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Dreaded DPF - Not all bad news........


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Hi All,

thought i woud share with you my experience with a recent DPF issue, and to set your mind at ease. its not as bad as garages like you to think..

i have a 2006 Superb Elegance 2.0 (yes the one with the Hooky BSS engine!) whuch has covered 168,000 miles now with very little trouble.

i had a warning light (Emissions check) come up, but being skint and the light being intermittent, i largely ignored it for a month or 2.... i then began to get "engine workshop" light coming on occasionally too.

the car had to go in for a service anyway, so i got them to check fault codes at the same time. turns out the DPF fluid tank was empty, and the DPF sensor was faulty (G450 error code) to top up fluid and replace sensor would set me back approx £500. however as skint, thought would try to dig about muself.

first task was to get the tank refilled (for those who don't know, the mk1's have a tank in the boot which adds a n additive to the fuel to aid heating up the exhaust to burn off the soot, as the DPF is too far away from the turbo to get the head by just burning additional fuel as on newer models). the garage were quoting £45 per litre, tank takes 4 litres... this is the going rate...

with the help from some helpful lads at TPS, we worked out that the stuff is no different to Add Blue, the additive used in trucks and busses. this came out at about £15 for 10 litres!! so armed with a squeezy bottle, flexi tube and some latex gloves (the fluid is very nasty stuff) i set about refilling the tank.! job done! this cleared the fault light (with the help of a generic fault code reader)

all was good for a week or 2, then the "Engine check" light came on a few times, then for the first time the "DPF" light came on the dash, which indicated the filter was blocked. before i knew it, car went into limp mode and i struggled to get it home.

did some googling, and read that this could be due to the filter being blocked, and read all these horror stories about garages charging over a grand to replace, then all these places doing bypases and remaps for 4-500 etc etc.

as this was out of the question, i set about thinking about it logically.. there was not fluid in the tank, but if the sensor was faulty, this would stop regeneration... so decided to hunt down the sensor...

this is approx £50 from the dealer (i managed to get one off eBay for £20!) the part number required is: 076 906 051 A

i then set about looking for how to clean the filter. again, googling i found places that will clean the filter, do a furced regeneration etc, so thought surely i can do this myself...

i removed the DPF, and could see this was totally blocked up to the point the pressure had blown off one of the pipes to the sensor, which i think is what caused it to go to limp mode suddenly.

i read that a hot pressure wash can be used, and watched a couple of videos on youtube.

as i didn't have a hot pressure washer, i poured a couple of kettle fulls of boiling water into the filter, which got totally absorbed (which worried me a little!) then i poured some brake / clutch cleaner into it **WARNING*** this gives off some nasty fumes which will make you dizzy and give you a thumping headache even though outside in well ventilated area!

this began to fizz like a mento in a bottle of coke! and after leaving this to soak for half hour, i poured a couple more kettles full of boiling water into the filter, and water began to run through. i helped this along by using a normal cold water pressure washer and was amazed at the rubbish that came out!

when the water was running fairly freely i left this to drain over a couple of days..

i then re attached to the car, fitted the new sensor and cleared down the codes and started the car... yes there was lots of steam for about an hour! where the filter was drying, but after this, i took it on a 30 min drive up and down the motorway to get the car to do a regen, and touch wood, after 500 miles, no more error light, no more limp mode, and the car is doing its regens as it should.

this cost me a total of £80, including chucking a mate some money for removing and re fitting the exhaust as i didn't have the time

sorry for the mahoosive post, but thought would take the time to give a guide to self fixing as well as letting people know these cars are not all bad, and not all will cost the earth to keep on the road....

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While it sounds like you have fixed your problem (for now) you are incorrect I believe on a few points:

1) adblue is not the same as the DPF fluid. I know the motor trade are rife with rip-offs, and the DPF fluid is way overpriced, but Addblue is basically urea I believe

adblue

Some posts on the difference here:

adblue vs eolys

2) I hope you disposed of the liquid that came out of your washed DPF in a safe way - it is classed as hazardous waste and shouldn't go into the drains. One guy says his commercial waste handlers won't take it...!

dpf waste

DPF waste 2

I believe what you've done is clean out your DPF, unblocking it, but without the correct additive in the tank it will block again.

Edited by jimbof
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Actually after looking into it further I'm not sure now on the Adblue; I see some VW stuff does run Adblue and in that case I can't see how a dealer could charge such a high price for something that is available from every garage these days!

I used to drive a Peugeot which required fulid; this was a much more complex and costly Cerium based fluid called Eolys.

I'm really interested now if anyone knows authoritatively what the fluid is used in a 2.0 Superb?

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VW fluid is Adblue as used on many (most?) diesel trucks, Mercedes was also using it in the US, it is not the "French" fluid. Refuelling with Adblue was the right thing to do, though I''m not sure how destructive the cleaning process was (but I'd still do it if I had the same problem).

At the time I bought mine 2.5TDI, I hesitated between 2.0 and 2.5 engines. In the end, the extra power, torque and driving comfort (I often drive autobahn, usually in 500m+ chunks) made me go for the 2.5. At time of buying I was convinced I'd get the fluid tank etc so looked into the issue, but in the end all it turned out that the 2.5tdi engine was made EU4 compliant by adding pilot catalyst right next to the turbo, and not by using the urea installation.

Attention, science lesson follows :p

Adblue is actually a solution of 32.5% urea in demineralized water. Urea is non-toxic and commonly found in human and other animals urine. Yes, you are actually pis$ing into the exhaust to clean up the NOx emissions.

Urea is actually a fertilizer and a great source of nitrogen for plants, so as long as it went to a reasonable quantity of water, all you have done is grow a few algae down at the waste treatment plant. While disposing of large quantities of Adblue could be a problem for immediate environment (just as a "pis$ing alley" next to a pub is a problem to local residents), it is not as deadly as most uninformed people think or are led to believe.

Edited by dieselV6
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Good job!

Just to think of all those people that have been over charged in the past then.

Quite bad really to think that the dealer automatically jumps straight to just replacing the DPF when it can actually be cleaned out.

Also I think it is very cheeky of the dealers to charge so much for a fluid that is so readily available and for so much less.

Even if it just extends it's life a little longer then the cost is much smaller than a new DPF.

I think there is a way to force a regen by driving at a certain speed in a certain gear for so many miles so might be worth doing that from time to time just to help keep things clear.

Phil

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That is unbelievable then for them to want £20/litre for it; talk about daylight robbery... I assumed for £20/l it must be one of the more expensive compounds, but that is literally taking the P1$$!

I think the hazardous waste issue isn't due to the presence of the additive though, more to do with the concentrated ash, which still applies.

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  • 6 months later...

Hi All,

thought i woud share with you my experience with a recent DPF issue, and to set your mind at ease. its not as bad as garages like you to think..

i have a 2006 Superb Elegance 2.0 (yes the one with the Hooky BSS engine!) whuch has covered 168,000 miles now with very little trouble.

i had a warning light (Emissions check) come up, but being skint and the light being intermittent, i largely ignored it for a month or 2.... i then began to get "engine workshop" light coming on occasionally too.

the car had to go in for a service anyway, so i got them to check fault codes at the same time. turns out the DPF fluid tank was empty, and the DPF sensor was faulty (G450 error code) to top up fluid and replace sensor would set me back approx £500. however as skint, thought would try to dig about muself.

first task was to get the tank refilled (for those who don't know, the mk1's have a tank in the boot which adds a n additive to the fuel to aid heating up the exhaust to burn off the soot, as the DPF is too far away from the turbo to get the head by just burning additional fuel as on newer models). the garage were quoting £45 per litre, tank takes 4 litres... this is the going rate...

with the help from some helpful lads at TPS, we worked out that the stuff is no different to Add Blue, the additive used in trucks and busses. this came out at about £15 for 10 litres!! so armed with a squeezy bottle, flexi tube and some latex gloves (the fluid is very nasty stuff) i set about refilling the tank.! job done! this cleared the fault light (with the help of a generic fault code reader)

all was good for a week or 2, then the "Engine check" light came on a few times, then for the first time the "DPF" light came on the dash, which indicated the filter was blocked. before i knew it, car went into limp mode and i struggled to get it home.

did some googling, and read that this could be due to the filter being blocked, and read all these horror stories about garages charging over a grand to replace, then all these places doing bypases and remaps for 4-500 etc etc.

as this was out of the question, i set about thinking about it logically.. there was not fluid in the tank, but if the sensor was faulty, this would stop regeneration... so decided to hunt down the sensor...

this is approx £50 from the dealer (i managed to get one off eBay for £20!) the part number required is: 076 906 051 A

i then set about looking for how to clean the filter. again, googling i found places that will clean the filter, do a furced regeneration etc, so thought surely i can do this myself...

i removed the DPF, and could see this was totally blocked up to the point the pressure had blown off one of the pipes to the sensor, which i think is what caused it to go to limp mode suddenly.

i read that a hot pressure wash can be used, and watched a couple of videos on youtube.

as i didn't have a hot pressure washer, i poured a couple of kettle fulls of boiling water into the filter, which got totally absorbed (which worried me a little!) then i poured some brake / clutch cleaner into it **WARNING*** this gives off some nasty fumes which will make you dizzy and give you a thumping headache even though outside in well ventilated area!

this began to fizz like a mento in a bottle of coke! and after leaving this to soak for half hour, i poured a couple more kettles full of boiling water into the filter, and water began to run through. i helped this along by using a normal cold water pressure washer and was amazed at the rubbish that came out!

when the water was running fairly freely i left this to drain over a couple of days..

i then re attached to the car, fitted the new sensor and cleared down the codes and started the car... yes there was lots of steam for about an hour! where the filter was drying, but after this, i took it on a 30 min drive up and down the motorway to get the car to do a regen, and touch wood, after 500 miles, no more error light, no more limp mode, and the car is doing its regens as it should.

this cost me a total of £80, including chucking a mate some money for removing and re fitting the exhaust as i didn't have the time

sorry for the mahoosive post, but thought would take the time to give a guide to self fixing as well as letting people know these cars are not all bad, and not all will cost the earth to keep on the road....

how did you open and fill the dpf tank in the boot , i have the same car and the same problem but when i opened the boot and took out spare tyre i found two caps and removed them to see 2 black nozzels with covers on them , not wanting to damage anything i left it at that an put everything back untill i get some more info , thanks
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how did you open and fill the dpf tank in the boot , i have the same car and the same problem but when i opened the boot and took out spare tyre i found two caps and removed them to see 2 black nozzels with covers on them , not wanting to damage anything i left it at that an put everything back untill i get some more info , thanks

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  • 1 month later...

probably a bit late now... but the 2 black nozzels are for the same tank. one acts as a breather as you fill the other with the additive.

my origional post isn't entirely foolproof though. i still get the regen regularly, and a month ago, i got the DPF blocked again. however this could be due to a split turbo pipe and short journeys....

this time, was a case of drop the DPF out, blast it out with an air compressor (hessian sacking around either end to catch the soot!!) then a couple of kettles full of hot water then the hose pipe to flush, back on the car and run it for half hour to dry it all out.!

shame my camshaft can't be sorted so easily and cheaply.... :sweat:

  • Like 1
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  • 2 months later...

ended up getting my d p f filter and cat cleaned out , which basically meant removing the units and chipping out the centre with a long chisssle . then a remap , have,nt looked back although still get the coil light every so often but no limp mode anymore

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  • 3 years later...
  • 4 months later...

Hello,

I have a Superb 2.0 from 2007. It has the BSS engine.

I have looked for the Adblue tank on the boot but can't find it. Anyone can explain exactly where it is?

Thanks.

Nuno.

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Hello,

I have a Superb 2.0 from 2007. It has the BSS engine.

I have looked for the Adblue tank on the boot but can't find it. Anyone can explain exactly where it is?

Thanks.

Nuno.

Spare wheel well.  See the self-study guide p16.

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/221935-dreaded-dpf-not-all-bad-news/?p=4542723

 

It is NOT adblue, this thread is incorrect and based on incomplete information.  See here for more info:

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/291834-dpf-top-up-flashing-glow-plug-warning/?p=3576569

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