each case I could calculate that the DPF fill level was consistent with the oddometer kilometreage to within a few hundred kilos.

Thanks Steven, very informative and fer once I actually understood most of it.

[Belker]

Yer a spoofing cunt Ken I wouldn't believe you're even telling us half of the truth.

I thought you said you were 'DONE' ??

[Belker]

Yer man in JD motors just rang back, now he reckons it needs a new turbo and is gonna ring me back on the price of it within an hour. Seems better than a 2.5k reconditioned engine ??