Thanks for that encouragement! - As a relative forum-novice, I’d felt there wasn’t much I could do once the chat was starting to float over my head (especially as I’d already declared my non-tech level in the initial question). So appreciate your comment and will have a go at pushing for clarity.
Clear advice for non-mechanic to help look after DPF health
If you ask for clarity about something you don't understand you will be amazed at how helpful the members of this forum, and will never get any condescending remarks, its the best forum I've ever used in that respect as well as many others. There are some people on here with top level expert knowledge on here (some of whom have posted in this thread) and are so willing to share and help you learn.
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I couldn’t agree more.
My 2p.
I find that a 5 mile cold journey adds about 1 gram of soot. Don’t rag a cold diesel, or it will be a lot more. Minimum your van will regen to is 6-8 grams. It regens at 30grams.
The van tells you it’s regening by increasing tick over and stinks. Fans running when you switch off is a big tell too. This is passive regen. You can run about like this for ages. If you have the new software, then it’s even better at getting the job done.
If your dash light comes on, then you need to take it for a good run at 2000 - 3000rpm. Active regen. This means it has not been able to regen and soot is greater than 35 g ( or higher. Can’t remember) Not just until the light goes out either as that just means it less than 30 again. I think this is where most people get it wrong (speculation)
If it goes into limp cos you’ve ignored all the signals, then it needs a forced regen at a dealer.
Carista OBD2 is a great tool, but know the tells and you don’t really need it. I only use mine now towards the end of a long journey to make sure it’s not ending near 30g. It’s a lot more fuel efficient to regen at revs rather around town, and tick over regen is a massive waste of money.
Thanks so much for all of this. A few ??s :
Does 'rag' mean 'accelerating hard'?
Is it possible to get the 'new software' for my 2019 T6, or is that only on new VWs?
Not being mechanical, if I got a Carista OBD2, I imagine fitting it would be beyond me... so a garage job?
'Tick over regen' : Does that mean if I have stopped at destination when it's mid-regenerating and keep the engine on for couple of minutes to let it finish? Or do you mean something else?
Cheers!
The issue is that diesel engines love heat in the engine and good hard use. My commute is 50 miles each way so I've never known mine to regen.
Thanks Spazpecker. I did think long and hard (is that ever enough? - maybe not!) before accepting that I would buy a Euro6-compliant diesel van. I decided that I'd keep my petrol car and run that for shorter journeys and use the van for anything over 20 miles. Since I'm retired and live in a rural area, my thinking is that, although the van will get less frequent use, it will go for reasonable spins when it is out and about. This is really why I want to get my head round the whole matter and do what I can to avoid creating problems. Hence being very grateful for clear, non-tech info!
Yes to ‘rag’
You can ask VW to check/update software as you are still in warranty. Mine was free.
Yes to ‘tick over regen’. It blows through the fuel. Better off just switching it off and making sure you let it finish on next journey.
New software removes the ‘must be over 1/4 tank fuel’ and ‘must be warm’ triggers before regen. It just gets on with it.
Carista is just a dongle you plug into the OBD port, even easy enough for a numpty like me!
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Delighted to see some less technical people have asked questions, and some very technical people have answered them at our level, thank you.
”If your dash light comes on, then you need to take it for a good run at 2000 - 3000rpm.”
We’ve just taken delivery of our new DSG van. Would we need to drive it manually to get the revs high enough to do an active regen? I’m slightly concerned by having a DPF and maintaining it as we had expensive issues with our now sold CRV.
Presumably all 71 plate vans would have the new software?
”If your dash light comes on, then you need to take it for a good run at 2000 - 3000rpm.”
We’ve just taken delivery of our new DSG van. Would we need to drive it manually to get the revs high enough to do an active regen? I’m slightly concerned by having a DPF and maintaining it as we had expensive issues with our now sold CRV.
Presumably all 71 plate vans would have the new software?
FYI to anyone wondering, my daily commute is 9-10 miles, this is enough from my van (150 Manual T6.1) to start a regen if it needs one but not quite enough for it to finish. if i pull up at home and it's still doing a regen I just keep on driving for another 5 minutes and that's usually enough for it to finish. I have never had a problem in 13 months.
I only use Shell V Power but engine warning light comes on randomly sometimes after 100 miles sometimes after 500 miles - I reset with Carista and it is always same fault which my brother has explained is at a particular time the emissions exceed a level. Does anyone use a DPF cleaner? Would it be worth using? Thanks in advance
Won’t the fans run if it’s just finished as to cool down as you are not moving if the revs have returned to normal?Have a look at this thread, you’re not the only one to worry about this.
What is a 'short journey'?
Hi all. Did a quick search and came up blank, so thought I'd ask. With all this talk of EGR's and DPF's, and the associated problems with using your van for 'short journeys', I have to be honest that I have no idea what constitutes a 'short journey', or even how many 'short journeys' are...www.t6forum.com
To answer your question the simple bit of advice I would give is that when you notice a regen hasn’t completed usually by the engine fan running after you switch off don’t then keep doing a load of short journeys which prevent it from completing. 5-10 miles is usually enough for mine to complete.
If you’ve got a manual you’ll notice the dash gear indicator will suggest to use a lower gear than you might expect, just follow this and then it will do its thing. You don’t need to be at motorway speeds, it will quite happily do it driving in 30 limits but might just take a bit longer.
