DPF light on - no town driving - PD170 vRS

[silver1011]

Great advice and help guys - much appreciated.

I'll ask them to change it next week

[mattcut]

My PD170 does about 350 miles a week to and from work about 30 miles of which are motorway.

I have only ever had a DPF light on when on a weekend with some round town low speed driving it would rough idle. Seems odd but soon goes on with a drive in fifth at about 70 soon sorts it out.

[silver1011]

...a drive in fifth at about 70 soon sorts it out.

Going to give this a try on Monday morning!

[Davidsr20]

My PD170 does about 350 miles a week to and from work about 30 miles of which are motorway.

I have only ever had a DPF light on when on a weekend with some round town low speed driving it would rough idle. Seems odd but soon goes on with a drive in fifth at about 70 soon sorts it out.

Do u get slight hessitation too on regen ?

Iv only had 2 regens in nearly 5 months. And again both on town driving

[silver1011]

Well on the run to Skoda this morning, kept the revs high, 55mph in fourth reving to around 2,500rpm.

After about 10 minutes / 5 miles the light went out.

Asked them about the exhaust sensor and the guy said if the sensor was faulty it would show the DPF light, engine management light and/or glow plug light all at the same time.

He seemed to think I may have just interupted the last couple of attempted regens and as per JRW's advice to do what I did this morning every now and then to get some heat into the exhaust.

Watch this space!

[silver1011]

Well guys I think you were right!

Since my original post the DPF light went out and that was the end of it - or so I thought.

Today the 'Control System for Exhaust Gases' light came on...

Hmm I thought, maybe its that dodgy exhaust sensor? Car driving fine, no limp home mode. I don't know anyone with VCDS so rang around for the cheapest diagnostics quote so I could get the fault code read.

Anyway on the way home cruising at 70mph in 6th thinking about what I should do the DPF light came on too which led to me being sure that it was the exhaust sensor at fault. I dropped down from 6th to 4th, still at 70mph but reving to around 3,300rpm. Within a mile or two the DPF light went out.

So I'm booked in to my local Skoda dealer on Monday and they've ordered up a replacement exhaust sensor so that it is in stock just in case my suspicions are confirmed! Let's hope it is and the new one has MADE IN MALAYSIA on it!

I'll be ringing Skoda UK too as if this is such a common fault across the VAG range they should be chipping in too!

Been quoted £102 for the sensor and labour to fit it and £70 for the required diagnostics, so £175ish in total.

[Davidsr20]

Very same symtoms I had, £170 is very expensive. I had mine bought and coded for €70 with a friend.

New sensor is great tho, only had 1 or 2 regens in 7 months.

Edited 22 June, 2012 by Davidsr20

[silver1011]

I rang another Skoda dealer to get the cost of the sensor by itself and it came out at £58 plus VAT (£70) so they are charging me £32 to fit it. She said they'd reduced the labour charge.

The extra £75 for the diagnostics is a bit of a cheek though so I'll question this on Monday, no doubt this is funding the discount on the labour!

[hatchy]

Don't know if mine is stil the old 'US' one or not but say it is and I want to change it (no DPF issues) can you not just swap it out for the new one then? Seems bloody daft that a new sensor has to programmed to the car.

[Davidsr20]

New sensor needs to be adapted 2 min Job and it only takes 5 min to fit too.

[hatchy]

Fitting wouldn't be a problem, it would just stick in my throat a bit that the cost would be near enough doubled because it would need to be coded at a dealer (haven't got Vagcom and wouldn't know how to work it anyway). Seems modern cars are a money making scheme for dealers as far as this sort of thing goes.

Oh well looks like the previous owner (or the lease company he had it from) had the expense of changing this. Took a picture and it's the Malaysian one. Maybe done at the same time the DPF was renewed at just 58,000.

[silver1011]

I'm hoping my dodgy sensor hasn't knackered my DPF!

[Davidsr20]

I'm hoping my dodgy sensor hasn't knackered my DPF!

U should be ok as mine was apparently gone a week or so.

[silver1011]

Well, it was confirmed, the exhaust pressure sensor was logged as at fault after the car was plugged in.

Thanks to the knowledge picked up on here I'd asked the dealer to order one in so that if it was faulty they could fix it there and then. 2 hours and £166 later I now have a new sensor fitted.

Good news though, Skoda UK have offered a 50% refund as a gesture of goodwill due to the cars full Skoda service history so that is a cheque for £83 on its way. I really can't fault Skoda UK, they have been brilliant with all my issues to date despite the car being well out of warranty.

BUT, and here is the but, the sensor was fitted on the Monday and I drove from York to London on Wednesday, 4 hours of 70-80mph in 6th, no stops, traffic jams etc. On the way home yesterday I was caught in 10-15 minutes of stop start traffic on the M25 - and on pops the DPF light!

After the traffic cleared I did the usual and stuck it in 4th at 70mph and it cleared with a jerk and splutter after a few miles. DPF light off.

So the cars is able to regen itself but why is the DPF becoming full so often and after such a short time of crawling along in traffic?

Is it so full of burnt soot (ash) that it takes less new soot to fill it, i.e the DPF has reached the end of it's life?

Or is my car smoking more than normal (I've had several of the post-injector change issues including a rising oil level) causing it to fill up with soot much quicker?

I rang the dealer back today and they said if the DPF is able to regen itself then there isn't really an awlful lot they can do.

They have agreed to perform a forced regen if I take it back in next week to see if that is able to clear more of the soot than a standard regen.

I hate to think how often I'd see the light if it wasn't for the fact that 100% of my mileage is on the motorway!

[Kenich]

I had the dpf light come on, more and more often until it clogged fully. Took a while though.... 80k to :-(

[silver1011]

Yeah, I bought my car at just over 3 years old with 33,000 miles on it.

Although I'm now doing 20,000 miles a year (it's now got 48K on it) I think the DPF may have had a tough time in its early life and is about shot!

[jrw]

Yeah, I bought my car at just over 3 years old with 33,000 miles on it.

Although I'm now doing 20,000 miles a year (it's now got 48K on it) I think the DPF may have had a tough time in its early life and is about shot!

Before 'wasting' a forced regen try some of this stuff:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Diesel-Particulate-Filter-Cleaner-Fluid/dp/B005FOCB6M

Meant to be good and a review on there mentions his VRS.

Also make sure you are using non supermarket fuel as this seems to be very sooty (proved so on my Bora PD with no DPF....noticable increase in smoke on supermarket fuel) and perhaps try a few tanks of V Power to give it a good clear out.

[silver1011]

When you say 'waste' a forced regen am I limited to the number of forced regens that can be done?

I don't know why but I'm reluctant to add these 'solutions in a bottle' to my fuel?

I only run it on BP standard diesel.

[jrw]

When you say 'waste' a forced regen am I limited to the number of forced regens that can be done?

I don't know why but I'm reluctant to add these 'solutions in a bottle' to my fuel?

I only run it on BP standard diesel.

iirc you can only have a forced regen once or twice.

These solutions have been tried and tested....There was a thread on here sometime ago about them and a foreign member (before they were properly released over here) had used one with great results. I don't think that they can do any harm.

more info on the cleaner:

http://www.dieselparticulatefiltercleaner.com/Random-artikelen/jlm-diesel-particulate-filter-cleaner-diesel-particulate-filter-cleaning.html

[Octyman140]

Diesel Particulate Filters are just so unnecessary, they are just there to pleas Euro emission nosey parkers. I had my DPF removed some time ago (professionally) and feels like a new car they have to slightly remap the car and I'm running at around 200bhp from a 2.0 pd170 stock engine. Mpg is superb too, I'm averaging. 47.0mpg and I do give it some stick.

It's now on 120,000 and running like a dream, give some consideration to the DPF vasectomy

[silver1011]

There are a couple of things about DPF removal that concerns me...

1) Smoke. I really do like the fact that with a DPF you get no smoke so it's impossible to tell how hard the car is being driven.

2) The different types of DPF removal. Is a complete removal or internals only removal recommended?

I'll ask on Thursday before the 'forced regen' to see if I am limited to the amount that be done. To be fair if the DPF is nearly dead it'll still be worth having a go (the dealer has agreed to do it FOC). If it makes no difference I'll try the DPF cleaning fluid. If all else fails it'll be getting removed.

[Octyman140]

There are a couple of things about DPF removal that concerns me...

1) Smoke. I really do like the fact that with a DPF you get no smoke so it's impossible to tell how hard the car is being driven.

2) The different types of DPF removal. Is a complete removal or internals only removal recommended?

I'll ask on Thursday before the 'forced regen' to see if I am limited to the amount that be done. To be fair if the DPF is nearly dead it'll still be worth having a go (the dealer has agreed to do it FOC). If it makes no difference I'll try the DPF cleaning fluid. If all else fails it'll be getting removed.

I've got to agree with you I was in exactly the same position as you, do I replace the DPF filter or have it removed?

Granted you do get smoke when accelerating hard but you can't see you're not behind the car so why does it matter? You will actually be surprised at how little the standard engine without DPF actually creates.

When I had my removal all they simply did was remove the DPF take out the internal parts of the DPF filter and replace it so from the outside it looks quite normal. There were a few software adjustments that are required but these were minimal and all included in the price of £600.

Personally I've never looked back and the engine performs much better without it

[a1.gaz]

Ive seen videos on You Tube of DPF's been taken off and cleaned out. Can this be done with the VRs DPF?

[Pedant]

Here's a tale of 2x cars for you. I bought a 57 Octavia II VRS PD170 a year ago with 10k miles on the clock (and beautifully specced - 1 day I'll get round to posting a pic or 2). Anyway, previously I had a Fabia I VRS PD130 for 2 years and loved it - the power, the ratios, the MPG (it'd out accelerate a 330d at 40mph easily whilst returning 55MPG). Drove it for 40k miles and then the family grew.

So, wasn't expecting the same from the Octavia but added 20k miles in the last year have always thought the power and mpg have been disappointing - I've never been able to find a 'sweet spot' for cruising and getting some decent mpg (40mpg avg with a mix of enthusiastic/cruise control at speed limit). The power has been coming in @ 2800rpm - high vs the Fabia - and even when putting it up gears, the computer has offering lower mpg figs than in the lower gear. So - not logical to me as I'd always assumed higher gear/lower revs would = better mpg and/or less engine wear. So, as a briskoda voyeur (as opposed to prolific poster - hence my lean post count :-) ), I've been saving the pennies to get a Stage 1 remap done.

Figured I'd have a service and MOT done last week. Pick it (car flew through the MOT @ 5 yo btw - and the tester had 'no advice' to offer so happy days). Driving it home from the garage and - the engine management light comes on. Interesting. So I turn around and they say 'running engine at 3k revs stationary sometimes does weird things' and wipe the light off. Drive off for 5 miles and the dpf light comes on. Fantastic methinks. Never come on before in 20k of mostly motorway miles. So I head off to a nice motorway at 50ish for a bit in 4th (as per manual and my apologies if you had to overtake me on the M4 last week - it won't happen again). Light goes off, happy days. Get up the next day, and bingo the light comes back on.

Dilemma wise, and having been following this thread - i figure it might be the exhaust sensor. But, given I was going to have the remap done anyway, I made the call on a dpf off Stage 1.

Just got back. OMG. This is a new car. I cannot believe I've driven 20k miles in this car when I could have been driving the 'new' car I now have. Ratios - work so much better. Power - comes in at c2200 - not unruly but you don't have to rev it to get power (the missus has a 1.4l turbocharged petrol which needs that). And 6th gear is finally useful - previously (when on the autobahn) I'd use 4th to move from 70-100 but now 6th can be used to accelerate lower down. Plus, it's great now to cruise in.

MPG:

STD build - 45 (40 with heavy foot)

Stage 1 remap (albeit after 2 days) 55 (50)

DPF off - I notice the cloud which covers the White A3 trying to keep up - but was used to this from the Fabia. Conscience wise - I'm on motorways 90% of the time for my sins.

Overall - I can't recommend doing this highly enough - it's an outlay but given this car is a keeper for me it's the best smile per buck I've spent in a while (whether it be pushing me back in my seat finally or smirking at the mpg fig finally going into the 70+ range during a journey).

Oh and I'm deliberately not calling out who I used so any cynics (like me) don't assume I've got some backhanded for marketing them!

[silver1011]

Great post Pedant, I understand you not wanting to mention the garage that did the removal for you but would you mind sharing with me how much it cost (roughly)?

I've spoken to people who have paid £600-£800 at the top end (Shark etc.) and others who have paid as little as £250...