Warning light has just come on on the mini, taken it for a blast up the dual carriageway and its not gone away Replacements seems to start about 121 ish, but ive also seen dpf cleaning treatments for about 30 ish. Anyone have an opinion or experience of the cleaners
We have just had a new service manager start and he was shouting from the roof tops about DPF cleaners, we had in a Hyundai Santa Fe with high ash accumulation and going into limp-mode, not able to do a static regeneration. (A DPF for this vehicle is 4 grand!) He was saying in a previous job he had successfully used these cleaners.... So we let him have his moment of glory and tried a DPF cleaner (not sure of make but used a paint spray type gun, a trade thing, not a Halfords miracle in a can type) after filling the yard with white smoke and following the instructions) cut a long story short it didn't work 100%.... New DPF has been fitted now. I'm not sure on the MINI but on the other BMWs 5 series, 330d, X5 etc they give problems with the engine and EGR thermostats failing and not allowing the coolant to be at the pre-requisite 75 degs to allow the regen to take place, say if the coolant is at 65 degs it will never do a successful re-gen and put the light on. Again not 100% sure but I know the MINI uses the same French diesel engine as Ford use, and on some Fords they have a DPF fuel treatment additive tank (EOLYS fluid) which needs filling up every so often (37.5k service), but as I say not sure if MINIs use the same set up. EDIT - Quick Google suggests they do use the same set-up, so you really a code read to see if this is what's needed in this case... I do laugh when I do this job on Fords as there is a reset procedure carried out on the diagnostics, titled FAT tank reset lol So a couple of things to research before throwing a DPF at it...
How many miles has the car done? How long was the dual carriageway blast? what kind of driving does the car normally do?
The blast was about 12 miles each way, no roundabouts etc to slow down for. I have a mate with access to one of them code reading jobbies, al take a trip to see him i thinks
Perhaps rather than go for a blast; as you will always get held up, do a run focused on high revs in a lower gear ie do 70 in 4th rather than 80/85 in 6th........ May be more achievable? Steve
i carry out DPF cleaning which connects straight to the DPF its self cleaning it through using a fliud and air, This works great and do 3-5 a week for retail customers and the car trade around my area, Done 2011 range rovers, jag xf's, mini's nearly every VAG car etc etc, saved a recent customer over 3k by getting there Q7 away from the stealers that want to fit new a DPF and all sensors ! Have a look at my facebook page to get an idea just enter Terraclean blackpool they'll be someone in your area that does it cheers
Perhaps rather than go for a blast; as you will always get held up, do a run focused on high revs in a lower gear ie do 70 in 4th rather than 80/85 in 6th........ May be more achievable? Steve
i carry out DPF cleaning which connects straight to the DPF its self cleaning it through using a fliud and air, This works great and do 3-5 a week for retail customers and the car trade around my area, Done 2011 range rovers, jag xf's, mini's nearly every VAG car etc etc, saved a recent customer over 3k by getting there Q7 away from the stealers that want to fit new a DPF and all sensors ! Have a look at my facebook page to get an idea just enter Terraclean blackpool they'll be someone in your area that does it cheers
At that sort of Mileage it maybe worth considering a service that would restore performance and clean the DPF at the same time! Being in the trade I see many that claim to clean the DPF but simply ignore the engine, which is where these deposits come from. Poor combustion is a large factor, typical if a vehicle with a few mikes on the click. Seen BG Products work on numerous vehicle, it a service that delivers a chemical that cleans the engine while it's running! Search google to find out more but if you want to see it in action there's a link I show customers on YouTube copy n paste "Frank Massey test BG Products" really to show the trade but if you or someone you know are mechanical minded, watch the video n ask about in the trade to find a local garage. Alternatively enquiry via their website. Good luck
Giving it a blast won't help, it needs to be certain conditions to go into regen, generally it's when the vehicle is up to temp and you are at around 2500rpm steady driving I've used tunap dpf cleaner in the past, took about 4 hours in total as you have to leave it to soak each time you use the different additives, I have heard of dpf cleaners not working on massively blocked ones though and instead the extra heat and the additives just end up causing a fire!
combustion carbon is very easy to remove i should setup a business cleaning diesel particulate filters or sell my idea
Do you do anything to rectify the cause of why the DPF has filled to a level that is too full and caused a warning light?
I know for the A3 it needs above 50mph with higher than 2500rpm for at least 15 minutes with no slow down for a full regeneration. My mum's 2010 A3 needed a new DPF at 50k and within 3 months the light was on again and it was the thermostat!
I'll quote VW/bosch and hope it's relevent I regen won't happen if there is a related fault with a sensor vaguly connected to the fueling/DPF A normal regen just the DPF light needs a drive once upto temp of between 1500-2500 rpm, normally between 5-15 miles which then converts the soot stored to Ash which stays in the DPF hence it needing a replacement/maximum service life all this moniteiered by temp sensors and pressure sensors if a normal regen cant happen it throws EML lights on and a forced regen is a option needing a PC hope this sort of helps to understand the system
makes perfect sense to me how long do they last before needing changed i take it depend how it is driven
