A couple of weeks ago I had the exhaust warning light come on (looks like an engine warning light with the two bits sticking out colored in!). I took it to a garage who checked scanned the fault code and found it to be a pressure inbalence/vague warning but nothing to really get panicked about. They said it could be the sensor on the way out though, and would be £45 for a new one & £55 to fit it.

They reset it though and for a week I had no problems. At the start of this week the light came on again, figuring it was a new sensor I booked it into a garage to ge it replaced. After a week of very very gentle driving the light went out again yesterday & hasn't come on despite 4 journeys since then. I am now tempted to bin getting it replaced and hang on to see if it comes on again a third time.

Does anyone have any experience of getting the DPF sensor replaced?

Second question, I have bee driving around keeping the revs as light as possible to try and save the DPF from getting fried whilst the sensor is on the fritz. These are journeys of 3-4 miles through town so the engine never gets more then 1/3 warm. Once a week the car then goes on a long 300mile motorway drive, keeping the revs around 2500. With the revs being kept so so low during the week, is this putting any stress on anything that wouldn't normally be expected to sit at just above idle speeds whilst bumbling around?

edit: i have had no noticeable loss in power with this.

many thanks guys

Edited 17 February, 201115 yr by Guest

let me know if you need a sensor i can do you a brand new one for £30

I could be calling on you soon mate, thanks for that!

No problem we have some surplus ones at work that's all

I will know more this weekend & even more next week, but there is a good chance Ill pick one up off of you just because if it has come on twice already... something isn't quite up to scratch! Have it booked in for a garage tomorrow though.

My 57 VRS TDI went into limp home mode after the DPF light came on on the motorway. Kept the revs at 2000rpm ish and it stayed for for over an hour.

Eventually the engine symbol joined in, but power was still fine. Restarting after stopping for fuel, the glow plug light came on flashing and limp wrist mode came into play.

Eventually the RAC came out (via Skoda Assist) and diagnosed the DPF sensor has faulty. The old sensor says "Made in the US" the replacement has a different part number and says "Made in Malaysis". RAC guy reckons that the earlier US sensor was a prone to fail on many Audi's and VW's and that the later sensor is much improved.

All fitted and "integrated" using his laptop, and after doing a forced regeneration (watching the particle levels on his laptop as we drove around) all was good.

yes the new sensors are a revised version

Does anyone know how much they cost to fit? I wonder if I am better off buying a new one & getting the RAC to fit it instead of the garage (have them, but havn't used them in years *touch wood*) if they are that simple to do/RAC can do it by the road side?

Alternatively, is it something someone with a bit of common sense can do himself?

Edited 2 March, 201115 yr by Guest

they are a 5 minute job to fit but need to be plugged in and reset using vagcom, rac roadside assistance buy 3-5 of these sensors off us everyday

Having the light on then, calling the RAC out to sort it would they be able to just swap the sensor, set it up and it would all be covered under their policy? I have one of their top packages (5 years with a saxo...). Would they not have some sort of T&Cs regarding doing this, as it effectively saves me nearly £100 from getting a garage to do it!

Touch wood it makes no difference to the running of the car, it'd get it done at home probably.

I have just had my exhaust pressure sensor replaced, is this the same as the dpf sensor? Sounds like they both do the same job.....

My question is, will my dpf need a regen ? The fault first happened 4 weeks ago and the light has been going on and off ever since. the light was guaranteed to come on if i switched it off while it was doing a regen {ticking over at 1000rpm} only had the dpf light once, ran it for 15 mins at 2500rpm and it went out

Edited 2 March, 201115 yr by studmuffin

MY DPF sensor light is still on (no surprise) but now the DPF exhaust light is on as well. This is desbite doing a good 30mile fast motorway spin last night when it came on originally. Only done 3 short journies since then.

Could this be a false positive caused by the DPF sensor? urgh

Took it for another long spin and the DPF light is still on! Could the sensor be causing the false positive? :(

possibly as far as i'm aware this could possibly be the case

When mine failed, the dpf light came on ans stayed on. Spurious readings from the sensor were stopping the filter from regenerating.

Finally the car went into limp mode and I had to call the RAC who replaced the sensor. From memory it should have been £46ish but was covered under warranty.

If the DPF sensor was stopping it from forced regen, it would still regen over a long drive wouldn't it? I am desperately worried about loosing the DPF filter and having £££ expensive bills over this bloody sensor.

Are there any tutoials on how to replace the DPF sensor? If its a 5 minute job to replace, I could prob attempt it myself. Then contact someone with Vagcom to set it up.

When you say RAC replaced the sensor, did they do a straight swap free of charge? (included in your RAC membership?). Its going to cost me £30 to buy a new sensor + find someone with vagcom, but if the RAC will replace it free of charge (through membership) I could call them out and get them to do it (Kieranzxt - thats what it sounds like they did with you).

Seems a bit too good to be true though tbh! :/

Edited 3 March, 201115 yr by Guest

When mine failed, the dpf light came on ans stayed on. Spurious readings from the sensor were stopping the filter from regenerating.

Finally the car went into limp mode and I had to call the RAC who replaced the sensor. From memory it should have been £46ish but was covered under warranty.

urgh, this just happened to me! Limp home mode, glow plugs flashing and just made it home. RAC are coming out in an hour to have a gander! *******s :(