Octavia Mk3 DPF problems

[karlosw29]

Hello all,

I just wanted some advice on the following.

 

My car had only done 50k miles and the particulate filter warning light came on only 3 days after a long run on the bypass.  It usually takes about 2 or 3 weeks of slow driving around town to come up. So I thought this was unusual and planned to take it for a blast the next day. Anyway I following day before the planned blast it went into limp mode and had the flashing coil and engine management light on.  

 

I took in to a local garage that specialise in DFP cleans etc.  They tested the sensors, and said that their readings indicated that the DPF wasn't blocked.  He tried to clear the codes to ge the warning lights but was unable to due to some sort of ECU security that he'd never encountered before.  He didn't charge me and recommended taking it to the main dealer.

 

I took it to Skoda and they said that it needed a pressure sensor replaced and DPF regeneration at 570 quid.  They did what they could but couldn't do the regeneration because the soot mass was too great and now want to change the DPF for £4030 instead of the 570.  What do you reckon? Is this likely at such low mileage and I don't drive it like a grandad!

 

Seems very expensive.  

The two garages just seem at odds with each other in terms of the DPF itself and how clogged it is.

 

We need the car as we have 2 very young kids that we need to get to pre-school so it's been a nightmare.  We go on holiday in a week and need the car.

 

Any advise would be welcome.

 

I used a basic scanner and this is what came up.

P2463 and P2458

Also Particulate Filter Putty Mass actual was 0.15 l/g.

 

Thanks

 

 

[ords]

How old is the car & what engine?

[karlosw29]

It's a 2016, 150bhp 2.0

[MarkyG82]

50k is quite low mileage for an 8 year old car with a dpf.  You say it normally take 2-3 weeks between each regen of town driving.  Is that your normal driving routine?  If so a diesel doesn't sound like the car for you unfortunately.

[Phoenixboy]

I'd take it to a trusted independent diesel specialist for them to have a look, not a main dealer.

I've owned many dpf equipment cars within the past without any dpf related issues, continuous short journeys cause many dpf system related issues. 

I now drive a petrol car as I don't cover as much mileage now or take frequent long trips. 

Edited 21 March by Phoenixboy

[karlosw29]

1 hour ago, MarkyG82 said:

50k is quite low mileage for an 8 year old car with a dpf.  You say it normally take 2-3 weeks between each regen of town driving.  Is that your normal driving routine?  If so a diesel doesn't sound like the car for you unfortunately.

That's what it takes for the DPF to come on usually. However it hardly ever comes on because it has a long run at around 60mph at least once a week.  That's why I couldn't understand why it came on 3 days after such a run.

[MarkyG82]

Maybe your usage is on the cusp of being acceptable and has now reached a turning point.  Given the low mileage, are they all yours or did you buy the car used?  Maybe the previous owner wasn't as sensible as you regards the DPF.

[Ootohere]

My 2016 2.0TDI SCR DSG Alhambra that could do 60 mpg on runs and no regens to bother about and that started just sipping Adblue would after about 20,000 miles and a year if driven about 5 miles a day in town for 5 days come up with 'Clogged DPF',  at first 8 miles of a run put the light you, 

after about 2 years it got to needing 20 miles before it went out.

By 3 year old it was not using hardly any Adblue and clogging lots if used as a town car for a week.

 

The last of the Great Defeat Device VW TDI,s.    Amazing long run efficiency.   Some poor sod got landed with it after Arnold Clark bought it from Motability via BCA. 

 

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/464465-20tdi-150-dpf-warning

 

Edited 21 March by Rooted

[J.R.]

That says it all having to do an 20 mile run to complete a regen when you only wanted to drive 5 miles!

 

Seems I should be thankful that my vehicle was one of the very last pre-Adblue ones and that I dont need to drive through London or to Heathrow, during the confinement like many people journeys became very short and infrequent, the DPF warning light came on but a couple of kms back and forth on the rocade completed the regen, 20 miles is appalling.

 

A friend yesterday who has had 2 Yetis gave me his unused air, oil and pollen filters, I knew that he sold it because of recurring problems that only occurred on very long runs, driving the family to Spain and Portugal on holiday, they would stop to refuel or eat and it would go into limp mode and have to be towed to a dealer, hotel and car hire for them etc, they loved the Yetis but the last one was a big mistake.

 

I asked him what the problem was and it was with the Adblue system, never anything actually wrong or needing replacing, not sure if the dealers cleared the codes or if it eventually reverted to normal but was the reason they sold the car.

[Ootohere]

@J.R. I never did 20 miles or even 8 miles further than i was going to complete a regen or to get a blocked DPF light out.

I just paid attention next time i was heading out of town how many miles were required. 

 

The thing is that a vehicle that could do 630-730 miles or more from a 63 litres tank easily could not do 5 x 5 miles from a gallon of diesel doing cold starts, 

or even sometimes without Light on, then more fuel was wasted with regens. 

[karlosw29]

50 minutes ago, MarkyG82 said:

Maybe your usage is on the cusp of being acceptable and has now reached a turning point.  Given the low mileage, are they all yours or did you buy the car used?  Maybe the previous owner wasn't as sensible as you regards the DPF.

I bought it with 28k on the clock. 

[MarkyG82]

At what age?  Was it 6 years old with 28k?  or 1 year old?  My point is that if the car wasn't driven with the DPF in mind for it's entire life then at some point it will become an issue earlier than expected.  

 

Two extremes:

1) You bought the car low mileage so the DPF hasn't been looked after before your ownership.

2) You bought the car but are not doing enough miles to look after the DPF.

[Gerrycan]

I would have thought taking the car to a specialist DPF cleaner may be worthwhile? A lot cheaper than the suggested replacement although there may also be a defective component/sensor contributing to the problem

 

A bit of a worry with all  the imminent pending tasks it is expected to do though.

Edited 21 March by Gerrycan

[karlosw29]

1 hour ago, MarkyG82 said:

At what age?  Was it 6 years old with 28k?  or 1 year old?  My point is that if the car wasn't driven with the DPF in mind for it's entire life then at some point it will become an issue earlier than expected.  

 

Two extremes:

1) You bought the car low mileage so the DPF hasn't been looked after before your ownership.

2) You bought the car but are not doing enough miles to look after the DPF.

It was 3 and half years old when I bought it with 28k on it.  

[karlosw29]

1 hour ago, Gerrycan said:

I would have thought taking the car to a specialist DPF cleaner may be worthwhile? A lot cheaper than the suggested replacement although there may also be a defective component/sensor contributing to the problem

 

A bit of a worry with all  the imminent pending tasks it is expected to do though.

Yes, I did take it to a specialist DPF cleaner before I took it to Skoda, but when diagnosing that it was the DPF, the figures suggested that the DPF wasn't blocked and sensors were working. Therefore they didn't feel it was necessary to clean the DPF.

[MarkyG82]

Ok, 28k @3 1/2 years is lowish.  Then you are adding 22k in 4 1/2 years.  Seems a bit low and not what I would use a DPF equipped car for.  Less than 5k/year even with the odd long journey is too low.  If all your miles were long distance then it would probably be ok. 

2 minutes ago, karlosw29 said:

Yes, I did take it to a specialist DPF cleaner before I took it to Skoda, but when diagnosing that it was the DPF, the figures suggested that the DPF wasn't blocked and sensors were working. Therefore they didn't feel it was necessary to clean the DPF.

 

Then skoda suggested you have a faulty sensor.  If the specialist just looked at the sensor data without actually looking inside the filter, the false reading could show the DPF is ok.  It's entirely possible that you have both a blocked filter and bad sensor.  I'd take it back to the specialist and tell them what skoda have said.  They might be able to clean it out for you and get a bit of life back.

[karlosw29]

On 21/03/2024 at 13:44, MarkyG82 said:

Ok, 28k @3 1/2 years is lowish.  Then you are adding 22k in 4 1/2 years.  Seems a bit low and not what I would use a DPF equipped car for.  Less than 5k/year even with the odd long journey is too low.  If all your miles were long distance then it would probably be ok. 

 

Then skoda suggested you have a faulty sensor.  If the specialist just looked at the sensor data without actually looking inside the filter, the false reading could show the DPF is ok.  It's entirely possible that you have both a blocked filter and bad sensor.  I'd take it back to the specialist and tell them what skoda have said.  They might be able to clean it out for you and get a bit of life back.

I'm going to take it back to the original garage and get them to clean it out.

 

Here's the readings from the car from the scanner.  Would you say this is blocked?