I have a FIAT SEDICI which requires a forced re-generation every 600-800 miles.

As this put the car off the road for 2-3days and costs on average 60 pounds to fix this is rather a downside.

Further more the oil level keeps rising and I suspect that Diesel Fuel has found its way into the sump. I have not added any oil to the engine since I have owned the car.

Apart from entering a legal challenge with the dealer about the DPF unit my other solution would be to remove the DPF unit and 'dummy' the sensors into thinking that the unit is still there.

I examined the DPF unit and it has the following numbers stamped on it - 55204393 and 01922.33. Its made in Germany and there is a sensor plugged into the DPF unit.

Recommendations so far is to remove the DPF unit and remove the internal filter and put back a hollow DPF unit.

Does anyone have any technical information on the DPF unit?

This appears to be an interesting link:

http://chiptuningtools.eu/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3_6&products_id=4

Has anybody got any experience in using their products?

For Volkswagen I have seen advertised exhaust systems that by pass the DPF filter leaving the DPF unit untouched.

Just back from the mechanic who plugged a generic OBDII software module into the car. Only error that came up was DPF error P1206.

Unfortunately the software is not suitable for a regeneration. So I am trying to find some other software so that I can do my own regeneration.

Does anyone have any technical data on the DPF units?

My first step will be to remove the DPF unit from the car. Disconnect the sensor and open up the DPF unit.

I will remove the interior of the filter as much as possible and then weld the unit shut again. Plug in the sensor and then see how the car runs...

More updates later in the week.....

Removed the DPF filter from the housing yesterday. Its amazing how dense the filter is and it seems the engine has to work hard to push the exhaust gases through it.

We left the sensor (heat sensor I would assume) in the DPF unit.

After a couple a miles the engine warning light came on - but it was a pressure reading from the differential. We reset the warning and the car is being used again. Will do some mileage to see how the car progresses.

Will need to establish if I still need to re-program the ECU with a revised code eliminating the DPF components from the software. :slayer:

The engine warning light came on again - this time reporting an error P2453 - which stands for PF pressure differential pressure sensor signal.

I can reset the warning but usually re-appears after 15mins.

The car is running fine and fuel economy has improved.

Now I need to see if its possible to adjust the differential pressure sensor of the DPF unit.

This morning I started the car and the engine warning light is now off. Came as a surprise to me. Will continue driving the vehicle to see if there are any further issues to deal with. So far so good......

I will continue monitoring the oil level (I changed the oil same time I removed the DPF filter) as I am not sure if the engine is still trying a re-gen cycle for the (missing) DPF unit.

The engine warning light came back on again. Same error code.

Does anybody know where the DPF differential pressure sensor is located in the engine compartment?

Sorry I'm late to the party

Here is a collection of stuff for you to digest.

1) FIATECUSCAN (free software) can do a forced DPF regen on some Fiat/Alfa ECUs, e.g EDC16 CF4. Also displays stats info about regen/dpf status. More ECU support is being added as time goes by.

2) Sounds like you only do short journeys in your car. Short runs are not long enough to complete a regen. This is bad news because over time diesel fuel WILL get into the sump a dilute the oil and give rise to increased oil level. I have it on good authority that this is a fairly common problem for Vauxhalls and engines are being wrecked.

3) Have you tried connecting the two DPF pressure sensors together? This will give the pressure sensor an neutral and altitude variation value. Even if you do this I think the ECU may throw a fault as it probably wants to see some form of differential reading.

4) Next trick would be to put an artifical pressure difference/vacumm into the tubes. Two small shut-off valves either side of a 'T' junction that joints the two sensor pipes together. You could then shut on valve and put either a small pressure or vacuum into the open path and then shut the valve and repeat in opposite for the other side.

If you got a good look inside the DPF filter you may be able to remember which is the high and low pressure side/tube.

Thanks for the above interesting information.

I had a good look at the DPF unit - there appears to be one heat sensor in the center of the DPF unit.

I have not yet found where the pressure sensor is - can you help me here?

I am awaiting a delivery of an OBDII cable so that I can read the ECU myself. I know my unit is an EDC16....

Can only suggest you trace the hoses/pipes back from the DPF filter into the engine compartment.

re obd cables, then for FiatECU scan you need a simple KKL cable and not and ELM327 based cable. Having said this FiatECUscan wil support ELM in the near future.

Question for you!

When your MIL/Engine light comes on for DPF related issues, especially pressure sensor, did the engine work perfectly OK in all other respects?

The engine is working fine. Although I suspect that the ECU is still trying to do a regen on the DPF unit.

I am keeping tabs on the oil level.

The engine has thrown up another error code - P1205 - not sure what this means. On a DUCATO OBD list its says "DPF unit".

On generic lists the error P1205 refers to the 5th Injector having an "open circuit". Since the multi-jet is a 4 cylinder engine perhaps this refers to the injector which is used for adding fuel to the exhaust?

Apart from those warning lights car is running fine. Fuel economy is still improving.

The car is running fine apart from doing a regen every 55miles.

DPF obstruction is at an indicated 103% with the DPF missing - not changed since last time.

Oil level is fine. Just need a way to stop those regenerations....

Does anyone have a technical description of the DPF unit and its sensor?

volvo_saint said:

The car is running fine apart from doing a regen every 55miles.

DPF obstruction is at an indicated 103% with the DPF missing - not changed since last time.

Oil level is fine. Just need a way to stop those regenerations....

Does anyone have a technical description of the DPF unit and its sensor?

Click to expand...

just google DPF problems and you will find thousands of problems and ways around it Ford, Dodge,VAG Vauxhall etc., the ONLY way to stop regen is to change the ECU algythm? and or delete ALL ref to DPF's so that the regen does not for at least a billion miles - so much for all this new techno. ................................................:bang:

Actually I was wondering if its possible to 'dummy' the sensor into thinking that the non-existing DPF unit is fine. At the moment the backpressure from the DPF is virtually zero - so it keeps reporting a sensor error. If I had a technical info on that sensor then I could 'feed' the correct value to that sensor.

With the backpressure sensor restored to a sensible value this might stop the regen of the DPF. I am assuming that since the ECU has an error code on the backpressure sensor it assumes something is wrong and is playing safe by having a regen even though this is not required.

Any ideas?

I think the only way to dummy it would be to simulate the outputs from the pressure sensor and temp sensor if it has one. if there is no temp sensor then there is probably no way to tell when the ECU is trying to regen. It would have to see the differential pressure slowly increasing, then decrease.

stylers said:

I think the only way to dummy it would be to simulate the outputs from the pressure sensor and temp sensor if it has one. if there is no temp sensor then there is probably no way to tell when the ECU is trying to regen. It would have to see the differential pressure slowly increasing, then decrease.

Click to expand...

As I have said before, the sensors are just a small part of the problem you would need to provide the correct "load value" AND remove the algorithmic DPF values or make the values so large it would take a billion miles to meet the next regen!! within the ECU s/w otherwise the ECU will STILL atempt regen.

Does anyone have any technical details on the DPF unit installed on MJET 1.9 engines - I want to feed the ECU with the correct 'signals' but I have no info on the DPF unit.

There is only one sensor which comes out directly from the DPF unit - I assume that this is the temperature sensor.

Does anyone know where the differential pressure sensor is?

There ar three sensors on the DFP

Temp 1 (inlet)
Temp 2 (outlet)
Differnetial Pressure Sensor (intlet to outlet)

You can certainly exptect:

T1 >= T2 (T1=T2 on overnight rest and cold start)

and P1 >= P2 (at all times after engine started)