Frequent DPF Regen

[184FRJohn]

Hi everyone,

This is first post so sorry if it's in the wrong place.

I have a 2.0 TDI LEON FR 2014 since last oct. covered 6000 miles since then and love the car but find it keeps doing a DPF Regen every week (~200 miles) - running lumpy and fan comes on full blast.

Is this normal for a car with 12000 miles?

I'm quite worried about it causing issues in the long run and was wondering if anyone had a similar experience?

Thinking that the active Regen might be getting triggered too often due to faulty sensor etc.

Thanks
John

 

[Popeye_ali]

Sounds to me like the limited milage your doing. Diesels with DPF's need a good run in order to regenerate. Your lack of miles unfortunately a modern diesel was probably not your best choice.

Sounds like you are stopping each time before the car finishes it's regeneration and restarts next time you set off. Take it for a good thrash on a duel carriageway!

 

[adamant]

what is the purpose of the DPF?

 

[dieselface]

This sounds about right. I got my CR 170 TDI in 2010 and ended up in a change of circumstances so milage was lower than expected. I used to stage 1 DPF regeneration at least once a week even after a couple of hundred miles. I never saw a DPF light in the 3 years I had it but was obviously conscious I wasn't doing the engine much good.

 

[184FRJohn]

Sounds to me like the limited milage your doing. Diesels with DPF's need a good run in order to regenerate. Your lack of miles unfortunately a modern diesel was probably not your best choice.

Sounds like you are stopping each time before the car finishes it's regeneration and restarts next time you set off. Take it for a good thrash on a duel carriageway!

Thanks for the advice and quick responses. I take it on long motorway and dual carriageway runs at least once a week but my daily commute only amounts to around 10 miles.

Is it possible to force a Regen whilst driving on dual carriageway on weekends other than thrashing it/ constant high rpm?
I don't understand why it's not doing the Regen passively whilst on motorways and choosing to do it on short trips unless the DPF is quite full.

I am tempted to ask Seat to trade in for petrol version if issue persists. Have had diesels in the past with DPF and Regen was never an issue or as frequent as this.

Cheers
John

 

[Popeye_ali]

It's a massive pain in the backside with modern diesels. What's interesting is that there is talk that they will be band in a few years time and France are implementing it first I believe.

 

[Popeye_ali]

Sounds like a good enough excuse for a cupra to me John! Ha

 

[184FRJohn]

Sounds like a good enough excuse for a cupra to me John! Ha

That would be a good shout!

 

[PHILMEWAGON]

Dpf just cuts emissions,but not enough that you would fail an mot if u had it removed.

Id advise against Dpf removal tho cause I fully expect a government sanctioned witch-hunt for cars with Dpf removed sometime in the next 12-18 months.

 

[hilly81]

Dpf just cuts emissions,but not enough that you would fail an mot if u had it removed.

Id advise against Dpf removal tho cause I fully expect a government sanctioned witch-hunt for cars with Dpf removed sometime in the next 12-18 months.

No they don't. They reduce particulates (The clue is in the title). You may not currently fail an MOT as the current check is only visual. This will change though as you have mentioned and rightly so.

 

[184FRJohn]

As I don't want to invalidate the warranty or risk not getting it through MOT I am planning on avoiding any DPF removal or substantial mods.

I've placed a call with Seat requesting that they either fix the car if it is a fault whereby it regens too often or simply swap the car for a petrol version.
Fingers crossed it's just a faulty sensor!

 

[BigfatPaulie]

The DPF burns the particles it collects - for that to happen, the filter need to achieve a certain temperature, and your journeys simply arent allowing enough time to build and MAINTAIN the required temp.

Motorways are not the best environment for this, as you are usually holding a constant speed, and airflow is good, so unless you are "in traffic" it may take a hour or more for this to happen.

Have day at the coast via A roads, and drive it like its nicked !

 

[gletts]

Hi John

I have a Leon 2.0TDI FR ST 184, and I find the same thing (mine's only done 600 miles!). Unfortunately due to the nature of my job I do a lot of short journeys, and I'm finding it's trying to regenerate about once a week too.

Until about a month ago I had an Exeo Sport Tech TDI 170, and that did roughly the same, possibly marginally less often but not by much, so I'm not too concerned. I had the Exeo just over 3 years and never saw the DPF light on, and never had any trouble with it.

A journey of roughly 30 minutes seems to sort it out for mine, which I usually do once a week or thereabouts.

On weeks where that didn't happen in my normal routine, I drove the Exeo on a dual carriageway in 4th (above 2500rpm) for around 30 minutes and that always did the trick. Crawley to Brighton on the A23 is just right for this!

So it sounds like yours is about right to me based on my experience.

The regen in the Leon is far less noticeable than it was in the Exeo. In fact, other than the fan being on I can barely notice it in the Leon whereas the Exeo was lumpy in the extreme, and there was a definite loss of power - plus fuel economy plummeted!

Cheers,

Graham

 

[Dt-spd]

Regens every 200 miles are about right for the Leon. I too was worried about the frequency of regens. I bought a VCDS cable and logged some data and all seems OK. Exhaust temps in normal driving just dont get high enough to allow a passive regen so the soot just builds up until a active regen is required. I work on DPF diagnostics so know what I am looking at.

I had an oil analysis done at 6000 miles as I was worried about oil dilution with fuel. There was no measurable amount of fuel in the oil so all good. I now change my oil every 5k miles so quite happy with the regen frequency not causing fuel in oil.

It does seem that Seat/VAG have fitted a small capacity DPF to these engines, in fact if you look it is quite a small design and therefore will fill up quicker than the DPF on some other engines. The DPF used on the new Jaguar XE and XF for example is quite considerably larger.

As for the regen itself, I find it very noticeable, engine tone is slightly different, torque delivery is a little smoother and there are a few driveabilty stumbles. I see no need to jack idle up to around 1000rpm either, Seat must be worried about exhaust flow rates etc. All these items ( bar the idle increase ) are very subtle but they are there. It seems to me that the regen calibration is not particularly good, especially compared to that in JLR products where it is almost impossible to tell. The torque matching in and out of regen is very good on JLR products, not so good on Seat.

 

[184FRJohn]

Thank you for the advice. @Dt-spd where did you get the VCDS cable from? I gather it is the ross tech software that allows to measure the soot levels etc? I had a read on the forum about it and it seems like a good buy if could be found for less than £270!

I feel that I should have been told by the dealer that it should be ran so hot so frequently if this is the case - I probably would have opted for the 1.8 or 1.4 TSI if I was aware of the high frequency of regens. Have had old A3 and 118d with DPF in the past and never had a noticeable active regen occur with my driving style so just assumed it would be the same deal with the Leon. The fact that it may be a smaller unit goes some way towards explaining why it might happen more frequently - much appreciated!

Cheers,
John

 

[stu_m]

its a good buy at £270!!

Buy genuine not cheap cracked stuff!

 

[Dt-spd]

I bought my cable from here

http://www.mi-uk.com/products/ross-tech-vcds/

Wasnt cheap but wanted the genuine item, came in a nice little box too.

I don't think frequent regens are an issue these days so dealers will not advise against diesel. Many diesels are sold to customers who do very little miles. The control over regens is very good on modern systems so a regen can complete at not much more than idle speed. Having said that, it is a odd process to use more fuel to burn up soot that has been collected. That and the really noisy injectors/combustion on my Leon are the reason I am going petrol next

 

[PHILMEWAGON]

No they don't. They reduce particulates (The clue is in the title). You may not currently fail an MOT as the current check is only visual. This will change though as you have mentioned and rightly so.

Particulates emitted from the exhaust of your vehicle.

Emitted - emissions.

Not incorrect to say they reduce emissions but your answer certainly provides a more accurate description so fair enough.

Splitting hairs a little bit tbh, OP asked what it was I gave a quick answer, maybe not technically accurate but close enough for purpose.

 

[184FRJohn]

Regens every 200 miles are about right for the Leon. I too was worried about the frequency of regens. I bought a VCDS cable and logged some data and all seems OK. Exhaust temps in normal driving just dont get high enough to allow a passive regen so the soot just builds up until a active regen is required. I work on DPF diagnostics so know what I am looking at.

Hi everyone,

Just a quick update on where I've got to with this issue.
To cut a long story short, they can't find any faults with the car and say it's down to my driving (short trips and trips where the system doesn't maintain high temp) and there is only 12g of soot in the DPF.
I'm annoyed at Seat for not really being of any assistance (their customer service provided 0 value added) and not stipulating on these cars that they are not suitable for frequent short journeys even if you do go on a long journey every weekend.

As a result, i'm selling the car and moving on to petrol - Seat have offered me a petrol version for an extra £5 a month - pondering wether to go for it or not or sell privately first - so if you drive long journeys let me know if you want a white 184 FR in pristine condition at trade in price!

Cheers for all the help,

John

 

[CharlesTheTog]

Hi everyone,

Just a quick update on where I've got to with this issue.
To cut a long story short, they can't find any faults with the car and say it's down to my driving (short trips and trips where the system doesn't maintain high temp) and there is only 12g of soot in the DPF.
I'm annoyed at Seat for not really being of any assistance (their customer service provided 0 value added) and not stipulating on these cars that they are not suitable for frequent short journeys even if you do go on a long journey every weekend.

As a result, i'm selling the car and moving on to petrol - Seat have offered me a petrol version for an extra £5 a month - pondering wether to go for it or not or sell privately first - so if you drive long journeys let me know if you want a white 184 FR in pristine condition at trade in price!

Cheers for all the help,

John

Bizarre, imho i'd remove the DPF and have it mapped out! DPF is the death of diesels. get rid of the filter and the job is a good one