Is my DPF regen too often?

[donny1972]

Afternoon folks, I have had my 63 plate octavia vrs diesel for almost 2 weeks now and so far very impressed with it. I have covered about 360 miles so far and the car has done a regen at least 3 times  going by the 1k revs tickover.  My problem is that today it started doing another regen prob about 90 miles from the last one. Is this normal or is my DPF doing too many regens? 

 

 

[MoggyTech]

It all depends on the sort of runs the car is getting. Short trips will give you a lot of passive regens. Motorway cruising tends to result in a regen at the end of the journey. It's a 'smart' system and will regen after about 600Km no matter what. You will see more regens in cold weather as well. How many is too many? worry when the light comes on to say the car needs a forced regen.

[donny1972]

Thanks for the reply. As i said i have noticed it 3 times in 360 miles. 

[shanemeh]

What journeys are you taking?

 

Even so don't worry about it. If you interrupt it, the car will just carry on. It's designed to do it with no worries. 

[MoggyTech]

When I first got my 2014 VRS CR 2.0 it did regens every few hundred miles, then they tailed off once I got some miles on the car. Switched back to petrol as I needed a DSG due to knackered left wrist.

[donny1972]

I dont do many miles daily i would say about 20 but i usually give the car a good run at the weekend,

[Mike97]

Got my 64 plate vrs tdi in november with near 14k miles on it and have been monitoring regens with vag dpf. At the moment i am only doing short trips say 10miles each way and a good blast once a week up the m6 for an hour. I have noticed it never regens on the motorway and if i dont do a motorway run to get the miles up it regens around 150 mile mark. The soot level has never dropped during motorway runs as the temp only ever gets to around 200c if you are lucky and when its doing a regen its near 700c. It regens at about 24g of soot then finishes around 4/5g.

Edited 9 February, 2017 by Mike97

[Sec8200]

1 hour ago, Mike97 said:

Got my 64 plate vrs tdi in november with near 14k miles on it and have been monitoring regens with vag dpf. At the moment i am only doing short trips say 10miles each way and a good blast once a week up the m6 for an hour. I have noticed it never regens on the motorway and if i dont do a motorway run to get the miles up it regens around 150 mile mark. The soot level has never dropped during motorway runs as the temp only ever gets to around 200c if you are lucky and when its doing a regen its near 700c. It regens at about 24g of soot then finishes around 4/5g.

 

Can you please post a link to the app?

Also did you noticed regens when soot level is low, I believe there are some fixed interval values w/ or w/o enough soot.

What is the BlueTooth dongle you use, standard one or I need something special?

 

Thanks!

[Mike97]

This looks like my elm327 but i am looking for a micro one with an on and off switch as this one is a bit big in the footwell and i dont like plugging it in and out all the time.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/132084606772?lpid=122&chn=ps&adgroupid=40208335658&rlsatarget=pla-277438309573&adtype=pla&poi=&googleloc=1007077&device=t&campaignid=738217568&crdt=0&ul_ref=http%3A%2F%2Frover.ebay.com%2Frover%2F1%2F710-134428-41853-0%2F2%3Fmtid%3D1673%26kwid%3D1%26crlp%3D172723032140_563391%26itemid%3D132084606772%26targetid%3D277438309573%26device%3Dt%26mpre%3Dhttp%253a%252f%252fwww.ebay.co.uk%252fitm%252flike%252f132084606772%253flpid%253d122%2526chn%253Dps%26adtype%3Dpla%26googleloc%3D1007077%26poi%3D%26campaignid%3D738217568%26adgroupid%3D40208335658%26rlsatarget%3Dpla-277438309573%26gclid%3DCM3YsID6g9ICFeyT7Qodyn8B7Q%26srcrot%3D710-134428-41853-0%26rvr_id%3D1165844772624 the app is called vag dpf its on the android play store you can use the free version or buy the full version. I have not seen the soot level drop on a run i did a run up the m6 on monday between 70/80 for an hour and it never dropped but did not go up as quick as town driving. Only ever seen soot get lower when the ecu starts a regen at around 24g i have only stopped the car once during a regen which was after driving the car from the dealers as i did not know it was doing a regen. Now if its doing one i just run it down the motorway a regen seems to take between 15/20 minutes to get the level down to 4/5g

 

Edited 9 February, 2017 by Mike97

[SuperbTWM]

There are other reasons for the revs to be at 1K, are you sure its actually doing a regen and not just idling high to warm up the car.

 

Doing short runs this time of year my idle is raised most of the time.

 

Edited 9 February, 2017 by SuperbTWM

[Octy0GG]

I had an Octavia 2.0 TDI (150)

Almost all driving on country roads, no motorway, no stop start/sitting in jams.

Active regens approx every 100 miles despite never interrupting the active regens

Dealer said this is normal

Skoda customer services a bit more cagey - not quite prepared to say it was normal but not prepared to acknowledge that it could indicate a problem.

 

[Ootohere]

donny1972,  has your car had 'The Fix' before you bought it?

[Sec8200]

Mike, did you experiment once a regen starts and you catch it and leave it idle parked - does do anything to the soot, does it complete regens on IDLE? Sometimes I have option to leave it working 15mins idle but not having option to do additional ride just for this...

[Mike97]

Yes it revs at 1k and the fans come on i let it sit doing its stuff while waiting for my missus in the shop i just check every few days with the app and when its around 24g i just nip onto the motorway and wait for it to start and finish. It has also started driving around town so i just carry on and go round the block and let it do its job. It seems a good system it clears itself when it needs to. I think the oil ash will build up more with the shorter town journeys as they seem to make soot quicker so more regens.

 

[Gerrycan]

If I were a diesel owner that App/dongle would be my first purchase.

Should be a standard display option like mpg etc.,  in my opinion.

 

 

[donny1972]

7 hours ago, Offski said:

donny1972,  has your car had 'The Fix' before you bought it?

To be honest iam not sure.

[Ootohere]

Check in the boot beside the VIN sticker for a Service Campaign sticker to see if one was put there.

Check the VIN Checker online and see if your car still has the 'Fix; outstanding, or call a Dealership or Skoda Customer services and check with them.

Ask for all Service & Warranty information they hold on the system as well.

[Auric Goldfinger]

10 hours ago, Offski said:

donny1972,  has your car had 'The Fix' before you bought it?

 

If I remember correctly no MKIII Vrs Tdi's needed the fix.  I checked with the dealer to see if my Ex Tdi needed the fix and was told the MKIII Vrs Tdi's wern't affected.

 

No Fix Required 

[Ootohere]

Doh, sorry, i never even spotted this was the Mk3 section of the forum.

[Gabbo]

11 hours ago, Gerrycan said:

If I were a diesel owner that App/dongle would be my first purchase.

Should be a standard display option like mpg etc.,  in my opinion.

 

I would say the opposite, its better that most people know nothing about the DPF or how it is working.

If I were VW I would calibrate the fan at engine stop to be half the speed (to reduce the noise so less people notice it) but run it for longer & remove the rpm increase.

 

There's too many people with a diesel worrying about the DPF for no reason, driving at 2000rpm unecessarily, leaving the engine idling until the speed goes down or driving round the neghbourhood for 20 minutes instead of getting on with more interesting things.

Unless the warning light comes on, theres nothing you need to do & for the Mk3 I don't recall anyone having problems except for higher frequency regens when doing very very short trips.

 

In my BMW, its very difficult to know if a regen is happening as the only information is the tiny StopStart off lamp (where it gives no information why).

Sometimes, less information is better.

Edited 10 February, 2017 by Gabbo

[Gerrycan]

57 minutes ago, Gabbo said:

 

I would say the opposite, its better that most people know nothing about the DPF or how it is working.

 

Sometimes, less information is better.

You are probably right as my opinion is just a reflection of the type of person I am. I love that sort of stuff.

Every run or cycle ride I do is recorded on my wrist watch GPS (with heart rate monitor) and then uploaded to computer afterwards for analysis.

Obsessive? Moi?

There are a couple of people in the Superb section who can get seriously good consumption from their diesels. Obviously their driving style and environment minimise soot production and minimise regens.

[Sec8200]

@ Gabbo, yes & no

 

For example I want to know as much as possible, not only for this subsystem. I'm that kind of person. And... this is why I track forums, educating myself.

 

As for the other manufacturers - they seem to have their regens much more stealthy than VAG, specially our engines after the DieselGate. If the DPF did not irritate people it it's functioning and possible consequences then no one should care. Like many other subsystems that 'just work'...

 

The reason I want to know is to help this process AND make it more future proof as I plan to drive the car for longer.

 

Still I don't know where the burnt soot ash goes?

[Gerrycan]

The ash just collects and when the dpf is filled then it needs replacing.

or it can be reworked? Not sure on that though.

[Sec8200]

52 minutes ago, Gerrycan said:

The ash just collects and when the dpf is filled then it needs replacing.

or it can be reworked? Not sure on that though.

 

yeap, ****ty decision. Do you know approx how much is the cost?

[Gabbo]

1 hour ago, Gerrycan said:

You are probably right as my opinion is just a reflection of the type of person I am. I love that sort of stuff.

 

1 hour ago, TTodorov said:

@ Gabbo, yes & no

 

This is where the Tools like VAG DPF or other OBD Tools come in.

For those that have a technical interest the inforamtion is available but for the rest there is nothing for them to be worried/confused about.