DPF Failure at 90,000 km

[alexaescht]

Hi diesel guys, I posted this in the 6R Polo section a few days ago:


Tonight's episode of Polo problems, brought to you by my sister's 66TDI Comfortine:

http://youtu.be/4IceqGrNNG0

Engine light, ECU light, and limp mode. Gotta love VW motoring.

Should have bought a Corolla at this rate of failures...


Which was followed up by:

The little Polo was looked at today, and the DPF (diesel particulate filter) is full of ash, which, unlike soot, cannot be burned off through regeneration. They tried a forced regen, then an emergency regen but with no luck. A replacement DPF is circa $3500 and that is without labour.

Considering VW say the DPF should be maintenance free for about 300,000 kms, or roughly eight years, we will push as hard as possible for this to be replaced under Australian Consumer Law or VW goodwill.
I'll also bring up the fact that we told them, on multiple occasions, that the car was not running properly/stalled while driving etc. and that they failed to replace any defective part until several months later, denied the car was at fault, and blamed it on "your driving style".
The parts at fault back then were the injectors, which were causing the DPF to regenerate every two days which I think would significantly reduce the working lifespan of the unit.

Hopefully we can come up with a solution for this...


A forum member over in the Polo section recommended to post this here as well, just in case any of you have some idea as to what we should do about this. Thanks in advance.
Alex.

[Guest001]

what were the driving conditions Long runs or just short city driving which is never good for a diesel

[alexaescht]

what were the driving conditions Long runs or just short city driving which is never good for a diesel

Berwick to Bundoora most days, about 50 km each way on 100 km/h freeways.

[Diesel_vert]

It appears to me that the DPF warning light does not stay lit (which is normal) in your video, which would seem to suggest that the fault does not lie with the DPF itself.

Replacement of the DPF would be the worst case scenario in terms of cost, so it may better to eliminate other possibilities before committing to a new DPF.

Verify that the correct engine oil (product must comply with VW 504.00/507.00 standards) has been used during the vehicle's life. The use of a full-SAPS (conventional) lubricant may shorten the service life of the DPF.

Check that the brake lights are working correctly. It could be as simple as a faulty brake light switch, but it was more of an issue on previous models.

Failing that, the fault may lie with a faulty sensor/s, such as the exhaust gas temperature or pressure sensors.

Further reading: 1.6TDi 105 -warning light control system for exhaust & flashing glowplug light - Skoda Fabia II - BRISKODA.net - The Skoda Forum and Community (a Google search will bring up similar hits).

On the other hand, if you can manage to get Volkswagen to provide a goodwill repair or replacement of the DPF, then that too would be a good outcome, so it might be better to see what Volkswagen have to say first.

[alexaescht]

Thanks Diesel vert. Obviously we hope the DPF isn't in need of replacement due to the cost, but the independent the car was at yesterday said all signs (and diagnostics) point to DPF issues. The reason we went to an independent was because VW Berwick are booked out until next Tuesday so we thought we'd see if they could diagnose the issue. We will still take the car to a VW dealer as soon as they can look at it and we can only hope they come back with something more simple (and less expensive) being at fault.

[poyta]

Berwick to Bundoora most days, about 50 km each way on 100 km/h freeways.

Wow, with that sort of driving you should not be having any DPF issues. Doing 100kmh for 30 minutes on the highway should easily bring the exhaust up to temp to burn off any soot. I'd be very surprised if the DPF is clogged. Why would they blame your driving style? Did you ask what exactly they meant by that comment?

[alexaescht]

Wow, with that sort of driving you should not be having any DPF issues. Doing 100kmh for 30 minutes on the highway should easily bring the exhaust up to temp to burn off any soot. I'd be very surprised if the DPF is clogged. Why would they blame your driving style? Did you ask what exactly they meant by that comment?

It stalled when the injectors were faulty just at idle i.e while changing down coming into intersections. As it's a manual they blamed the stalling on the way it was driven, basically saying my mother could not drive a manual car properly. After pushing and pushing, they eventually fessed up and found the injectors were broken and replaced them.

[alexaescht]

Success... VW found the DPF was full of soot and for some reason the stationary regeneration didn't happen, but they drove it on a freeway for one hour (supposedly) and that fixed it. We did try this after the warning lights came on, but limp mode stopped us from going anywhere over 50 kph. I guess VW reset the ECU or something to bring it out of limp, and then just drove it.

The invoice also says they did a software update, bulletin 2022419/8.

They still charged $250 for labour, but oh well...

[Ryeman]

Has anyone bought a DPF online and for how much?
i guess its a bit early for that many failures.

[Snail Style]

Mate, drop me a PM and book the car in over @ Kevin Dennis VW. There are ways in which the DPF can be triggered into regening. I don't believe it is full of soot as soot will only fill them after about 200k km. Ask them to give you a printout showing what the ECU is reading the soot and ash loading as.

[h100vw]

Mate, drop me a PM and book the car in over @ Kevin Dennis VW. There are ways in which the DPF can be triggered into regening. I don't believe it is full of soot as soot will only fill them after about 200k km. Ask them to give you a printout showing what the ECU is reading the soot and ash loading as.

You can see the loading with VCDS. instructions on Ross-techs website.

Gavin

[alexaescht]

Mate, drop me a PM and book the car in over @ Kevin Dennis VW. There are ways in which the DPF can be triggered into regening. I don't believe it is full of soot as soot will only fill them after about 200k km. Ask them to give you a printout showing what the ECU is reading the soot and ash loading as.

Soot is the stuff that gets burned off in a regen, it's ash that accumulates and cannot be burned off which forces the DPF to eventually be replaced. As I said above, it's all fixed for now. Thanks.

[Snail Style]

I know exactly what soot and ash are mate, i deal with dpf issues on a daily basis. Ash is a by product of the regen process that is why they give you an approx. Km measure of when it will be filled. It won't be filled after 90k if this is the first service regen that has been required.


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[alexaescht]

I know exactly what soot and ash are mate, i deal with dpf issues on a daily basis. Ash is a by product of the regen process that is why they give you an approx. Km measure of when it will be filled. It won't be filled after 90k if this is the first service regen that has been required.


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It's had at least one service regen before this one. I was assuming the active regens that happen automatically would not allow the soot to reach a high enough level to cause problems. In your post before this one you said it shouldn't be full of soot after 90k and I wrongly assumed you meant ash, as that's what can't be burned off. Sorry for misinterpreting you.

[Transporter]

I know exactly what soot and ash are mate, i deal with dpf issues on a daily basis. Ash is a by product of the regen process that is why they give you an approx. Km measure of when it will be filled. It won't be filled after 90k if this is the first service regen that has been required.


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Yeah. That should be the food for thought to you, mate.