DIESEL PARTICULATE FILTER - Problems...

[Ffoxy]

The point is that when you buy car you expect it to work under normal conditions - URBAN traffic is not excluded from normal conditions.

To repeat - I was never advised that this car with DPF is not suitable for urban driving.

This is were the fault lies. To quote 'CAVET EMPTOR' is fine - but I think consumer rights will take a different approach to this issue.

I think Consumer Rights will giggle as they push you out of the door TBH.

I dont see huge numbers of successful lawsuits in the Motoring press for miss-sale of goods do you?

You made a poor choice, live with it, learn from it & move on...

P.S. Would you tell a prospective buyer of your car not to drive it in towns / cities?

MEP is correct, all the car ever wanted was a good long run now and again to keep the DPF clean via self re-generation...

:idea: You could be sued for car abuse lol!

 

[StuartH]

I think its a bit unreasonable to expect the average consumer to research into Diesel Particulate Filters. I did do research - found that the multi-jet diesel is reliable and that the body is made by Suzuki. Never heard of DPF until 2 weeks ago...

This car should have a prominent notice in the showroom saying 'NOT SUITED FOR URBAN TRAFFIC'. My Landrover Defender did the same journey before for 5 years and did not stop once.

The car does 8 miles to the place of work. Speeds vary from 15-40mph.

So basically people who live in London cannot drive Diesel engined cars with DPF - hence this must be pointed out when you buy the car and not left to discover months later...

Seriously, if you buy something as expensive as a car without doing some basic research and reading up on what it is good at and not so good at then you have no one to blame but yourself....

And if your doing 8 miles at no more than 40mph then the car will never be fully warmed up. As in my first post, I would be using public transport for such journeys as it's very bad for ANY car to be used in such a way without a run once in a while.

Why would anyone who lives in London and works in London drive to work anyway?
If you must drive to work and rarely or never venture out of the city, why buy a 2 litre car?

I don't wish this to sound like I'm having a pop at you, but I can't beleive you spent thousands on a car without even reading owners reviews or checking a forum....

Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. Knowledge is power. Ignorance is no defence. There are a lot of soundbytes that apply here :bang:

 

[volvo_saint]

" Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. Knowledge is power. Ignorance is no defence. There are a lot of soundbytes that apply here :bang: "

Knowledge is power - so how do YOU certify that my car never reaches full operating temperature? where I am currently based in Sunny Maltaand the outside temperature is 33C in August. The engine is warm within 5 minutes.

When I said 15-40mph I omitted to say averaging 15-40mph. At 5,000 miles I did a continental journey of 2,500 miles averaging 80mph.

A lot of 'expert opinions' in the previous posts based on what they think the situation is.

 

[StuartH]

When I said 15-40mph I omitted to say averaging 15-40mph. At 5,000 miles I did a continental journey of 2,500 miles averaging 80mph.

A lot of 'expert opinions' in the previous posts based on what they think the situation is.

But you need to do longish runs relatively regularly to keep these things clean - from your posts, I am assuming that it only really gets used in the city on a day to day basis and that a run out is rare.

No car is going to like mainly city driving, and no car is going to like 8 mile trips daily for long.
Sorry but a clogged filter is going to be the result.

Ambient means nothing - catalytic converters work at 1,000's of degrees, not 33..... to clean a particulate filter requires massive temperatures, I'm not sure how massive - but massive it is - that only get reached after several miles of driving no matter what the ambient.
And the cleaning process takes quite a long time. A lot longer than 8 miles worth of stop start driving.

 

[Ffoxy]

A lot of 'expert opinions' in the previous posts based on what they think the situation is.[/QUOTE]

You asked, we told you our opinions, if you dont value them take your query to a higher authority I say.

Your choice is NOT our fault.

 

[maddogmorg]

people need to calm down

8 miles should be enough to get up to temp, not a short journey, however might not be enough for the DPF if not revved, ask your dealer for advice on stopping it from happening again, maybe just an italian tune up once a month to get the DPF fully up to temp to clear it through.

it does seem to be quite a few people suffering from DPF problems, i understand it's not just FIATs affected, just seems like the technology isn't fully suited to most peoples driving yet. Silly really all emission controls do is strangle engines and even cause problems, the JTD/Mjet can have problems with EGR as well. can understand the need for cleaner engines but there's too much emphasis on it at the moment rather than better use of materials/fuels which is probably more important but overshadowed due to the brown rice eating, sandal clad, bearded lesbian hippy CO2 brigade

 

[T14086]

I regenerated a doblo diesel on a 1 mile trip around a housing estate

 

[Citizen Smith]

I regenerated a doblo diesel on a 1 mile trip around a housing estate

Just a question re fiat dpf - is there a 1st warning light to say dpf regen needed before both the dpf and eml come on ?

 

[T14086]

1st warning light? not sure what you mean,there is no visual warning of regeneration taking place if thats wht you mean.

 

[Citizen Smith]

1st warning light? not sure what you mean,there is no visual warning of regeneration taking place if thats wht you mean.

On Vw's with dpf when you put the ignition on you get glow plug, dpf, engine light etc then all go off on starting.

When the dpf gets out of spec the dpf light comes on indicating that a certain driving style is required to get it back into spec. If it goes further out then the eml, glow plug and dpf lights stay on and a dealer regeneration is needed.

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

I regenerated a doblo diesel on a 1 mile trip around a housing estate

:devil:

When the dpf gets out of spec the dpf light comes on indicating that a certain driving style is required to get it back into spec.

OMG, a light to say, rag the **** out of me please

 

[T14086]

On Vw's with dpf when you put the ignition on you get glow plug, dpf, engine light etc then all go off on starting.

When the dpf gets out of spec the dpf light comes on indicating that a certain driving style is required to get it back into spec. If it goes further out then the eml, glow plug and dpf lights stay on and a dealer regeneration is needed.

Get DPF & EM warning lights but none that tells you to do a certain driving style. As far as I'm aware (correct me if wrong) but VW didn't want to pay Fiat for their system so designed their own. Also heard it was giving unsolved problems so they (dealerships) just cut the DPF & fit straight pipe...which defeats the purpose of the system

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Get DPF & EM warning lights but none that tells you to do a certain driving style. As far as I'm aware (correct me if wrong) but VW didn't want to pay Fiat for their system so designed their own. Also heard it was giving unsolved problems so they (dealerships) just cut the DPF & fit straight pipe...which defeats the purpose of the system

Hmmm, so these Bluemotions are not as eco friendly as they make out

 

[T14086]

citizen smith is in a better position to answer that question than me (as stated just what I heard from VW techs) , I thought bluemotions was petrol cars?

 

[Citizen Smith]

citizen smith is in a better position to answer that question than me (as stated just what I heard from VW techs) , I thought bluemotions was petrol cars?

Bluemotion are the ultra efficient diesel models which are fitted with better aerodynamics on the polo as well as other models now - but dpf is also fitted to other diesels not just the BM's.

Initially there were problems with dpf's but largely due to hire car companies buying a lot of them initially either not realising or it not being explained the driving requirements and because they have a lot of different people drive there cars every week also unaware of how dpf works. Some people just see big mpg gains and dont look into it any further tbh but a lot of the marketing pushes that as well.

There was an inititive that all bluemotion and cars fitted with dpf have a special sticker fitted to the windscreen explaining dpf and what to do in the event of said warning lights coming on at different stages. Since this inititive there are very very few cases of regen cases now plus early models with dpf problems can be sorted by an online vw 'tweek' of the engine management

 

[Citizen Smith]

Hmmm, so these Bluemotions are not as eco friendly as they make out

Driven correctly Bluemotions are extreamly economical and efficent as well as eco friendly - it is however a requirement that you understand the driving requirements needed to achieve these things.

 

[T14086]

citizen smith is in a better position to answer that question than me (as stated just what I heard from VW techs) , I thought bluemotions was petrol cars?

Thanks for clearing that up

EDIT...done quick google on VW DPF problems....seems theres quite a few issues!

 

[Citizen Smith]

Thanks for clearing that up

EDIT...done quick google on VW DPF problems....seems theres quite a few issues!

From my personal dealership experiences I've not seen that many in all honesty but they were/are in the surrey and kent areas so could be different to those in a city environment.

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Driven correctly Bluemotions are extreamly economical and efficent as well as eco friendly - it is however a requirement that you understand the driving requirements needed to achieve these things.

As with most cars, will only perform in certain conditions and people never bother to check what those conditions are

 

[volvo_saint]

" As with most cars, will only perform in certain conditions and people never bother to check what those conditions are "

Such comments coming from the people who are 'techies' on motor cars are really most helpful.

They assume that the general public has the same level of knowledge as they do.

To repeat - I am not an expert of DPFs - when I bought the car NO ONE at the FIAT dealership told me that this car is unsuitable for urban traffic.

Neither does the user manual mention that you are excluded from driving in urban traffic.

here is a good link for info on DPFs:

http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/fuels-and-environment/diesel-particulate-filters.html

I checked the Suzuki Forum for problems on DPF - and this was a comment from a VITARA Diesel owner:

"
General concensus is Diesel 1.9 ddis are not designed to be driven on anything other than the motorways or roads where speeds in excess of 50mph can be acheived, its not just Suzuki its most of the main companies with this DPF filter .
I have spoken to Watchdog va email and have sent their reseachers all the information they have requested as they and consumer affairs both state these cars are not fit for the purpose they are sold for so watch this space "

I also spoke to legal brief and he remarked that I would have a case under the Sales of Goods Act unless the FIAT dealer could prove that I was specifically warned about using the car in urban traffic.

Seems my thread has generated quite a bit of traffic -