Help - just bought Monte Carlo and do short journeys mostly. Mistake?

[twoladies]

Never had a diesel before and love this car.  But been told diesel is a mistake if you do short journeys.

 

The book says you can clear the filter, but I wonder how often I would have to do this?

 

 It does say a warning light comes on.

 

The dealer never mentioned this could be a problem.  Is it?

 

Any advice gratefully received.

[blueR36]

The dealer should have informed you of this, go for a long drive, preferably motorway , once a month and you will be fine . The problem is when the DPF (Diesel Particulates Filter) clogs  up then your warning light comes on. Its a filter in your exhaust which traps the soot and if you go on a long journey "regenerates" , which is it gets super hot and burns off the soot again leaving your exhaust unrestricted. they only do this on a longer run as they were designed to do this in the country rather than city to reduce CO gasses . Hope this explains, and welcome to Briskoda   

[Rooted]

Welcome to the forum.

 

Enjoy your car.

It is only a problem if it ever proves to be one for you.

Many have never had any issues and likely never have during their ownership.

 

george

[twoladies]

Feeling a bit better now.

 

Thanks

 

Love the car - its automatic - white with a black roof and looks great.

 

At least a warning light comes on and I live quite near the M1 - also a quarter of a mile from a Skoda dealer!!

[DonjSZ5]

The dealer will not mention it.....$$$$$$$

[longedge]

The dealer will not mention it.....$$$$$$$

Mine did. In fact the salesman raised it fairly early in our discussion. I only do short journeys but as I understood it, putting the drive into manual on say a dual carriageway where you can keep a constant speed up and keeping the gear low enough to ensure that you are 'pulling' and over 2500 r.p.m. for several miles will be enough to prevent problems. Is this an over-simplification or incorrect?

[Merlin's Friend]

I've had an elegance 170 for four years and only done 9,000 miles. Had no bother with the DPF at all. Enjoy your car.

[137699]

Ours did too. When we talked about specs etc., as our last car was petrol he asked why we were leaning towards diesel for the Yeti and the first question he asked was whether we did mostly long or short drives as he would never recommend a diesel for someone doing predominantly short journeys.

 

From what I have hear from guys in diesel engine development, once the light comes on to say you need to do a regen, you have already partially damaged the DPF - after 3 or 4 instances of a light coming on the DPF will need to be replaced as it will have lost it's efficiency. Given this is often a four-figure sum, and won't be covered under warranty, you don't want this to occur - so the best policy is to do a regular lengthy fast speed run to prevent the filter clogging in the first place and prevent the light from coming on.

[Carlodiesel]

Hi twoladies,

As others have said, just go for a run once a month.

Treat yourselves to a visit to the coast.

There are loads of places in the UK you maybe havent found yet.

So go explore.....make it a day out.

Enjoy your car 

There's nought to worry about the diesel.

[ejstubbs]

Never had a diesel before and love this car.  But been told diesel is a mistake if you do short journeys.

 

The book says you can clear the filter, but I wonder how often I would have to do this?

 

 It does say a warning light comes on.

 

The dealer never mentioned this could be a problem.  Is it?

 

Any advice gratefully received.

 

As an owner of a diesel Yeti which these days (due to a change in circumstances) gets used primarily for short journeys I can say that in my experience it should not be a problem.

 

You only have to take specific action to clear the filter if the warning light comes on.  Read what it says in the owner's manual - page 30 in the current edition I believe:

 

If the warning light comes on, this means that soot has accumulated in the diesel particle filter because of the frequent short distances.  In order to clean the diesel particle filter, the vehicle should be driven at an even speed of at least 60 km/h at engine speeds of 1 800 - 2 500 rpm for at least 15 minutes or until the warning light goes out with the 4th or 5th gear engaged (automatic gearbox: position S) when the traffic situation permits it. This increases the exhaust temperature and the soot deposited in the diesel particle filter is burnt.

 

The warning light goes out after the successful cleaning of the diesel particle filter.

 

There's no need to deliberately go on long runs on a regular basis simply in order to stop the light coming on.  It's perfectly safe to wait for the light to come on before taking action.

 

In my nearly five years of diesel Yeti ownership I think I can remember no more than three occasions when the light has come on on my dashboard, and every time it has gone out after following the procedure recommended in the manual.

 

Despite that fact that the diesel engine is not ideal for the current use I make of the car, it works fine and the idea of changing the car because of it has never crossed my mind.

[domhnall]

My dealer talked me out of diesel for this very reason four years ago.  He has another customer who wouldn't listen and he has charged her to rectify DPF problems a couple of problems now. So long as you're aware of it and can take preventative action you should be OK.

[Auric Goldfinger]

Different car but my MKIII Octavia Vrs TDi sometimes only does 20 miles a week, 2 miles to work and 2 miles back. I've had the car for over a year and never seen the DPF light although we do go further afield on a weekend

[philipashby]

Had 3 regens in 3 years... Just took the wife out somewhere nice making sure to run along the motorway for a bit.

 

I have noticed that before the light comes on the engine seems to rev higher than usual (generating the necessary heat I presume) before the regen light comes on...

 

For more info: http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/diesel-particulate-filters/

[chocki]

What is actually classed as a short journey?.

Is it where the engine has not reached normal operating temperature.

Is it a run of less than 20 minutes.

Is it a run of less than 5 miles????

What does everyone suggest?

 

I know when regeneration has started because the exhaust note becomes very boomy (2.0 170 DSG), so I try to keep the revs up a bit (sport mode or manual) and maybe even drive the long way round for an additional 10 minutes to allow regen to finish.

[weasley]

Forgetting the DPF, let's also discuss some other inherent concerns about diesels over short distances:

 

- warming up: diesel engines take longer to warm up, meaning they are operating at sub-optimal conditions for longer.  Worse in the winter due to the large volume of cold air going into the engine

- fuel dilution: due to the above, any fuel dilution will not evaporate from the oil, causing possible excess fuel dilution in the oil, leading to reduced oil performance

- condensation: same goes for condensation in the oil

- increasing biodiesel levels: biodiesel components are less volatile than regular diesel and are relatively unstable; the fuel dilution issue above can lead to preferential concentration of biodiesel in the oil which can then oxidise and cause deposits.

 

For these reasons (and others), short journeys are considered to be 'severe service' and you should make sure you are on the fixed interval servicing (not long-life).  Using decent oil and changing it regularly will mitigate much of the above.

[KaroqKent]

I think that this has been posted before but here is Skoda's advice on Diesel Common Rail engines (as fitted to the Yeti) and the Diesel Particulate Filter.

 

[Brijo]

Now approaching three years old but with less that 19,000 miles on the clock, my 140 was selected to handle a heavy caravan but does about two-thirds of her mileage on short, very rural journeys.  The DPF warning light hasn't shown yet, and we've been conscious of interrupted self-regens (the fans running on when the engine is switched off) perhaps half a dozen times.  These incidents don't seem to have followed any particular pattern of circumstances. 

 

e.g. After a couple of months of short runs, we've just done a there-and-back on the M4-M5, nearly two hundred miles each way, making progress (as they say) generally at 65 to (ahem) 70...ish.  Whenever I checked, oil temp was shown as 95-101C, suggesting a nice warm engine.  Yesterday, two days after later, there was an interrupted self-regen :S !   

[g6zru]

As Brijo, I've had two deisel Yetis and my annual mileage is less than 6k. I've never had the DPF light come on and most of my mileage is local on A and B roads. Once or twice the fans continued to run when the engine was turned off accompanied with a hot  smell. This alarmed me at first but by the time we'd completed our shopping every thing was back to normal.

 

Fred

[g6zru]

What is actually classed as a short journey?.

Is it where the engine has not reached normal operating temperature.

Is it a run of less than 20 minutes.

Is it a run of less than 5 miles????

What does everyone suggest?

 

I know when regeneration has started because the exhaust note becomes very boomy (2.0 170 DSG), so I try to keep the revs up a bit (sport mode or manual) and maybe even drive the long way round for an additional 10 minutes to allow regen to finish.

Don't worry about it, I think you  have discovered a method that works  for you.

 

Fred

[aerofurb]

I've had three CR170 Yetis and have yet to see a problem - despite the daily meander to work (along A and B roads) is only 15 miles. On average, they've also had a good blat about once a week.

 

Sure, there has sometimes been a regen going on but not that often. They have all been fed on either BP Ultimate, until the local one changed to 'Co-op', since when it's been Shell V-Power Nitro+ Plus diesel.

 

I'm sure a lot of the stories of instant death to a DPF-equipped car the moment it sets tread off a motorway are created over a pint of beer by people with no hands-on experience. Sure, as has been said, it may not be an ideal journey profile but it works just fine. And we do like having the grunt of 170+ bhp......

[Falmouthboy]

DPFs have improved significantly from those fitted back in the last decade when Euro V rules made them necessary. Essentially, the regeneration will only initiate when the exhaust can reach the regeneration temperature and maintain it for a prolonged period. These conditions are achieved far more quickly in the latest cars. You hear far less of issues with newer cars than those 6 - 7 years old. Of course, the latest Euro VI engines may open a whole new 'can of worms' as the emissions are further reduced and people need to get their heads around 'add blue'.

[chocki]

I've heard all sorts of mumbo jumbo about Diesels over the years from people who don't know what they are talking about, they just read something added their spin on it and regurgitate it as supposed fact.

Yes, DPF's can get blocked, Yes Dual mass flywheels can fail, Yes water pumps can fail, Yes the cylinder head can warp, Yes.....

Lots of things can go wrong with ANY car but if it was a really big problem it would be all over the news like some of the Toyota recalls, which were a safety issue.

True, if all you ever do is pop out to the local shops 1 mile away twice a day, you will have problems with ANY car except possibly electric.

My old car has been used very little by my GF since January and now one of the front brakes has seized, this is purely through lack of use, also all the rubber bushes will harden and crack!, rubber needs to be worked to remain flexible.

 

A diesel Yeti will be fine as long as it gets a good blast every so often (Italian tune up?). Us it as an excuse to go visit somewhere nice for a day or go to the next town for a shopping trip, you'll appreciate how nice the Yeti is to drive and the change of scenery and the Yeti will appreciate the exercise.

[Brijo]

.....  Yesterday, two days after later, there was an interrupted self-regen :S !   

 

And again today.  Unavoidable short run.  Not worried - Italian tune-up booked for Monday morning :clap: !!

[Frenchtone]

^ this pm for me      

[Obadiah]

My Octy is on an 08 plate. It was  bought for towing, but that stopped about three years ago, since when it has rarely done long journeys. Never had any problems!