DPF Engine Warning light

[Greezy56]

Hi all, wee bit of advice needed plz. My DPF engine amber light came on today and when i parked at home the re-gen came on for ages ( felt like that).

Over Covid i have still been using the car normally and on the motorway at least 4 times a week doing up to 40 miles round trips. So tonight took it on an extended drive for about 1 hour , speeds 50-70 (ish).

Light still on after coming home leaving it for 30 mins and turning on again. No loss of power ( yet).

 

Details: 190 diesel dsg

One month out of warranty , figures eh!

Personal lease VW finance with one year to go ( where the F do i stand on that, Skoda goodwill or lack there of?)

31k miles , 67 plate

[k.young]

Drive it for at least 20 - 30mins in a gear that will keep your speed legal with the revs at about 3500rpm...........(it feels very wrong but give it a try)

[kacluk]

suggests looking at the andoid vagdpf application.  it helps me in my on my 2016 2.0tdi for a year used mostly in the city at short distances and the dpf light never came on

[Schtum]

It needs a good 20-30 mins at c. 2,000 rpm+, once a week, to be on the safe side.  In the meantime, get it down to 1/4 tank of diesel, throw a bottle of this stuff in the tank and thrash it.  

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cataclean-Diesel-Catalytic-Converter-Cleaner/dp/B00BFWGI6M

 

 

[kacluk]

it is not entirely like that.  you must have at least 95% of soot around 24 grams in the filter to start the regeneration process.  if you have less, none of it.  for me, regeneration takes about 10 minutes.  you can do it even when the car is parked.  I recently did the 1000mil route and the dpf started to regenerate after reaching the destination.  Dpf did it several times in the meantime durring the trip.

Edited 6 October, 2020 by kacluk

[Inoffski]

Could be that you have had a glow plug go down 

[MCG1975]

Is this the warning light that looks like a little picture of the engine?  Like this...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This popped up on my car yesterday morning, and hasn't gone after well over 250 miles of driving.  Phoned dealer and is booked in next Tuesday, bit nervous about driving with it on but they said only issue is if the light goes red and limp mode may come on, so watch out for sudden lack of power.  Someone I spoke to had an Audi with this and it was a failed glowplug.

 

Hope it will be OK to drive still - I've got a circa 150 odd mile journey tomorrow and could do without it dumping me on the side of the road miles from home!

 

Car is 4 years 8 months old, 1.6TDi 120PS with 131,600 odd miles on it, never had this before but with lockdown I've been doing less drives (but those I have done are often longish).  Company car so not hurting my wallet (thankfully) but just hoping it will keep going till the end of the month when the new car should arrive - think it must have heard it's being replaced!! 

Edited 6 October, 2020 by MCG1975

[OldBoyScout]

16 minutes ago, MCG1975 said:

s this the warning light that looks like a little picture of the engine?  Like this...

 

 

 

That is not necessarily a DPF warning. I got it on my 57 plate MK2 which doesn't have a DPF. As far as I know it is an engine management warning and could relate to various issues. In my case it was a rogue electrical connection involving a home repair to the lighter socket using a piggy back fuse. Took a few days at the local dealer to figure it out, and probably something else in your case

 

17 hours ago, Greezy56 said:

My DPF engine amber light came on today and when i parked at home the re-gen came on for ages ( felt like that).

 

When a regen is interrupted, you get a burning smell and noise of fans running for some time. The smell comes from excess diesel being burned, and the fans are to cool it all down. If you left it parked with the engine turned off, my understanding is that the regen was no longer in progress despite the smell and noise.

 

10 hours ago, kacluk said:

you must have at least 95% of soot around 24 grams in the filter to start the regeneration process.

 

95% seems like a very high amount, and doesn't allow much of a margin if a regen fails and has to be started again. From memory I think a regen should be triggered when the soot gets to 45%.

 

17 hours ago, k.young said:

Drive it for at least 20 - 30mins in a gear that will keep your speed legal with the revs at about 3500rpm...........(it feels very wrong but give it a try)

 

Procedure for vehicles with diesel engines from Owners Manual:
› Drive at a speed of at least 60 km/h at engine
speeds of at least 2000 rpm.

If the filter is cleaned successfully, the indicator light
goes out .
If the indicator light does not go off within
40 minutes, the filter was not cleaned.
› Continue driving, exercising appropriate caution,
and seek the help of a specialist garage.

[Greezy56]

Hi all and thx for the replies. Took to dealer and it came back with report  saying defective relay, suggest replacing and re adapting £156.

Its only an advisory , so im thinking nope ,, wot do you guys think

[OldBoyScout]

If light is still on it will probably need fixing before next MOT.

 

[boydeee]

5 minutes ago, Greezy56 said:

Hi all and thx for the replies. Took to dealer and it came back with report  saying defective relay, suggest replacing and re adapting £156.

Its only an advisory , so im thinking nope ,, wot do you guys think

My concern, if you left it, would be that it won't pass your next MOT which I assume is due in about 4 months time? 

 

Could you take it to a non franchised dealer? It would likely be a bit cheaper.

[Inoffski]

On 06/10/2020 at 13:03, MCG1975 said:

Is this the warning light that looks like a little picture of the engine?  Like this...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This popped up on my car yesterday morning, and hasn't gone after well over 250 miles of driving.  Phoned dealer and is booked in next Tuesday, bit nervous about driving with it on but they said only issue is if the light goes red and limp mode may come on, so watch out for sudden lack of power.  Someone I spoke to had an Audi with this and it was a failed glowplug.

 

Hope it will be OK to drive still - I've got a circa 150 odd mile journey tomorrow and could do without it dumping me on the side of the road miles from home!

 

Car is 4 years 8 months old, 1.6TDi 120PS with 131,600 odd miles on it, never had this before but with lockdown I've been doing less drives (but those I have done are often longish).  Company car so not hurting my wallet (thankfully) but just hoping it will keep going till the end of the month when the new car should arrive - think it must have heard it's being replaced!! 

 

Had the self same light come on on mine - took it to my local independent VAG specialist and sure enough it was a glow plug that had gone - all done for just over £100 

[310golfr]

On 06/10/2020 at 02:26, kacluk said:

suggests looking at the andoid vagdpf application.  it helps me in my on my 2016 2.0tdi for a year used mostly in the city at short distances and the dpf light never came on

i've been saying for years, that VAG should have the dpf app built in to the dash on all diesels,  the app lets you plan ahead, as you know exactly when a regens  coming.

[VRS_White_Hatch]

And the ability to force a regen would be a good option. 

[310golfr]

2 minutes ago, VRS_White_Hatch said:

And the ability to force a regen would be a good option. 

yea that would be good

alot of people with diesels think you can just take the car for a long run and all will be good

they dont realise that regens only happen when dpf is  99% or so full

[langers2k]

4 minutes ago, 310golfr said:

they dont realise that regens only happen when dpf is  99% or so full

 

That's simply not true.

 

This below graph is taken from a VW SSP (self study program), it shows the car will try and perform an active regen above 18g of soot with a limit of 45g before it's too full to regenerate, that's about 40% 'full'.

 

Even if you consider 24g as a sensible limit (that's when the car will ask for driver intervention) it's still only 75% 'full'.

[kacluk]

if it is as you say then why does it show 100% soot at 24grams?  regeneration is always done when the filter has over 98% soot.  and when it finishes 22-25% it always stays.  the filter never regenerates to 0 gram. if it is as you say then why does it show 100% soot at 24grams?  regeneration is always done when the filter has over 98% soot.  and when it finishes 22-25% it always stays.  the filter never regenerates to 0 gram.  the photo shows the condition of my DPF at approximately 42k miles

[kacluk]

that's 45 grams you are talking about for the ash in the filter.  when it will be about 70 grams, the filter should be replaced.  because it's full of ash, not soot.

[langers2k]

8 hours ago, kacluk said:

that's 45 grams you are talking about for the ash in the filter.  when it will be about 70 grams, the filter should be replaced.  because it's full of ash, not soot.

 

The graph I posted is specifically about soot load and regeneration. That's why it has little wiggly lines showing the soot level dropping

 

If the filter becomes overloaded with soot, it's no longer safe to regenerate and the filter will need replacing - this happens at ~45g. That's why the warning lights will come on at various soot levels to warn the driver something before it hits 45g.

 

It's completely separate to the unburnable oil ash that accumulates over time,

 

9 hours ago, kacluk said:

if it is as you say then why does it show 100% soot at 24grams?

 

That's the developer of the VAG DPF app showing how close to an active regeneration you are, not overall soot load.

 

If you check the measuring blocks of the ECU, you will only find the soot load in g, the percentage figure shown does not exist

[310golfr]

2 hours ago, langers2k said:

 

The graph I posted is specifically about soot load and regeneration. That's why it has little wiggly lines showing the soot level dropping

 

If the filter becomes overloaded with soot, it's no longer safe to regenerate and the filter will need replacing - this happens at ~45g. That's why the warning lights will come on at various soot levels to warn the driver something before it hits 45g.

 

It's completely separate to the unburnable oil ash that accumulates over time,

 

 

That's the developer of the VAG DPF app showing how close to an active regeneration you are, not overall soot load.

 

If you check the measuring blocks of the ECU, you will only find the soot load in g, the percentage figure shown does not exist

its does'nt matter though if the dpf holds 45g of soot because it never gets to that level as regens always happen at around  24g  [ unless theres a fault ]

when at 24g the dpf app says 99% [ or thereabouts ]  so you get to know  that a regen is about to happen, which is the whole point of the app.

As i said earlier, if you are sitting with say 21g of soot, there's no point in taking the car for a run on the motorway as a regen wont happen, in fact all you will do is make the engine do a passive regen and in my experience the soot level will just stay the same during a passive regen, so you have  effectively wasted time and fuel  and have achieved nothing  

[OldBoyScout]

14 hours ago, kacluk said:

if it is as you say then why does it show 100% soot at 24grams?

 

It is actually showing 100% + 1%. That should tell you that it isn't really full.

 

4 hours ago, langers2k said:

It's completely separate to the unburnable oil ash that accumulates over time,

 

I was under the impression that at least some of the ash came from burning the soot, although I am also aware that low ash oil should be used.

 

1 hour ago, 310golfr said:

in fact all you will do is make the engine do a passive regen

 

My understanding is that a very high temperature is required for a passive regen, and it may not even happen on a motorway run, depending on distance covered and engine revs I guess.

 

On 06/10/2020 at 02:26, kacluk said:

suggests looking at the andoid vagdpf application.  it helps me in my on my 2016 2.0tdi for a year used mostly in the city at short distances and the dpf light never came on

 

I have been using my late 2015 2.0 TDI 184 mostly for short distances in the city for over 4 years and the DPF light has never come on. It is reassuring to have the VAGDPF app so I can see that all is well with the DPF. I usually go for a longer drive at the weekend, so that probably helps. I have never felt that my pattern of driving is particularly suitable for a diesel, but the car just looks after the regens with no worries.

 

 

[kacluk]

when I turn  off the engine at night, the DPF already had 98% soot.  in the morning when the engine was started, it was cold and hence it showed 100 + 1% because the regeneration started after the engine was started, it took a while for the DPF to reach the required 640 degrees

[langers2k]

The vag dpf app reporting 100% or 24g is not a problem... The dpf is not full of soot at this point and no immediate action is needed.

 

Unless the car starts illuminating warning lights, the driver shouldn't need to try and cause a regen by extending their drive or any other method.

 

Don't get me wrong, it's certainly a useful tool but if the car is healthy and behaving normally, just leave it to do its thing! It'll ask for help when it needs to...

[MCG1975]

On 09/10/2020 at 12:57, Inoffski said:

 

Had the self same light come on on mine - took it to my local independent VAG specialist and sure enough it was a glow plug that had gone - all done for just over £100 

 

Car is with dealer today, and sure enough it's a glow plug.  All done for £92.10, not bad for main dealer (and they washed the car again!!)

[Davet30]

2 hours ago, MCG1975 said:

 

Car is with dealer today, and sure enough it's a glow plug.  All done for £92.10, not bad for main dealer (and they washed the car again!!)

 

had you done any checks on the glow plugs yourself before you took it in e.g. resistance readings?  I'm guessing they changed all the plugs - (good practice)