DPF light Mazda 6, 2010

murphyebass

My DPF light started flashing at me yesterday evening.

My normal local mechanic doesn't have the right equipment / software to do a regen on it.

Any recommendations around Dublin 15 lads?

Also any idea on potential costs here.

Please don't mention the mileage etc. I knew it was a potential problem with a diesel when I bought it over a year ago. I'm probably borderline for having a diesel but can change easily with my job to being very much necessary which is why I bought it.

Thanks

MuppetCheck

Has your oil level risen?

murphyebass

MuppetCheck wrote: »

Has your oil level risen?

Only happened yesterday.

I didn't check the oil tbh.

I only had it service about 3,000kms ago though so surely it shouldn't have risen already.
I do know that's an issue and have checked it since ownership just not in the past couple of weeks if I'm honest so couldn't tell ya.

Will check later when not in work. Cheers

MuppetCheck

I seem to remember you saying when buying there's a lot of town driving?

Check the oil level, this can give a dpf light too. The only time I really drove my one around town for an extended period resulted in the level rising.

If it has try and immediate oil change. That engine really, really dislikes town driving more than any other diesel I've ever had or driven. They get very noticeably rough running as a result of it.

murphyebass

MuppetCheck wrote: »

I seem to remember you saying when buying there's a lot of town driving?

Check the oil level, this can give a dpf light too. The only time I really drove my one around town for an extended period resulted in the level rising.

If it has try and immediate oil change. That engine really, really dislikes town driving more than any other diesel I've ever had or driven. They get very noticeably rough running as a result of it.

Small amount of town type driving probably about 30% of my driving tbh.

Bearing in mind I only had an oil and filter change about 3000kms ago I can't see myself having done excessive or even small amounts of short trips since then.

I just got a price for DPF removal and ECU remap for €250.

I know it's not on the NCT right now and could cause an issue down the line but for now seems like a good cheap fix.

Does removal cause any issues/damage?

Any issues there for insurance reasons maybe?

... Edit... Checked with insurer and it would need a vehicle inspection report. Hmmm

Gazzmonkey

MuppetCheck wrote: »

Has your oil level risen?

What would that indicate? I assumed oil level could only decrease!

Genuine question.

MuppetCheck

Gazzmonkey wrote: »

What would that indicate? I assumed oil level could only decrease!

Genuine question.

Oil being diluted by diesel - it's a problem with these engines.

Also means you might not even know if it's burning oil as the diesel could top it up. Not ideal at all really.

MuppetCheck

murphyebass wrote: »

Bearing in mind I only had an oil and filter change about 3000kms ago I can't see myself having done excessive or even small amounts of short trips since then.

You'd be surprised how quickly it can rise. I had a similar situation to you when mine rose - was recently serviced too (maybe 6 weeks/5k km before). If the car is getting interrupted during regens they will do it.

Check if that is the cause firstly before removing the dpf, if it is an oil change should sort it. For some reason they have this set up to give a dpf fault, possibly to stop people overfilling an overfilled engine.

murphyebass

According to Mazda it could be just that the oil filter light needs to be reset which can only be done by Mazda computers.

This can only be done after they do and oil and filter change with Mazda oils and filters. €159

MuppetCheck

murphyebass wrote: »

According to Mazda it could be just that the oil filter light needs to be reset which can only be done by Mazda computers.

This can only be done after they do and oil and filter change with Mazda oils and filters. €159

Sounds like a spin put on oil dilution. Very irritating! For longevity I would get it done sooner rather than later.

murphyebass

MuppetCheck wrote: »

Sounds like a spin put on oil dilution. Very irritating! For longevity I would get it done sooner rather than later.

Yup they even mentioned oil dilution.

Getting it done tomorrow morning in Mazda out in Finglas there

bman1

For what it worth my friend had this problem with her 2009 Mazda 6 diesel. I wouldn't know a lot about dpf but took it to a local mechanic who has all the latest software. He said a regen on them takes about 20 minutes and the revs have to stay above 2000rpm. He said that u could only realistically do that on a motorway and even at that could hit traffic and the regen would stop. Also as my friend had been up the north the week before, her car had repeatedly tried to regen, but failed, he said it logged it as 16 attempts, I thought I read online sumwhere it'd only try 5 or 6 times and then throw up the dpf light as a fault. Also she had had the car serviced the week before going up north and her mechanic had no software to reset the service light, and the recommended service on them is around 13,000 so if the service interval thing isn't reset the car can throw up the fault as a reminder, and fair enough her car had just hit 91 or 92,000 miles( English import)
Anyway, basically he reset the service reminder, cleared faults and did a forced regeneration, bout 2 hours he had it, cost €60 all in.

NIMAN

Terraclean?

MuppetCheck

NIMAN wrote: »

Terraclean?

That's not going to help this situation. It's a design problem.

George Dalton

murphyebass wrote: »

According to Mazda it could be just that the oil filter light needs to be reset which can only be done by Mazda computers.

This can only be done after they do and oil and filter change with Mazda oils and filters. €159

Typical dealer BS. Any decent garage can reset the oil data on these.

MuppetCheck

George Dalton wrote: »

Typical dealer BS. Any decent garage can reset the oil data on these.

Ah but it must be a nice little earner for them at this stage!

George Dalton

MuppetCheck wrote: »

Ah but it must be a nice little earner for them at this stage!

At €159 for an oil and filter change it certainly is!

snipey

go on to youtube and it will show you how to re set it, a piece of wire to link out the DPF and press the accelerater pedal 10 times and job done, i did this about a year ago and no problem since.

murphyebass

This time I think I'll just go to Mazda.

Next time it's services though I'll show the YouTube video to my mechanic and he can do the wire trick.

Knowing my luck I'd probably electrocute myself if I attempted it.

Thanks for all the advice lads

murphyebass

So final update on this mess.

Dropped the car to Mazda this morning.

They just called me back to tell me the following.

The oil had risen which needs to now be dropped/changed.

The PCM (whatever that is) needs something done to it then.

Next fuel filters need to be relearned.

Lastly a DPF regen.

€375 altogether.

So I'll be getting the oil change done by Mazda from now on as it looks like it's just made to cause hassle if done by anyone other than Mazda and anything else my normal mecahnic can do.

Mazda also quoted me €90 for wipers back n front.

I laughed but he was being serious.
I said eh no thanks.

George Dalton

You really are a dream customer for a main dealer.

MuppetCheck

I'm telling you sell it and buy another car.

Your driving style and type is obviously not suited to one. When people speak about diesel problems there's going to be cars that will have little if any issues with low miles and cars that will have serious issues. A 6 diesel is the benchmark for the most extreme point on that scale. In the long term oil not lubricating the engine properly is going to cause more issues.

murphyebass

George Dalton wrote: »

You really are a dream customer for a main dealer.

How so?

If the DPF is blocked which they're telling me it is, surely it needs to be cleaned/cleared which is a regeneration afaik.

Also did you give an alternative to doing this other than reset the light which wouldn't have solved a block DPF.

murphyebass

MuppetCheck wrote: »

I'm telling you sell it and buy another car.

Your driving style and type is obviously not suited to one.

Selling the car seems a bit extreme Considering I've only had one issue with the car in the year of ownership.

Also how do you know my driving "style"?

There is a chance that the DPF was nearly clogged when I bought it and my "style" of driving had nothing to do with it.

I do mostly motorway/dual carriageway driving so I would beg to differ with your description.

I'll be the first to admit I'm borderline diesel driver but I'm not a city driver.

I'm also well aware of potential downsides of diesels but as already mentioned my work can very quickly turn to being lots of driving so it was a choice I made when changing.

George Dalton

murphyebass wrote: »

How so?

If the DPF is blocked which they're telling me it is, surely it needs to be cleaned/cleared which is a regeneration afaik.

Also did you give an alternative to doing this other than reset the light which wouldn't have solved a block DPF.

You their dream customer because you are believing the crap being fed to you to the extent where you now believe you have no alternative but to use them for any service work in the future.

The alternative I mentioned was to steer clear of the dealer and go to a decent independent garage. That alternative is still available to you.

None of the work being done by the Mazda dealer is beyond the scope of a decent independent garage, where you will get it done for a fraction of the price. Practically every time we service one of these heaps of scrap we end up having to do a forced regen on it, I only wish I could get away with charging people €375 for it!

MuppetCheck

murphyebass wrote: »

Selling the car seems a bit extreme Considering I've only had one issue with the car in the year of ownership.

Also how do you know my driving "style"?

There is a chance that the DPF was nearly clogged when I bought it and my "style" of driving had nothing to do with it.

I do mostly motorway/dual carriageway driving so I would beg to differ with your description.

I'll be the first to admit I'm borderline diesel driver but I'm not a city driver.

I'm also well aware of potential downsides of diesels but as already mentioned my work can very quickly turn to being lots of driving so it was a choice I made when changing.

Well you wouldn't have had the oil level rising if the regenerations were allowed to complete. So something about your usage is causing the issue. What's your typical daily mileage?

murphyebass

MuppetCheck wrote: »

Well you wouldn't have had the oil level rising if the regenerations were allowed to complete. So something about your usage is causing the issue. What's your typical daily mileage?

Typical weekly mileage is 300 - 500 miles.

Mostly round trips down motorways.

Also do longish weekend driving every few weekends.

Bottom line is as I have already said I'm borderline need a diesel currently but could change fast due to my work.

That said I'm not doing stop start city driving so I'm surprised it turned out to be an issue.

Anyway sorted for now. You live and learn

MuppetCheck

How long is the daily motorway trip? Would it be straight onto it from cold? The dpf won't kick off until it's fully warmed.

Might be worth it once a week to leave it in 4th on the way to work or something to let it get up to temperature earlier maybe.

It's a pity as when they're going right they're a great motor.

murphyebass

MuppetCheck wrote: »

How long is the daily motorway trip? Would it be straight onto it from cold? The dpf won't kick off until it's fully warmed.

Might be worth it once a week to leave it in 4th on the way to work or something to let it get up to temperature earlier maybe.

It's a pity as when they're going right they're a great motor.

Probably 5-10minutes to motorway from my house.

Will try the 4th gear idea maybe.

I agree with you lovely car for the most part. Nothing special but nice to drive and reliable for the most part.

Seems like in this instance when my mecahnic did the service because he didn't tell the car the service was done via the computer it then let the oil rise which in turn clogged the DPF which led to the regen.

I don't think he knew by the sounds of it that if a Mazda 6 isn't reprogrammed to say it's been services it'll cause problems.

He's a good guy in general and has looked after me well down the years so won't be an argument over it.

clogher71

Just to add, Mazda 6's are good cars 2007-2013, I know a bit about them, yes the DPF needs to be re set after every oil change, yes you need to use the genuine oil if you want to have 100% the correct spec oil in your car, no it is not over priced compared to other oils. A lot of main dealers are not ripping your, yes a lot if independent's are well able to charge too. I have to laugh sometimes when I hear cars having had to be brought to the dealer where an Indy can't fit or ringing the parts dept to see what the symptoms when a certain component fails, ringing a dealer to ask what the problem would be with a vehicle they are having trouble with finding the problem. I myself use main dealers most of the time, they always give me a loan car when I leave mine in otherwise I would nearly have to hire a car if I went to an Indy.

pred racer

MuppetCheck wrote: »

How long is the daily motorway trip? Would it be straight onto it from cold? The dpf won't kick off until it's fully warmed.

Might be worth it once a week to leave it in 4th on the way to work or something to let it get up to temperature earlier maybe.

It's a pity as when they're going right they're a great motor.

Mine will kick into regen after about 5 or 6 miles on the motorway from cold, that's at 2.25k rpm in 6th gear. You don't need to drive it on to get it up to temp.

MuppetCheck

pred racer wrote: »

Mine will kick into regen after about 5 or 6 miles on the motorway from cold, that's at 2.25k rpm in 6th gear. You don't need to drive it on to get it up to temp.

What I was getting at was that the car wasn't getting up to temperature soon enough and the regeneration wasn't finishing as a result. Leaving it in 4th instead of 6th would heat it up a little faster.

mullingar

clogher71 wrote: »

Just to add, Mazda 6's are good cars 2007-2013, I know a bit about them, yes the DPF needs to be re set after every oil change, yes you need to use the genuine oil if you want to have 100% the correct spec oil in your car, no it is not over priced compared to other oils. A lot of main dealers are not ripping your, yes a lot if independent's are well able to charge too. I have to laugh sometimes when I hear cars having had to be brought to the dealer where an Indy can't fit or ringing the parts dept to see what the symptoms when a certain component fails, ringing a dealer to ask what the problem would be with a vehicle they are having trouble with finding the problem. I myself use main dealers most of the time, they always give me a loan car when I leave mine in otherwise I would nearly have to hire a car if I went to an Indy.

Lol.

Firstly, mazda don't make oil. As long as other brand oil meets Mazda specifications it's perfect

Secondly, if an indy can't fix 99% of faults or is in the habit of breaking parts, it's time to find a competent indy.

Thirdly, you are indirectly paying for the loan car with the high labour/parts rates

clogher71

mullingar wrote: »

Lol.

Firstly, mazda don't make oil. As long as other brand oil meets Mazda specifications it's perfect

Secondly, if an indy can't fix 99% of faults or is in the habit of breaking parts, it's time to find a competent indy.

Thirdly, you are indirectly paying for the loan car with the high labour/parts rates

Firstly I know mazda doesn't manufacture oil, it is blended under licence for them. I am talking about another branded oil being 100% the same not 99%. Also I am making the point that the genuine stuff is on par with other brands.

Never mentioned breaking parts, some Indys haven't a clue!!! , not all, just some, a friend of mine bought a corolla recently that had a few Indy garage stamps in the book, he took out the pollen filter, it was mank, never changed, even though it has a 'service history'

Recently my wife's car was in a dealer not a mazda, part required, three days for part to come in, gave her a 151 car, total bill, €65. Where will I find an Indy that will supply a new car for three days and fix mine for €65 parts, labour and vat.

A lot of dealer bashing goes on here in my eyes they provide a lot of employment.