3 Months ago I bought myself a 09 Diesel Octavia VRS LE (#130), it had just under 20,000 on the clock and ive taken it up to nearly 25,000. Up till now i've loved everything about the car, the way it looks, performs and the interior really does it for me. Its definitely the nicest car i've ever had :love: .

Unfortunately 2 weeks ago the exhaust sensor warning light came on, followed by the coil and the DPF light. The DPF regened on the way back from Nottingham to Leeds (driving at 3k rpm until the DPF and Coil lights turned off) and I dropped it off at DM Keith in Leeds. They replaced a sensor in the exhaust and did a forced regen of the DPF. I picked the car up on Tuesday and drove it back down to Nottingham (work) and everything seemed fine. On Thursday I started the car and my warning light was back on. Drove back to Leeds and popped into DM Keith today and they performed some diagnostics whilst I waited.

I've been told that the DPF is failing to regen and is now 20% full, when the car was plugged into the diagnostics an unknown fault code came back so they've reset the ecs taken it for a spin and the the DPF has regenerated.

The advice i've been given is to run the car over the weekend and see if the warning light comes back on, if it does I have to take it back (again) and they can perform some more diagnostics. But the guy I spoke to reckons the DPF could be on its way out. I don't know much about DPFs, apart from the fact they're expensive to replace, but to me a car of this age and mileage shouldn't be having these problems. The fact its taken 2 days and 180 miles for the DPF to get 20% full is worrying, to me I'd say thats a fault elsewhere in the system with the DPF filling so rapidly a sympton. Maybe i'm naive but i'm finding it hard to believe a DPF thats only done 25000 miles can be faulty?

I thought I fit the requirement for a diesel, I regularly drive long journeys and do alot of miles. Admittedly I enjoy driving the card hard at the weekend, but if you buy a VRS you don't buy it to drive slowly... If it comes to it i'll probably get the DPF removed and get a remap, although they guys at DM Keith suggested this could make it hard to pass the MOT due to emissions :wonder:

If anyones got any experience or thoughts id love to hear it.

Pretty sure removing the DPF would not really cause any problems with the MOT as they are not checking for the stuff that the main purspoe of the DPF is there for.

Unfortunately there are just too many stories of the DPF going wrong on all cars. Unfortunately the EU has forced their hand and they now have to have parts fitted that fail much earlier than you would normally expect.

20k miles on a 4 year old car will have been hard on the DPF as it will have been doing short journeys around town, so lots of start stop filling the DPF with soot and no long journeys to perform a regen = DPF killer.

Having said that 20k miles is still early for it to die, 120k is more expected.

As things stand at the moment as long as there is no outward sign of the DPF obviously having been replaced and it passes the standard smoke test (No reason to think it wouldn't) then you shouldn't have a problem. There is of course always potential for the MoT test to change for instance where the accepted smoke level for a DPF equipped car to be almost 0 which would then cause you a problem.

Correct me if I'm wrong but the LE has the CR engine? which aren't supposed to have DPF problems. I wonder if DMK adapted it correctly when fitting the new sensor, this would account for it being confused about the %full level (I wouldn't put anything past DMK).

The EU could stop letting the manufacturers get away with calling it a replaceable filter. That is the issue. It needs to be a warranty covered emissions control device, like an EGR. Then, they would have to bloody make them work better and people wouldn't get hit by huge bills. Currently they are fantastically profitable to replace.

I am over 100k with a DPF in a PD and so far never had the light on. At least I think the DPF is in it, not sure as I got it 2nd hand. I'll be getting mine cut out when it goes. My 140 engine is installed without a DPF in non-4x4 Octavias so it can pass emissions while standing still without.

Your right, the LE is a CR, its in the Skoda specs and i've got the diagonal cover.

Hopefully your right about DMK getting it wrong, I've read some very mixed reviews about them but they're closet to me. Seeing your in Holmfirth do you have any recommendations for Skoda garages in yorkshire?

Your right, the LE is a CR, its in the Skoda specs and i've got the diagonal cover.

Hopefully your right about DMK getting it wrong, I've read some very mixed reviews about them but they're closet to me. Seeing your in Holmfirth do you have any recommendations for Skoda garages in yorkshire?

No I don't, but fortunately I work over in Oldham and have found a couple of good independents over here, and I now do the basic servicing myself, so hopefully the car shouldn't be going near a garage too often.

I also have the DPF on a PD140 and at 97k it is showing no sign of problems yet

As above, your vRS has been covering low mileage before you bought it, therefore the DPF is likely to have had a tough time.

I bought a 4 year old PD vRS with 33K on it. Doing 30K year on the motorway allowed me to keep it alive for a little longer but it was shot when I sold it a few weeks ago on 75K. It got to the point even a slow run into town would see the DPF light and it was regenerating every other day on the motorway.

You clearly love the car so it sounds like a keeper?

Before it fails completely (you don't want to drive from Nottingham to Leeds in limp-home mode) take it to Shark and get the DPF removed, this and a stage 0 remap is about £450. You'll see better MPG and a more responsive throttle response.

Don't worry about the MOT. If they change the regs regarding the soot test then it will apply to vehicles built after the new rule is introduced.

As long as you get the engine nice and hot just before the test there will be no smoke or soot and certainly no where near enough to fail an MOT.

It's a fair chunk of cash but you won't regret it.

Oh, and take everything DM Keith tells you with a pinch of salt.

As above, your vRS has been covering low mileage before you bought it, therefore the DPF is likely to have had a tough time.

I bought a 4 year old PD vRS with 33K on it. Doing 30K year on the motorway allowed me to keep it alive for a little longer but it was shot when I sold it a few weeks ago on 75K. It got to the point even a slow run into town would see the DPF light and it was regenerating every other day on the motorway.

You clearly love the car so it sounds like a keeper?

Before it fails completely (you don't want to drive from Nottingham to Leeds in limp-home mode) take it to Shark and get the DPF removed, this and a stage 0 remap is about £450. You'll see better MPG and a more responsive throttle response.

Don't worry about the MOT. If they change the regs regarding the soot test then it will apply to vehicles built after the new rule is introduced.

As long as you get the engine nice and hot just before the test there will be no smoke or soot and certainly no where near enough to fail an MOT.

It's a fair chunk of cash but you won't regret it.

Oh, and take everything DM Keith tells you with a pinch of salt.

I think you misspelt Stage 1

:-)

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I have a CR Vrs and from new last May I have covered 28k miles, most of it on the motorway, which is ideal for the DPF.

This week my wife has had my car and she does 12 miles each way to work and yesterday it did a regen.

These cars and the DPF system is just not designed for short journeys.

I am trying to get myself into a new car (unfortunetly not Skoda) and the first thing to be done within a week of ownership is DPF removal + remap. I have not owned a car with the dreaded DPF and I don't intend to.

They should be a warranty item.

The DPF tech on CR engines works properly so you dont need to be so paranoid about short journeys killing the thing.

Providing you dont keep on interupting the scheduled (non indicated) regens one after the other (which in fairness is nigh on impossible as they only take a few minutes to complete) you shouldnt experience a problem.

I did 50k over 3 years in a 2.0 TDi CR 140 Golf MK6, many of those miles clocked up by short commutes to and from work with occasional long motorway runs and it never once did a forced regen and never gave me any DPF related issues. Ive also had a PD car with a DPF and that gave me 27k trouble free miles.

Long and short of it some cars may have a dodgy DPF; no different to a water pump or DMF problen that could be experienced at any point in these cars and be largely down to bad luck. To say that they are a problem technology now is unfair; they were just never v suitable for use on PD engined cars.

I for one like DPFs, something thats always done my head in with diesel cars is the amount of smog they throw out of back of them, with a DPF none of that....in fact I dont even need to clean the exhaust tips on the thing as they are never dirty.....not like my TSi powered Fabia vRS where they'd go black with burnt oil after a single drive.

Edited 22 June, 201312 yr by pipsyp

I for one like DPFs, something thats always done my head in with diesel cars is the amount of smog they throw out of back of them, with a DPF none of that....in fact I dont even need to clean the exhaust tips on the thing as they are never dirty.....not like my TSi powered Fabia vRS where they'd go black with burnt oil after a single drive.

DPF's were introduced to stop diesels producing soot which can cause health issues for some as they get trapped in your lungs.

The DPF doesn't stop any emissions, they burn up any soot & the resulting pollutants are sent down the exhaust, these are much smaller particles & wont get trapped in your lung because they are fine enough to be passed through the lung ( your body filter) into the blood stream to I assume wander around your body at will. Im guessing another health time bomb waiting to go off

Read the lower part of this article, what the DPF wont do, scary stuff !!!

http://www.trolleycoalition.org/dpf.html

Edited 22 June, 201312 yr by Stuart_J

They also make your car burn more fuel, both through regenerations and general power reduction. No thankyou.

So far I haven't had any DPF problems with my 140pd scout. Unfortunately my usage has changed and in winter it tends to be used mainly for 5-10 minute runs to work and a weekly 40mile round trip. In summer it gets regular runs with the caravan and less short runs as I use the SLK.

So far Ive only been aware of 1 passive regen and rising oil levels. As I tend to keep cars for 8-10 years I always change the oil at 6 months.

Once the DPF starts to cause problems Ill be off to Shark to have it gutted.

Mark

So far Ive only been aware of 1 passive regen and rising oil levels.

Keep your eye on this. If the DPF regen is diluting the engine oil on a regular basis you have a problem.

Keep your eye on this. If the DPF regen is diluting the engine oil on a regular basis you have a Mazda.

Or a ford

DPF's were introduced to stop diesels producing soot which can cause health issues for some as they get trapped in your lungs.

The DPF doesn't stop any emissions, they burn up any soot & the resulting pollutants are sent down the exhaust, these are much smaller particles & wont get trapped in your lung because they are fine enough to be passed through the lung ( your body filter) into the blood stream to I assume wander around your body at will. Im guessing another health time bomb waiting to go off

:rofl: The soot is burned to produce carbon dioxide that would have been produced if the diesel had been burned efficiently in the engine in the first place. So yes, carbon dioxide molecules are smaller than soot particles but don't worry about them wandering around your bloodstream ad eternam - your lungs are removing natural CO2 from your system constantly for you to breath out.

So no "health timebomb" except for the global warming allegedly caused by rising CO2 levels.

They also make your car burn more fuel, both through regenerations and general power reduction. No thankyou.

So a bit like your air con then!

:rofl: The soot is burned to produce carbon dioxide that would have been produced if the diesel had been burned efficiently in the engine in the first place. So yes, carbon dioxide molecules are smaller than soot particles but don't worry about them wandering around your bloodstream ad eternam - your lungs are removing natural CO2 from your system constantly for you to breath out.

So no "health timebomb" except for the global warming allegedly caused by rising CO2 levels.

Its not referring to the gas CO2, its referring to smaller solid particulate matter.

So a bit like your air con then!

Except the government don't mandate that you have it on all the time and it provides something useful to me so I can choose whether to reduce my fuel economy for added comfort or not.

And if your air con fails you can just put up with it, if you DPF fails your into around £500 to remove it or more to replace. Ignoring it is not an option

wife had my car for 18 months 2miles here and there....school...shopping ect...no issues now I have it 15 mile to work ...m62 and one a road and its always bloody doing it,

So as soon as warranty is up this xmas its comming bloody out.....

sharked and dsg re-map and dpf out..

My DPF finally reached its end life about a month ago. My car had done 124,000 miles and over the last 6 months my DPF has been going into the 1st stage of DPF regeneration ie. rough drive and idle, revs moving to 1000. So instead of waitng for the orange light to come on I was forced to make unecessary journeys to clear the bugger having a majoe impact on my MPG figures. It got to a stage where I was trying to clear it every 2 days !! Finally got too much.

Took it down dealers who checked it out and said 'Sorry Sir, your DPF is almost full, has reached its end life. To rectify It will cost £1628 for parts and about 4 hours labour. Looking at over £2000'. Well you can imagine how I took that ! They charged me £82 for telling me this wonderful news lol. The car itself runs perfect apart from the DPF woes but there was no way I was going to get it replaced at that cost so started investigating the DPF removal route.

Managed to find a local company call NVMotosport who's website was full of testimonials from happy customers after speaking to the owner who was very knowleageable on the subject took the plunge at a cost of £425 to have DPF removed, gutted and put back on with Stage 0 remap and havent looked back since.

The car has been a revelation since. Smooth drive. a huge increase in MPG, no extra smoke from tailpipe, no worries about doing small journeys. Just wish I had done it earlier ! So if you start getting DPF issues go for it and get it taken off. Mine's a PD version which I believe is renowned for DPF woes and Cr versions which are less but do consider it for a stress free life !

Mine made to 123k and quote the 2k plus quiote so ditched the vrs for a more simple 1.9 tdi

I do miss it but living the lower motoring costs

I know you had the sensor replaced first time around but still sounds like a faulty exhaust gas pressure sensor. Could be a duff one. Mine failed recently and the symptom was dpf light on and failing to regen. showed a constant 42% full which did not change after regen a bit like your 20% and failure to regen. replacing the sensor again might still be worth a try. it is a lot cheaper than any of the other options. Also be worth getting a second opinion from another garage.