Preserving my DPF during coronovirus lock down

[JPL1]

Hi,

My mileage/use patterns on my 2.0 diesel Superb (2012, 152K miles) have changed dramatically during the coronavirus lock  down. Does anyone know how fast and for how long the engine needs to be run to keep the DPF regen going and preserve the life of this part? I am sure there are whole load of mile munchers out there that are now doing a couple of slow town-based runs a week instead of their normal motorway bashes. 

[langers2k]

I have an almost identical engine in my '61 Octavia (190k miles) which I'd normally do ~500 miles a week in, it's now closer to 5...

 

 

The 2.0l CR engines don't tend to be bad on their DPF so I intend to use it as normal. If I get a warning light, I'll take it for a longer run but I'm not expecting any problems.

 

If you're really concerned, it might be worth grabbing an OBD adaptor and the VAG DPF app (assuming gyou have an android phone). If nothing else, it means you'll be able to see when the car starts performing a regeneration and take a longer drive to allow it to finish.

[JPL1]

Thank, Langers2K. I will keep an eye. Am I right in thinking that on the occasions when I park up and the car starts up the fan and runs for a while that this is something to do with the DPF regen, and not just a need to cool the engine (it happens occasionally regardless of whether or not the engine has been working hard or not, and regardless of ambient temperature - and the engine temp is rock solid steady always).

[J.R.]

You are right to raise this point, I dont have an answer to you other than to say that during the months that I was working on & off on rebuilding my Yeti, running the engine at idle to recharge the battery it brought up the light saying that it needed to be driven for a regen, it actually only took maybe 8km of motorway driving one junction to the next before the light went out but it took double that to get the oil temperature high enough for it to start, with the journey profile you mention I dont think that it would ever happen & the light will come on very soon.

 

There are going to be loads of blocked DPF's and around here if you take to the roads you stand out like a beacon to les flics and will be stopped or hit a road block (1km each side of where I live) and cop for a €135 fine if you cannot justify your journey, we cannot go to an Aldi 5km away if there are any foodshops closer so there would be no way of getting in a permitted journey that would clear the DPF.

 

My cars last journey was from UK to France on motorways & autoroutes so it should be clear, it is no up on blocks & I cycle everywhere.

 

I noticed a DPF cleaning company advertising on TV the other night.

[J.R.]

5 miles a week could presumably be walked to preserve the DPF, pretty soon you wont be able to go on a longer journey just to clear it except on the birthday of one of your parents if they were a head of state.

[langers2k]

39 minutes ago, JPL1 said:

Am I right in thinking that on the occasions when I park up and the car starts up the fan and runs for a while that this is something to do with the DPF regen

 

Yup, that normally means the car was performing a regen and to avoid fire risk from the higher temperatures, the fan keeps going to cool everything down. There isn't much point restarting the car as it's probably burnt off enough soot to get below the regen start limits.

 

36 minutes ago, J.R. said:

5 miles a week could presumably be walked to preserve the DPF

 

5 miles is one trip to the supermarket. It depends what the weathers doing and if I need heavy or light items to whether I'm gonna walk it

[Demonid3e]

My rev on neutral are about 700. When regen is on its about 1000. So if you see that your rev are 1000 you can wait on parked with engine running untill the cycle is finished then it drops to 700.  I`m using a cheap (about  13 quid on amazon) OBD scanner with dpf filter app to see the level of ash and time before regen and when regen startet to let car finish the cycle. Also noticed if you while parked press accelerator to 1500 revs the ash clears much faster.

[SuperbTWM]

Do as many short journeys as you want, but don't make the effort to do a long drive unless you know the DPF is regenerating, otherwise you are just filling it up more.

 

Just wait while you notice it regenerating and drive it about for an extra 20-30 minutes, out of town at a constant speed is more ideal but it will manage if not.

[silver1011]

If the car is being used for essential travel only i.e. a weekly trip to the supermarket for food and medicine then your DPF shouldn't be adversely affected.

 

It'd take a good few months of 5-10 mile journeys to fill the DPF up enough to trigger a regeneration.

 

Saying that your car is 9 years old and the mileage is getting close to a typical DPF's end of life, so it will already be quite full and will therefore be requiring more frequent regens.

 

How far / long are your essential journeys? If they allow you to maintain a steady speed for 10-15 minutes then you might be lucky and manage some passive regeneration.

[J.R.]

When I got my Yeti I did a VCDS scan and the DPF levels were really low which told me it had probably done a lot of motorway driving, during the couple of months that I was working on it sporadically I started the engine maybe 10 times and for over half of those I let it run for 30 + minutes and/or until the oil temp was over 90°c and it started trying to regen, I had to stop starting it and the very first journey get it up to temp and go backa nd forth between 2 junctions of the M23.

 

Lets assume that I have forgotten another 10 or 20 engine starts plus the 2 drives of 300m round the block, its still nothing compared to driving 5-10 miles regularly.

 

Perhpas I was unlucky but surely it will depend at what level the DPF was at already, it could have been on the cusp of a regen, I know from VCDS that mine wasn't and I was really shocked how quickly it had filled up, if the figures are to be believed, in any case the ECU decided it needed one.

 

As a consequence I have not used my car since returning to France for the lockdown 3 weeks ago and have cycled everywhere, shopping goes in the paniers. Its a 10km round trip to my favoured Lidl, Intermarché and Netto are closer and I could walk but its easier to carry shopping in the paniers, I will use the bke trailer for the next trip where I will need 2 packs of milk weighing 12kg, my last shopping trip was 15kg between 2 paniers.