Hey guys! 

I've got a 2013 Superb 2.0crdi. It's got 240k kms. One thing I noticed yesterday is that after turning off the engine, the fan stayed on. Now as far as I understand, this means DPF active regen. 

However, this week I only used the car for about 500 km on highways (no city driving etc). Did it not regenerate (passively) during those approx. 5 hours I spent on the highway? Why would it start active regen after a fairly short ride (approx 20 kms) when it had a lot of better opportunities?  Or is my DPF going to need replacement/cleaning?

From my own experience (my 2013 car has covered equivalent to 170k km) the logic controlling dpf regens isn't as clever as you give it credit for.  It simply calculates the soot loading until it reaches 100% and then triggers a regen to burn off the soot to down below 25%. I suspect a regen occured somewhere in your 500km run as I usually get no more than 300km between regens on such long runs and then needed a second at end of 20km run.  My car hasn't had the emissions cheat software fix, if your's has then the regen interval will definitely be shorter

 

So the behaviour could be perfectly normal.  However, my own car is predicting that it will reach 100% oil ash residue (the material that isn't burnt off by the dpf active regen) loading at around 240k km which may start to cause problems.  So you could be close to that situation or actually having problems.  Only way to be sure is to monitor the dpf performance using an app called VAG DPF.  Needs an OBD2 adapter to plug into car diagnostic port but even with the recommended Carista adapter (which also allows troubleshooting and customisations with the Carista app) it isn't a big investment and more than worth it for piece of mind.  Once you have monitored the dpf status for a while you will be able to spot the signals that a regen is happening without the app.  Surprising how often I'll arrive home and based on stop/start not working and high idle speed know a regen is in progress so switch on the VAG DPF and go for another short drive until it's finished.  Total regen duration tends to be around 15 minutes, earlier this week spotted a regen 1 minute in when I arrived home, just took a 3 mile drive around town at max 50km/h for it to finish. Better that aborting multiple regens which will eventually cause problems and cause car to throw a fault.

I second the above, I think the actual rather than calculated figures for soot load measured by the DPF differential pressure sensor is only ever used to trigger a regen if it reaches the threshold before the calculated, mine is always a lot lower, I don't mind it burning off the soot more often but it consumes fuel unecessarily and if I continue driving to allow it to complete I am wasting even more fuel.

 

I now juts let it do its thing & will only go for a regen drive if the warning light comes on, it has never happened and is only likely to if I do nothing but short urban journeys.

 

I do keep an eye on things via VCDS though & am concerned about what will happen when the flawed calculations decide that the DPF is full of oil ash.

9 hours ago, DrCorbyLee said:

From my own experience (my 2013 car has covered equivalent to 170k km) the logic controlling dpf regens isn't as clever as you give it credit for.  It simply calculates the soot loading until it reaches 100% and then triggers a regen to burn off the soot to down below 25%. I suspect a regen occured somewhere in your 500km run as I usually get no more than 300km between regens on such long runs and then needed a second at end of 20km run.  My car hasn't had the emissions cheat software fix, if your's has then the regen interval will definitely be shorter

 

So the behaviour could be perfectly normal.  However, my own car is predicting that it will reach 100% oil ash residue (the material that isn't burnt off by the dpf active regen) loading at around 240k km which may start to cause problems.  So you could be close to that situation or actually having problems.  Only way to be sure is to monitor the dpf performance using an app called VAG DPF.  Needs an OBD2 adapter to plug into car diagnostic port but even with the recommended Carista adapter (which also allows troubleshooting and customisations with the Carista app) it isn't a big investment and more than worth it for piece of mind.  Once you have monitored the dpf status for a while you will be able to spot the signals that a regen is happening without the app.  Surprising how often I'll arrive home and based on stop/start not working and high idle speed know a regen is in progress so switch on the VAG DPF and go for another short drive until it's finished.  Total regen duration tends to be around 15 minutes, earlier this week spotted a regen 1 minute in when I arrived home, just took a 3 mile drive around town at max 50km/h for it to finish. Better that aborting multiple regens which will eventually cause problems and cause car to throw a fault.

Thank you for your thorough answer! When I notice that I had to abort a regen (I. E. The fan is spinning after turning off),but I can't drive just then (when I get to work for example), I usually take a 20 km drive in the evening on country roads in 'S' mode, maintaining a rev of 2000-2500 rpm. Is that sufficient? I'll buy a Carista soon, but unfortunately I'm on iOS where VAG DPF app is not available. 

8 hours ago, J.R. said:

I second the above, I think the actual rather than calculated figures for soot load measured by the DPF differential pressure sensor is only ever used to trigger a regen if it reaches the threshold before the calculated, mine is always a lot lower, I don't mind it burning off the soot more often but it consumes fuel unecessarily and if I continue driving to allow it to complete I am wasting even more fuel.

 

I now juts let it do its thing & will only go for a regen drive if the warning light comes on, it has never happened and is only likely to if I do nothing but short urban journeys.

 

I do keep an eye on things via VCDS though & am concerned about what will happen when the flawed calculations decide that the DPF is full of oil ash.

 

Thank you for your input. I guess I shouldn't worry about it as much. 

10 hours ago, nagybalynt said:

Thank you for your thorough answer! When I notice that I had to abort a regen (I. E. The fan is spinning after turning off),but I can't drive just then (when I get to work for example), I usually take a 20 km drive in the evening on country roads in 'S' mode, maintaining a rev of 2000-2500 rpm. Is that sufficient? I'll buy a Carista soon, but unfortunately I'm on iOS where VAG DPF app is not available. 

From my own experience, the car seems to decide it's OK to restart the regen on next journey once it's fully up to temperature and then no need to trash it to get the DPF up to temperature as it injects extra fuel to maintain the required temperature.  As an example the regen I described allowing to finish last week had started whilst picking up the kids from school (6km round trip at 50km/h max) and was 1 minute into the regen when I got home.  Was then allowed to complete whilst poodling around town never exceeding 2,000rpm and often sat with cruise control on in 4th at around 1,200rpm (DSG in manual, I drive like an old lady trying to save fuel :-).  But the only way to be 100% sure it's restarting and finishing correctly is to monitor the system.  Carrista is a useful app in itself (although you need a subscription to access details of diagnostic error codes beyond first free month of use) but won't show you any DPF data beyond any error code that would be issued once the dash warning light comes on.  Other than VAG DPF the only other way I know to view the DPF status is with VCDS (which also has mobile version that can run on iOS or any device with web browser) or OBDeleven.  Both (especially VCDS) are serious investments compared with VAG DPF + Carrista Dongle option and from what I've seen the presentation of DPF data is nowhere near as user friendly, just a list of values.  Maybe you could try and find a cheap 2nd hand android tablet off eBay to use VAG DPF with?

 

From what you describe it certainly sounds like you don't currently have any DPF issues but would be a little concerned about the oil ash residue limit with the mileage you have.  Not 100% sure what happens when you hit the 100% limit, believe it doesn't cause the car to immediately go into limp mode or anything like that but may well give a dash warning light.  And as it is only a calculated value you may or may not have physical problems with the DPF starting to give high pressure drop (i.e. blocking) when it hits 100%, it could even happen before the 100% limit.  Not sure where you are based but maybe you can find a friendly Briskoda member with VCDS who would be happy to do a one-off scan to determine the current status of the DPF to see how close to the oil ash residue limit you are, map is available here 

 

6 hours ago, DrCorbyLee said:

From my own experience, the car seems to decide it's OK to restart the regen on next journey once it's fully up to temperature and then no need to trash it to get the DPF up to temperature as it injects extra fuel to maintain the required temperature.  As an example the regen I described allowing to finish last week had started whilst picking up the kids from school (6km round trip at 50km/h max) and was 1 minute into the regen when I got home.  Was then allowed to complete whilst poodling around town never exceeding 2,000rpm and often sat with cruise control on in 4th at around 1,200rpm (DSG in manual, I drive like an old lady trying to save fuel :-).  But the only way to be 100% sure it's restarting and finishing correctly is to monitor the system.  Carrista is a useful app in itself (although you need a subscription to access details of diagnostic error codes beyond first free month of use) but won't show you any DPF data beyond any error code that would be issued once the dash warning light comes on.  Other than VAG DPF the only other way I know to view the DPF status is with VCDS (which also has mobile version that can run on iOS or any device with web browser) or OBDeleven.  Both (especially VCDS) are serious investments compared with VAG DPF + Carrista Dongle option and from what I've seen the presentation of DPF data is nowhere near as user friendly, just a list of values.  Maybe you could try and find a cheap 2nd hand android tablet off eBay to use VAG DPF with?

 

From what you describe it certainly sounds like you don't currently have any DPF issues but would be a little concerned about the oil ash residue limit with the mileage you have.  Not 100% sure what happens when you hit the 100% limit, believe it doesn't cause the car to immediately go into limp mode or anything like that but may well give a dash warning light.  And as it is only a calculated value you may or may not have physical problems with the DPF starting to give high pressure drop (i.e. blocking) when it hits 100%, it could even happen before the 100% limit.  Not sure where you are based but maybe you can find a friendly Briskoda member with VCDS who would be happy to do a one-off scan to determine the current status of the DPF to see how close to the oil ash residue limit you are, map is available here 

 

Thank you, I actually found an older android phone of mine so no worries there  

Yes I believe the DPF is working properly right now. I just bought the car, it could even be possible that the DPF has been replaced or cleaned by the previous owner. It was a fleet car, so was pretty well maintained. I asked the local Skoda dealership for the service history - unfortunately they are not allowed to print it out for me, but told me that for example the timing belt has been replaced at 210k kms and the dsg oil has been changed every 60k kms as well. I forgot to ask about the dpf though - I might go back and ask whether it's been replaced. 

Thank you very much for your help! Really appreciate it. 

There is no reason or law in Europe that stops a Skoda Dealership giving the Service / Warranty / Recall record of a vehicle.

Actually they need to as that is what keeps owners and thew public safe.

 

If they need to hide Previous Keeper details then that is all they require to do.   Some of the Dealership Employees are just so full of their own importance it is unreal.

Ask the Skoda Customer Services in whichever Country for the cars History that is on the system. 

1 minute ago, roottoot said:

There is no reason or law in Europe that stops a Skoda Dealership giving the Service / Warranty / Recall record of a vehicle.

Actually they need to as that is what keeps owners and thew public safe.

 

If they need to hide Previous Keeper details then that is all they require to do.   Some of the Dealership Employees are just so full of their own importance it is unreal.

Ask the Skoda Customer Services in whichever Country for the cars History that is on the system. 

Thanks, it's good to know! I'll ask them again for the complete history.