Did a search on this and couldn't find anything int he forums, which was a bit of surprise, so apologies if if it's me not figuring how to use the search function.

 

So, as some diesel owners might be aware the MOT rules changed earlier this year. Thankfully i managed to sneak in under the older rules, buying myself a little time. But, as of my next MOT my car wont pass. I've had the DPF removed. I don't regret doing it one bit, in the first year i owned the car it was in the Skoda garage about 4 times after going in to limp home mode again and again with DPF issues. Since the DPF removal - nothing!

 

Anyone had any experience putting a DPF off car through an MOT under the new rules, or even re-fitting a DPF?

My big worry is that if i have one re-fitted i run the risk of making my car undriveable again.

 

Quick google search shows a few companies offering this now, which is no surprise, looks like about £700ish all in.

 

Any advice much appreciated.

Ta

Edited 16 August, 20187 yr by davross

Obviously what you are driving is illegal, but ignoring that..

 

As you have previously discovered the VRS pd had a very poor DPF implementation

• The PD was phased out as its fundamental electro/mechanical design didn't sit well with a DPF (active regens need diesel injection on exhaust stroke - originally cam primed pump operated once per cam revolution)
• The DPF was too far away from the engine exhaust ports (many cars now have it close coupled) so temperatures were always too low for passive regens

In addition as a car wears you have other issues

• Active regens leak diesel past piston rings - which is a poor lubricant and doesn't evaporate so sump oil becomes diluted 
• If you start burning some oil this can cause DPF ash issues

 

Basically you have a few DPF MOT issues if you don't refit

• You'll fail on any visible smoke at all 
• The smoke test is now based on the plated value for your car (plate is usually on a B pillar but value is usually held on computer) which is usually much lower than it used to be - especially if it used to be fitted with a DPF
• Any visual tampering (welding shut etc) comes under much stricter scrutiny

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 16 August, 20187 yr by bigjohn

It would be interesting to see if you pass, or how close to a pass your car will come without the DPF on the emissions test.

 

I'm pretty sure it would have to be running in tip top condition to even get close. I know with a DPF on my first MOT the reading didn't even register so the DPF is pretty effective which is also obvious by the fact that the exhaust tip is squeaky clean

 

 

Do these cars have a DPF instead of a catalyst converter, or have both.

 

cheers,

 

E

You could get yourself some acetone.  50 ml in a tank of diesel makes a difference not just to emissions. Been using it in pretty much every tank in every vehicle we have had in the last 10 years. 

10 hours ago, Excision said:

Do these cars have a DPF instead of a catalyst converter, or have both.

 

cheers,

 

E

 

Both.

Ok, thanks. My car stinks of fumes at low speed and wondered if I need a new DPF, cat or maybe both to get it not to stink. Something with the exhaust is not right but I don’t have any fault codes, etc. It drives fine.

I would check for exhaust leaks if you can smell fumes in the cabin. They can smell a bit when doing a regen as well. The PD170 is a notoriously bad engine for DPF problems

I have checked it and had it checked for leaks and found none. The smell is from the exhaust tips.  it’s a weird one. The car has done 170k miles and the DPF appears to function ok, but regens fairly regularly. 

I suspect mine has been removed, so am preparing myself for an MOT failure. After that it seems that there aren't many people offering DPF fitting services, but loads offering to take them out (old websites I suppose). I don't think my local garage will be able to do mine, so, if the worst comes to the worst I'm not sure what to do. The dealer isn't really an option! Anyone know of anyone in N Lancashire who can do it?

It is a bit of a bind.

 

These guys are the only people i can find offering the refit service https://www.autolusso.co.uk/dpf-refit.html

But a local garage might be avble to do it if they also provide remapping/tuning services.

Refitting the DPF should be easy enough and any half decent garage should be able to do most the work.

 

Hopefully, any sensors will have remained in place and can be reused as most DPF are gutted rather than being removed. The EGR is often blanked at the same time so that would need at least checking and then possibly de-blanking/cleaning/replacing.

 

At this point, it *should* just be a case of flashing the stock software onto the ECU to wipe the DPF delete. Either a tuner or even Skoda dealer should be able to do this.

 

Really it'll just depend how the DPF was removed to how much work/expense will be required to refit it.

Im sure you're right Langers2k, cant find much in the way of real-world experiences of people who've had it done though.

 

My personal issue is that i can't see it costing less than £800ish for the above work. Which will then put the car back to ptotentially having DPF issue s- especially for the sort of driving i do, so would be looking to sell it. With 150k-ish on the clock i'd be lucky to get £1500.

 

I'm in the same boat - perhaps worse - 190k. I saw those autolusso people, but I got the impression they only did alphas. I'll give them a call if/when it comes to it.  I just spent £700 on mine so I'm not keen on scrapping it for peanuts. I'm surprised there aren't more people about trying to find info on getting this job done. I suppose they'll all start appearing soon enough!

9 hours ago, davross said:

Im sure you're right Langers2k, cant find much in the way of real-world experiences of people who've had it done though.

 

So I pose a question...   is that because those that have been tested over the past 6 months that have had their DPF removed (and there must have been thousands) have actually passed meaning there isn't that much risk of failure?  I'm sure there would have been much more online chatter if cars were actually failing - even if it was just owners warning others and passing their experiences on? 

On 29/09/2018 at 18:28, DataflowDesign said:

You could get yourself some acetone.  50 ml in a tank of diesel makes a difference not just to emissions. Been using it in pretty much every tank in every vehicle we have had in the last 10 years. 

Does this make a DPF magically appear in the place where one used to be fitted?

5 minutes ago, Rustynuts said:

Does this make a DPF magically appear in the place where one used to be fitted?

 

No, you need the full gallon for that

You could always get an MOT in Northern Ireland, they haven't adopted the DPF rules, I asked them a couple of weeks ago and they get quite a few welded up DPF's and they have to pass them, no emissions test here only visual smoke.

Skomaz has a good point there. Surely there must be loads of people going for MOTs with removed dpfs. You only need to google dpf to see how many people were offering a removal service to get an idea of how many must have been removed. If they were all failing the web would surely be awash with lots of angry people complaining