Hmm well thats anything with a DPF off my list for a while then

I had hideous problems with my old Peugeot 407 with the particle filter. That said, they did sort it in the end though. I was seriously looking at a Superb, but I looked at the tax situation and bought a Fabia instead. For a 2 person household, it's almost as roomy! If it's any consolation, the Euro IV incarnation of the PD130 engine has an issue as well. Maybe not as bad as this one as it doesn't actually stop the car driving, but it's annoying enough in it's own way.

Started the car this morning and the PID showed a picture of an exhaust filter for a second or two, then disappeared. The car also registered 4.3 mpg on the trip and said it had been running for about 2 min and had covered 6miles. I found this odd as I had only just started the car and it had been stood all night so there should not have been any data on the trip computer.

My question is.....

Is this a sign my filter is playing up or does this sound like a computer glitch?

The car was driven the previous night, mainly motorway but the last mile or 2 of my journey was at 30 mph as thats the road to my house, and I do this everytime I go home and the car always does a motorway blast everyday.

I did drive to work keeping the revs high and 'blowing out' the exhaust.

Any suggestions?

I would suggest a chat with the dealer, sounds like a leccy hick up. The symbol you saw is the correct one to say the filter needs regenerating but to me its odd that it comes on as you start the car & then goes out before the cars driven.

When we had problems ours always stayed on for a while, presumably untill the filter cleared or it stayed on until the car goes into limp mode.

WMC are becoming familiar with checking filters for percentage blockage & it appears not to take too long.

If its any consolation Ive been contacted by an Audi owner with a similar set up whos had the light on 25 times in 6 months with 4 total breakdowns requiring a tow to the dealer.

Well we got back from the mountains without a breakdown having modified my driving, I took the car up to Merribel as hard as I could to keep everything hot, couple of slips on the odd patch of snow but got there OK.

Parked the car up for the time we were there & scrouged lifts or took the Bus. Then on the return trip got up at 6 to have clear roads,fully deiced the car before starting it & then rolled it down the mountain with minimal if any throttle until we reached clear roads a few hundred Metres lower down the mountain. We achieved 99.9 mpg on the descent, I assume it was more but the counter wont go higher.

Its not the way you should have to drive car, especially the top of a manufacturers range but at least it didnt break down again. Across france it was a joy to drive, 4 up + skiing gear, just set the cruise on 110 & sat back.

Its a shame such a great car is ruined by one fault & a manufactures couldnt care less attitude.

If any at SUK I have spoken to read this I appreciate your sympathetic comments & attempts to talk through the problem but the only answer is to go back to Skoda & get them to modify the design, not just hope it will go away !

Back to the top just in case anyones thinking of buying one

I have been thinking of getting a S60 or a Superb and was looking at the Volvo forums, apparently the 185 bhp D5 engine also uses a DPF and they are getting the same probelms! So looks like any car with a DPF is going to cause problems if you do short journeys.

I have been thinking of getting a S60 or a Superb and was looking at the Volvo forums, apparently the 185 bhp D5 engine also uses a DPF and they are getting the same probelms! So looks like any car with a DPF is going to cause problems if you do short journeys.

Unfortunately I think you are right. Its just a shame they cannot find some way of getting the car to regenerate the dpf whilst stationary, that way if the car failed in heavy treaffic you would stand a chance of getting it going again rather than limping to the dealers

I am sorely tempted to buy a 6 month old Superb 2.0Td1 140bhp in Elegance trim to replace my 03 Superb Tdi 130 comfort. I've been offered two amazing deals but I am a bit put off by this DPF issue - in practical terms how big an issue it really? How many miles can you drive (around town or short journeys before the dreaded warning light comes on and then how many miles after the light comes on before 'limp home' comes into play.

Would appreciate any examples from those who already have this engine.

Thanks in advance.

Potted history of ours.

The car has now covered 25000 miles & the majority have been trouble free. We had all our problems in the space of a week whilst in the French mountains during August 2006.

Initially we stayed in Merribel in the french Alps, about 1900 Metres above sea level. During the week we were there we had the DPF light on 3 times, each time it cleared after ragging the car, theres no where in the mountains to drive at a steady speed for 10 mins as the manual suggests. In all cases the light came on during decents.

At the end of that week we went down to Provence & drove up mount Ventoux, again around 1900 metres. During the decent the light came on, It was a long decent, about 20Km in total & at some stages reosnably quick I remember at one point clocking 50 mph following a lunatic french cyclist.

About half way down the light came on again but there was nowhere safe to push the car so we carried on hoping to find clear road. The car went into limp mode about 3 Km later. According to the technical bods at Skoda we should have had a lot longer & this cant be explained (or are they just saying that ?). We then had to drive about 30 miles with a max speed of 45 downhill, the car was with a french dealer for a week to sort it. It can normally be sorted in a couple of hours but they were short staffed & also I dont think they had seen one before !

Apart from these incidents the car has never even had a warning light on, the journeys are mainly motorway although we fought our way through london a few times & the usual long queues on the A34.

As for the mountains we returned to the Alps in January, drove the car as hard as I dare going up into the Alps. We then parked the car for the week & used the bus. On the decent I got up early to have clear roads, cleared all the snow off the car before starting it, then rolled down the mountain on tick over, the theory being min diesel going into the car keeping the Brake servo & Power steering working. This worked but you should not really need to do this.

Since the first incident I have spoken to quite a few people with similar DPF problems, one chap with an Audi had 25 failures in 6 months :eek: It appears that most failures allthough not all occuring in the UK are peoople who tend not to rev the car & leaving it on tickover for a long time is a killer, this has become apparent with Taxis who sometimes sit on a taxi rank for hours in winter on tick over, By reving I dont mean thrash it but dont cruise at 1200 rpm. One person who has had failures lives in the New Forest which has a blanket 40mph speed limit. Aparently he commutes across the forest & was driving with the cruise set on 40 in 6th gear. This type of driving is probably also false economy. If the filter is too cold to work correctly one thing the car does is to inject more fuel in an attempt to raise the exhaust temp.

Apart from this its a stunning car. It wasnt my first choice but it was my Wifes car & she does about 40,000 miles a year & wanted some comfort. She had been severly disapointed by test drives in the Octy L&K, & plumped for the Superb, The Octy just didnt have the luxury feel & by the time you added Xenons, decent wheels, sat nav it was more than the Superb & that had a load more toys as well.

Having lived with it I actually really like it, its not as big as it seems & on any long journey its a joy to drive. Once the warranty expires the filter will probably be removed when I can find someone who can trick all the sensors but I know it can be done

Thanks, Stuart, for an excellent summary of the DPF problems with the Cat IV engines. I can sense a future bargain here when the Trade realises that these cars are no use as taxis. As you suggest, there is nothing to stop you rodding out the DPF matrix as the UK MOT test, as yet, makes no smoke distinction between Cat III and Cat IV engines. This could change, however as there would only need to be a redefinition of smoke level for these engines - the test gear does not need to be changed.

The real trick will be to ensure that the vehicle engine management system sees a "clear" DPF at all times. Please let us know how you get on.

rotodiesel.

The real trick will be to ensure that the vehicle engine management system sees a "clear" DPF at all times. Please let us know how you get on.

rotodiesel.

Thats the one thats up for question at the moment. There are 3 sensors that give readings to the cars brain & decide the process for regenerationt & its deciding how to trick them.

The G450 measures pressure across the DPF & operates on the Piezo principle, simply tricking this might be the answer, unfortunately it has to be a pressure difference of 5 Ap (kPa) Read the capital A as a triangle, if it reads much less it registers a defective sensor at 25 it indicates the filter is full So Im guessing you need a reading somewhere between this but ideally 5. Whilst I have this info Im not technically minded enough to know what to do with it & need a man who can !

It might be as easy as a length of pipe with some mesh in it to create a different pressure each side. Part of the regeneration as I understand it is to inject more fuel to heat the exhaust, what I dont want is a car thats always adding a bit more fuel when it dosent need it although a remap should sort that.

The G506 temp sensor ahead of the filter & the Air mass meter G70 are also involved in the regeneration process but Im guessing they only become involved once the pressure sensor has identified regeneration is needed. Either way I have 35000 miles to research it. Ive been told by an inside contact at Skoda who I wont identify that once the filters removed recalibration can be done using the VAS 5051 or 5052 that the dealer has but he wont tell me how for obvious reasons.

If anyone sees a totalled 140 anywhere I could do with the exhaust to experiment with in the future, I dont want to trash a

So you are saying that it has to be a pressure difference of 5 kPa or 5 * Delta p?

What is the shape of the sensor too as I am just wondering what it works out.

Do you have the format in how the data is represented back to the ECU? Is it a simple voltage or is it done encoded over some sort of CAN interface?

I'm thinking a chip here that would replace the three sensors via three connectors that talk to the same chip which sends the required data back. The data returned could obviously be tweaked too

5 truiangle small p at a flow rate of 700 M3/h dropping to zero at a flow rate of zero.

Sensor is rectangular with 2 tubes coming to it, onre from each side of the dpf, it then has a connector for the wires to the control unit

If you have a fax number I can send you copies of a few pages that Im not meant to have from a Skoda publication

I'll have think Stuart, but don't let it stop you going into other options.

What I'm thinking of is by no means a guaranteed solution.

Stuart, many thanks for such a detailed reply. My main concerns about going for one of these would be residuals (if taxi drivers won't touch them, that would be a significant part of the 2nd hand market gone, driving prices down) and the fact that most weekdays I drive just 1.5 miles each way to my local train station and back. Weekends usually see a much longer drive but it would seem that my weekly usage patterns may cause me DPF problems. If anyone else has similar usage patterns, what have their experiences been?

Many thanks

BBG

Hope you get it sorted, you are sure doing your homework on it and it might just be worth making this thread a sticky?

Stuart, many thanks for such a detailed reply. My main concerns about going for one of these would be residuals (if taxi drivers won't touch them, that would be a significant part of the 2nd hand market gone, driving prices down) and the fact that most weekdays I drive just 1.5 miles each way to my local train station and back. Weekends usually see a much longer drive but it would seem that my weekly usage patterns may cause me DPF problems. If anyone else has similar usage patterns, what have their experiences been?

Many thanks

BBG

With that pattern you might have a problem, If your worried try looking for a 130 elegance, I know someone whos just found an 06 plate with 34000 on it for £12770 at a dealers (not a skoda dealer).

If you have access to auctions go that route, I believe this one was bought at Auction by the dealer, so the 12770 includes his profit, possibly put to Auction by a lease company. The HPi checks indicate recent checks by an auction house & it was originally owned by a lease company.

This thread might interest you http://www.briskoda.net/forums/superb/new-superb-elegance-big-problem/61373/?highlight=superb+140 Might be worth PM ing to find out how he drove the car, if he kept the revs down it wouldnt have helped. some people seem to think diesel economy is helped by minimal revs, personally I dont think labouring the engine does any good DPF or not

Re risiduals Superbs do loose money but its a cheap car to buy for the amount of car you get so treat it as a long term ownership proposition, that way you will get a lot of enjoyment & the cost is spread.

There are taxi drivers running the 140 without problems, I think it just depends on your circumstances & how you drive, I think its lack of revs that causes the problem. The DPF neads heat to work, without heat it wont.

We bought new & paid 17995 last year but the car will do 40,000 a year so in 4 years time weve assumed its worth zero & im guessing we can trade it in for more than that. In the mean time my wife has a budget luxury car for work, we have a luxo barge for family holidays & Ive still got the Octy 4x4 for fun

Stuart,

Can you get me a sketch or picture of the connector on the end of G450 and if possible draw a pin out to it.

Thanks

Stuart,

Can you get me a sketch or picture of the connector on the end of G450 and if possible draw a pin out to it.

Thanks

Will try at the weekend, please explain "if possible draw a pin out to it."

There will be pins onto the sensor.

I just need to know what they go to, eg +12v, GND, k/data lines etc.

Ta

Any good?

Yes, so the G450 is a 3 pin connected device. Is the input signal relative to the sensor or the ecu do you know?

Looking at that I assume it is input to the ECU from the sensor.

EDIT: Don't suppose you can read the text to the three wires can you in the ECU?

Ta

They are the plug/pin numbers -

T94 - Which is the plug

Pins 11, 12 and 15

Looking at the legend its Green/Input Signal, Brown/Earth and Red/Supply Voltage.

It's Piezo so I would say a variable resistance or similar.

Sorry

Didnt get a chance to photo it this weekend, cars away until next weekend, let me know if you still need piccies