Terraclean & Dpf

one man clappin

Hi folks
I have a 2010 VW Golf 1.6tdi which is causing me a lot of grief with the Dpf light coming on every 3 or 4 months. I do try and drive it with the revs high and also try to get on a motorway drive at least once a week.
The light came on yesterday, so I drove it on with the revs high and the light went off. The cost of replacement by VW is extortionate to say the least.
I saw an ad for Terraclean and just wondering has anybody got this done for the DPF problem in cars? It costs €380 for a DPF clean.
Thanks in advance

Special Circumstances

Just get it removed. It will reduce your CO2 emissions too so the greenies will love it.

one man clappin

I would love to get it removed, but my car is one of the VW's that are being recalled, so if the garage so no DPF they would just throw it out. Also is there something about the NCT now checking if the DPF is removed from car and if so it is an automatic fail?

millington

Had DPF issues in a car last year. Got Terraclean DPF treatment done twice and it made no difference.

Henry Ford III

Plenty of revs for about 30 mins. 3500rpm or thereabouts.

Should burn off plenty of crud.

colm_mcm

one man clappin wrote: »

I would love to get it removed, but my car is one of the VW's that are being recalled, so if the garage so no DPF they would just throw it out. Also is there something about the NCT now checking if the DPF is removed from car and if so it is an automatic fail?

If you'd consider removing a dpf and releasing all that unfiltered shoite then why would you be even consider getting the recall done?

bear1

Tbh, if you are having DPF issues then it tells me you are not doing the mileage needed to A) warrant a diesel and you aren't driving it hard or long enough to allow a regen to fully clear it.
I've got a DPF and it has regened about 4 times since December, a nice blast along the motorway in 4th gear is what it likes and I've had no issues.
If you insist on removing it then it isn't as straight forward as removing it and that's it. You will need to also have the EGR shut off and the ECU will need to be tweaked so no faults are thrown up.
I think the NCT will check if it's present but I imagine a simple smoke test will show it isn't present.
Btw, you could have VW do a forced regen which should clear it. Think it's costs about 100e

Special Circumstances

bear1 wrote: »

I think the NCT will check if it's present but I imagine a simple smoke test will show it isn't present.

There's cars passing NCT every day with DPFs removed. The only issue foreseeable in the short term would be for cars that have had the whole unit removed and a bit of pipe put in, rather than hollowing out the existing DPF.

No one cares about soot/Nox. Das CO2 ist letal.

irish bloke

bear1 wrote: »

Tbh, if you are having DPF issues then it tells me you are not doing the mileage needed to A) warrant a diesel and you aren't driving it hard or long enough to allow a regen to fully clear it.
I've got a DPF and it has regened about 4 times since December, a nice blast along the motorway in 4th gear is what it likes and I've had no issues.
If you insist on removing it then it isn't as straight forward as removing it and that's it. You will need to also have the EGR shut off and the ECU will need to be tweaked so no faults are thrown up.
I think the NCT will check if it's present but I imagine a simple smoke test will show it isn't present.
Btw, you could have VW do a forced regen which should clear it. Think it's costs about 100e

A prerequisite for driving a Diesel should not be that you have to do long mileage or aren’t driving it hard enough, that’s just silly.
There should really be feedback to the driver that a regen is required/occurring/finished. - This would make things a lot easier…
.

one man clappin

Thanks for the replies, I seem to have been picked up on wrong. I am not going to remove the dpf, I was just wondering about the company Terraclean. I have rang my local VW dealer twice ( I did not buy the car from them) in the last 2 months and the service manager will not return my calls.
I do drive it in high revs and as stated I go on the motorway at least once a week driving at 3000rpm for at least 20 minutes each way.

bear1

irish bloke wrote: »

A prerequisite for driving a Diesel should not be that you have to do long mileage or aren’t driving it hard enough, that’s just silly.
There should really be feedback to the driver that a regen is required/occurring/finished. - This would make things a lot easier…
.

No but it's a false economy to buy a diesel car and then do short trips to the shops.
In a 90s diesel sure but in these new modern common rails it isn't good at all.
I think the general consensus is that you'd want to be doing min 20k per year for a diesel to make sense.
And there is an indication when a regen is taking place. The revs increase when idle, the car will consume a bit more of fuel and it will probably smell a bit.

bear1

one man clappin wrote: »

Thanks for the replies, I seem to have been picked up on wrong. I am not going to remove the dpf, I was just wondering about the company Terraclean. I have rang my local VW dealer twice ( I did not buy the car from them) in the last 2 months and the service manager will not return my calls.
I do drive it in high revs and as stated I go on the motorway at least once a week driving at 3000rpm for at least 20 minutes each way.

Out of curiosity, how many KM do you do per day? Does the engine have time to get full up to temp?

irish bloke

Be great if these other fuels were as economical to the MPG as Diesel too.

colm_mcm

irish bloke wrote: »

Be great if these other fuels were as economical to the MPG as Diesel too.

sorry, I deleted my post after I posted as I didn't wanna drag the thread off topic.

bazz26

irish bloke wrote: »

A prerequisite for driving a Diesel should not be that you have to do long mileage or aren’t driving it hard enough, that’s just silly.
There should really be feedback to the driver that a regen is required/occurring/finished. - This would make things a lot easier…
.

What would make things alot easier is proper education of when a diesel car is suitable for your needs and when it isn't rather than just buying one for cheap tax or following the herd.

irish bloke

bear1 wrote: »

No but it's a false economy to buy a diesel car and then do short trips to the shops.
In a 90s diesel sure but in these new modern common rails it isn't good at all.
I think the general consensus is that you'd want to be doing min 20k per year for a diesel to make sense.
And there is an indication when a regen is taking place. The revs increase when idle, the car will consume a bit more of fuel and it will probably smell a bit.

Where did you get the 20k from?
I do 10k a year in a diesel and save plenty for me. Anyway I like the low down torque of a diesel. - Shouldn't have to drive 20K a year and pedal to the metal periodically to warrant my preference for a Diesel to anyone.

The indication you have mentioned isn’t even close to what I was talking about or anything 99% of the population would know about. - Even knowing this does not track the frequency or required frequency.

If its such a big issue, then why isn’t there DIS feedback stating a regen is required in the next 1000 km or so. It could also tell you its occurring/finished and give you regen histories.

Special Circumstances

irish bloke wrote: »

If its such a big issue, then why isn’t there DIS feedback stating a regen is required in the next 1000 km or so. It could also tell you its occurring/finished and give you regen histories.

Sounds like common sense to me!

colm_mcm

You could do 10k a year of just long journeys. The mileage thing doesn't stack up and harks back to a time where mid size diesels were €5k more than petrols, and you had bigger tax. With resale values on diesels being higher, and the premium for getting one in the first place not much extra, and some manufacturers pretty much ignoring petrol altogether in some models (ford), you can't really blame consumers that much for going diesel.
For someone buying a new car every 2 or 3 years, they often won't suffer the problems of doing short journeys in a diesel. The next owner may though.

irish bloke

bazz26 wrote: »

What would make things alot easier is proper education of when a diesel car is suitable for your needs and when it isn't rather than just buying one for cheap tax or following the herd.

Yes, possibly but hard to ignore the low fuel costs, low down torque, good resale value (as previously mentioned) and low tax

Special Circumstances

irish bloke wrote: »

Yes, possibly but hard to ignore the low fuel costs, low down torque, good resale value (as previously mentioned) and low tax

But shur you'd have buckerts of moolaa to fix the egr dpf etc then. They can't be thaaat cheap to run can they?

irish bloke

Special Circumstances wrote: »

But shur you'd have buckerts of moolaa to fix the egr dpf etc then. They can't be thaaat cheap to run can they?

Well there is a Petrol and Diesel saloon car in our house, Diesel slightly bigger and bhp roughly equivilant. The Diesel has more low down which is perfect for overtaking and is twice as economical on fuel

bazz26

irish bloke wrote: »

Yes, possibly but hard to ignore the low fuel costs, low down torque, good resale value (as previously mentioned) and low tax

Well nothing comes with positives only, reality is that you have to live with the negatives too and diesel cars have plenty of them when they are not driven as originally intended. No amount of information on the dashboard will change that. People in general however have a tendency to only want to see the positives and ignore the rest.

_Brian

one man clappin wrote: »

Thanks for the replies, I seem to have been picked up on wrong. I am not going to remove the dpf, I was just wondering about the company Terraclean. I have rang my local VW dealer twice ( I did not buy the car from them) in the last 2 months and the service manager will not return my calls.
I do drive it in high revs and as stated I go on the motorway at least once a week driving at 3000rpm for at least 20 minutes each way.

Can you bring it to a garage and ask can they initiate a forced regeneration. That way you'll know it's regenerated and be in a better position to make a decision. That would show if there was any problem stopping the regeneration.

My mechanic also said that many minor faults will prevent a car going into auto regen.

Special Circumstances

irish bloke wrote: »

Well there is a Petrol and Diesel saloon car in our house, Diesel slightly bigger and bhp roughly equivilant. The Diesel has more low down which is perfect for overtaking and is twice as economical on fuel

Ok, but who comes and steals all this money that diesel drivers save? It's always missing when the emissions equipment needs attention.

bear1

irish bloke wrote: »

Where did you get the 20k from?
I do 10k a year in a diesel and save plenty for me. Anyway I like the low down torque of a diesel. - Shouldn't have to drive 20K a year and pedal to the metal periodically to warrant my preference for a Diesel to anyone.

The indication you have mentioned isn’t even close to what I was talking about or anything 99% of the population would know about. - Even knowing this does not track the frequency or required frequency.

If its such a big issue, then why isn’t there DIS feedback stating a regen is required in the next 1000 km or so. It could also tell you its occurring/finished and give you regen histories.

I thought it was more or less known that you shouldn't go near a modern diesel car if you are doing relatively low mileage which yours is.
10k is a low amount of km for a diesel to do and it will clog up more often/easily because of it.
If you do 10k per year of mostly town driving it isn't good for the car or your wallet at all.
Don't know why you are getting testy about my post. It was hardly insulting.
I would love to have a method whereby I know that my car is about to regen.

steveshort

There is company's that can clean the DPF. It has to be removed frist and take a few days to complete the cleaning.

I had a similar problem with a Passat I considered my options and decided that removing it was the best option for me .

look for dpfservice.ie

Hope this helps

YbFocus

I get a great laugh from people who buy a diesel to save money and then have to take it for a spin on the motorway on any given Sunday to regen the dpf.
It's absurd that they think this is saving them money, they are driving around the country to try make the car work for them :pac:

JBokeh

Get her removed and don't bother with the recall,you'll have more power and use less fuel. The recall is meant to make the cars fairy thirsty

Special Circumstances

JBokeh wrote: »

Get her removed and don't bother with the recall,you'll have more power and use less fuel. The recall is meant to make the cars fairy thirsty

Double win on CO2 emissions. Eamon Ryan and Ciaran Cuffe both just did back flips with CO2 reduction glee.

irish bloke

bear1 wrote: »

I thought it was more or less known that you shouldn't go near a modern diesel car if you are doing relatively low mileage which yours is.
10k is a low amount of km for a diesel to do and it will clog up more often/easily because of it.
If you do 10k per year of mostly town driving it isn't good for the car or your wallet at all.
Don't know why you are getting testy about my post. It was hardly insulting.
I would love to have a method whereby I know that my car is about to regen.

Not getting testy, apologies if it came across that way, but your logic of saying a diesel car should not be used if I drive 10k pa is flawed. Who's to say I'm not using my car for long journeys? And again, I prefer the torque of a diesel to a petrol as I feel like I'm destroying a petrol engine getting the most out of it.

Have over 20k past the DPF change interval and a DIS diagnostics test of the DPF back pressure has indicated to me it is well below change limits, therefore the regen is working fine with my 10k pa.

irish bloke

Special Circumstances wrote: »

Ok, but who comes and steals all this money that diesel drivers save? It's always missing when the emissions equipment needs attention.

The Wife

Eric Cartman

I really think this needs to be the next RSA campaign , "if you drive short distances a lot, don't buy a diesel.

I really think manufacturers are conning a lot of people in this country , when even small cars like the clio, intended for short journeys and city traffic are being sold as standard in diesel.

unless at least 60% of your driving is motorway / dual carriageway journeys and you drive for at least an hour a day , your only kidding yourself and saving now to pay repair bills later

irish bloke

Eric Cartman wrote: »

I really think this needs to be the next RSA campaign , "if you drive short distances a lot, don't buy a diesel.

I really think manufacturers are conning a lot of people in this country , when even small cars like the clio, intended for short journeys and city traffic are being sold as standard in diesel.

unless at least 60% of your driving is motorway / dual carriageway journeys and you drive for at least an hour a day , your only kidding yourself and saving now to pay repair bills later

There are a lot of anecdotal facts and figures flying around about diesels with no real evidence that I can see.

How many diesels are out there that don't meet the 20k pa figures or 60% motorway miles or once a week hard driving DPF clear out that give no trouble? - Many more then do Il'd say or else they wouldn't be so popular or hold resale value so well..

The Bishop Basher

I do 10k a year, had 4 diesels and never experienced any of the issues mentioned on here...

Recently bought my 5th diesel and DPF was regening fine but the carly app was giving a high ash content (90k) so I just pulled it out over the weekend, stripped the inside and put it back in and the car is running better then ever so it's win win.

I just don't get all the drama about diesels on here. i agree that they don't like short runs but as suggested above there are numerous ways around that.

When you remove the DPF issues out of the equation, diesel is an excellent option and for many the correct one despite all the naysayers.

Special Circumstances

irish bloke wrote: »

There are a lot of anecdotal facts and figures flying around about diesels with no real evidence that I can see.

irish bloke wrote: »

I feel like I'm destroying a petrol engine getting the most out of it.

Hoooohoooohoooohoooo nice one!

irish bloke

Special Circumstances wrote: »

Hoooohoooohoooohoooo nice one!

You do know what I mean when I say that abt petrol engines right??

Special Circumstances

irish bloke wrote: »

You do know what I mean when I say that abt petrol engines right??

bear1

irish bloke wrote: »

Not getting testy, apologies if it came across that way, but your logic of saying a diesel car should not be used if I drive 10k pa is flawed. Who's to say I'm not using my car for long journeys? And again, I prefer the torque of a diesel to a petrol as I feel like I'm destroying a petrol engine getting the most out of it.

Have over 20k past the DPF change interval and a DIS diagnostics test of the DPF back pressure has indicated to me it is well below change limits, therefore the regen is working fine with my 10k pa.

I'm not saying it shouldn't, I'm just saying its better not too.
I do approx 30k a year which puts me way out of owning a petrol as it would cripple me in fuel.
The problem with doing low mileage in a common rail is that most people just poodle around town in them thinking they are saving a fortune in tax but in reality they are slowly signing the dpfs death certificate as the egr will clog up and will cause the dpf to slowly fail (would take a while mind you).
If you are doing a few long trips a month and the engine gets to "breathe" then I guess you should be ok