Van drivers urged to be aware of DPF problems
If you are a builder, delivery driver or fleet manager looking for a new or nearly new van then it's quite likely that you’ll be considering a diesel.
After all, a diesel engine ticks a lot of boxes when it comes to buying a new CV, with good fuel economy and high torque being among its two chief attributes. Indeed, the once smoky and dirty diesel van has cleaned up its act over the past few years and become a much cleaner and leaner machine.
Take the Ford Transit Connect for example; it's comfortable, spacious and returns an official 70mpg when fitted with an optional fuel economy package. What's more, its 1.5 TDCi diesel engine emits 105g/km of CO2, which makes it cleaner than most family cars. So, what's the problem?
Well, the issue lies with a small device that's fitted to the exhaust of many modern diesel vans - a diesel particulate filter (DPF). In theory, the DPF is a wonderful thing; it sits in the pipe, traps harmful particulates and prevents them from being released into the atmosphere, which is good news because diesel exhaust fumes are related to a number of diseases, including cancer.
The issue lies with a small device that's fitted to the exhaust of many modern diesel vans...
Once trapped in the DPF system, these absorbed particulates are then superheated and burned off during the DPF's regeneration cycle. However, this regeneration cycle needs about 15 miles to complete and if it doesn't get enough miles it eventually gets clogged up and stops working.
Quite simply, a modern diesel with a DPF cannot be repeatedly started from cold and driven short distances. It needs to do at least 15 motorway miles before it starts to regenerate and burn off all of those nasty particulates. Failure to do this could cause the filter becoming clogged up and failing, which will result in expensive bills for cleaning or replacing the DPF.
So, what can you do? One method of avoiding this problem was to pay someone to remove the DPF altogether, but VOSA has clamped down on this by making a DPF check a mandatory part of the MoT. Since February 2014, any van found to be missing its standard filter (one that was fitted by its manufacturer) will automatically fail the test.
What are the other options? Well, to be blunt, there aren't any. If you are a city-based builder or delivery driver - or cover short distances on a daily basis - you will probably not be able to run a modern diesel without risking huge DPF repair bills.
The only advice for builders who drive just a few miles each day is to find a van without a DPF, buy a petrol or investigate electric options. Contrary to popular belief, there are plenty of good petrol vans available. Electric vans are also becoming increasingly prevalent. Not only will you avoid any DPF nightmares, but you could also save in the long run with improved economy and reduced fuel bills, with an electric van costing around 3p per mile.
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on 9 November 2017
Is it possible to take it off and put it back on for n mot or will it mess with some sort of system in the van ?Geoff wakefield on 14 May 2018
I have just had a new dpf and turbo on my 16 month old vivaro van
Luckily it was done under warranty at a cost of £ 2000!!
so it seems in this day and age they cannot make a reliable van I can do about 9000 miles per year in, my average miles to work would be
3-10 miles each way , same as the last 30 years
who ever came up with this technology needs investigating as its
not fit for purpose, i was told to run it on motorway for 15miles
every 2 weeks , what a waste of my time and fuel especially as I
rarely use the motorway, the reason i buy a new van is for tax saving and reliability , It cos me a day's money when i broke down and almost
2 weeks using my car , cant wait to retire in 10 years time !!
just glad ive got a petrol car
Sally Weaser on 18 May 2018
We have a similar situation going on just now except they say it's not covered by warranty. Can I ask you did you have warning lights come on to tell you that the filter needed attention? Do you know the reason they have done it under warranty? I'm hoping to build a case as out van was serviced 5 months ago but they said it also needed 1.5 litres of oil so I think something else is not right. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Geoff wakefield on 16 June 2018
No warning lights, done under warranty as they couldnt really wriggle out of it , if in the 3 years
you break down they fix it simple ,trading standards shared the same view!! they never told me to do long 15 mile high speed runs once a week when i bought the van , Going well at the moment , are your problems now sorted
Edited by Geoff wakefield on 16/06/2018 at 02:23
Royboy1 on 30 June 2020
Hi I agree with your statement that at the time of buying van the dealer never stated that if you only use for short runs the EGR and DPF will have issues I got a VW Transporter Kombi
and it’s 3 years old in November 2020 it’s been back too VW 4 times for EGR flush and had 2 static DPF RE-Gens done at home by VW ASSISTANCES who I can state have been great
as for VW there crap they did the EGR FLUSH-for free now but I think there stalling till my or anyone’s warranty runs out then it’s ohhh you need a new EGR ,,at £1500 plus fitting + vat
so I’m been forced into a situation I’m not happy with and that is selling the van and buying petrol SUV I love my VW Kombi but can’t do with EGR BLOCKS every 6000 miles so it’s going to have to go but then I have another issue when I sell it privately the new owner will go through same issues as me and I’m not that kind of person too offload a good van but may have potential EGR problem......but I guess I will have too be honest to the new owner unlike VW was too me when I spent my hard earned money on this problem van
I had Toyota Hilux 16 years without any warning lights on .?? So people beware thanks for the time to winge
Bowshirl on 13 July 2021
Hi Sally
Did you get anywhere building your case? I am currently locking horns with 2016 Citroen dispatch. It threw dash errors up for AdBlu and emmissions, it's Euro 6 system uses AdBlu and PAT fluid (we had no idea, nothing documented anywhere), PAT fluid replaced at an eye watering £400 only to be back in the garage a few months later with the same fault. This time they changed the PAT fluid tank, fuel tank and AdBlu tank £2700 I can only guess they hadn't got a clue what the problem was ?? and decided to change both emission related systems and the fuel tank for good measure. Less than 850 miles later it was back in the garage with the same fault ??. It's a DPF fault and probably was all along - they won't admit what was wrong, fixed it FOC ?? and sent us on our way hoping we crawl back under our rock. We won't this whole fiasco has cost us dearly, it's
It's common place for fuel tank are being replaced for there to be nothing wrong with them and then only to fault again.
Citroen Surf Bus on 23 June 2019
The full stop key on your phone is also not fit for purpose. ??
osawayn on 2 June 2020
If someone calls or texts you and asks for personal information, do not provide them. If the caller claims to be from a business you are familiar with, hang up and call the business using a number you trust, such as the number on your bill, in your phone book, or on that company's website.bubble shooter
Tomas Andrious on 17 March 2021
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Darrick Roberts on 8 May 2021
Thank you for this valuable information, I think it will be useful to all drivers regardless of the type of vehicle they drive. Diesel particulate filters, which are equipped with modern diesel cars, have proven to be an effective way to improve the environmental safety of compression-ignition engines, but the ecological "pill" turned out to be two-faced and bitter, and some car owners have already experienced the insidiousness of its second nature on their wallets and nerves. The structure of the particulate filter resembles a catalytic converter of exhaust gases and is a ceramic or cermet block placed inside a metal housing. The block is permeated with many thin channels through which the exhaust gases circulate. However, if, when the combustion products move along the catalyst, chemical reactions occur that convert toxic carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides into harmless compounds, then the particulate filter is designed to trap soot particles. In fact, the particulate filter acts as a storage device, which means that after some time it needs to be cleaned of accumulated soot that interferes with the flow of exhaust gases. I gathered this information from Twitter posts in which experienced motorists share useful information. I found a lot of posts on this topic there and noticed that in most cases such posts were published by accounts that had more than 35 thousand subscribers! I am sure this is because their owners repeatedly buy twitter followers in order to increase their number.
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Darrick Roberts 5 days ago
Thank you for this valuable information, I think it will be useful to all drivers regardless of the type of vehicle they drive. Diesel particulate filters, which are equipped with modern diesel cars, have proven to be an effective way to improve the environmental safety of compression-ignition engines, but the ecological "pill" turned out to be two-faced and bitter, and some car owners have already experienced the insidiousness of its second nature on their wallets and nerves. I advice you to post this article in Facebook so that many interested people can see it. And you can always use the services of https://viplikes.net/ to increase number of likes.
on 22 July 2021
Ford transit custom 2015 plate what’s cause limp mode lack power and my fuel gauge would it be fuel vaporiser needs replacing and dpf rengeration force and get faults codes cleared what’s the problem with this situation please anybody had similar problems like mine in garage tomorrow get fuel vaporiser fitted and dpf clean hope fingers cross it will workAdd a comment