Mazda Skyactiv diesel query

witless_steve

About two years ago I traded in my faithful old petrol Mazda 3 for a brand new Mazda 3 Skyactiv 2.2 diesel.

After 30k miles on the clock I'm getting close to the end of my PCP and warranty.

I scoured the web for information on looking after a diesel with a DPF.
I checked my user manual, and every forum I can think of for more information so thought I'd ask here and see what the wisdom of the forum says.

So far I've taken to driving along at a reasonable clip in urban traffic during the daily commute. I try to give it a little return journey on the way home on a motorway, staying in 4th gear to keep revs over 2000 for 15 minutes or so. With once a week or so a good spin for 50 miles or so on a motorway with high revs to clear any gunk out of the pipes.

1) How do I know if the DPF is doing a regeneration and needs me to keep going a little further to help it complete?

2) How long should a DPF last before it needs to be replaced?


3) How much does it cost to replace a PDF if it fails?

4) Since I don't really know how to check the health of the DPF am I just being overly paranoid and fearful to worry the silly thing could go pop in the near future leaving me with a hefty repair bill?

kirving

witless_steve wrote: »

With once a week or so a good spin for 50 miles or so on a motorway with high revs to clear any gunk out of the pipes.

Please tell me that you're actually going somewhere, and not doing this purely to give the car a good drive?!

It should only cause issues if you drive 5 mins to the shops and back every day. The car will do a forced (active) regeneration (cleaning) by playing with the air/fuel ratio if and when it needs it, and tell you so on the dashboard. Normally, the car will do it automatically on a long run and not tell you.

witless_steve

How long does a DPF last before it needs repair work?

It's a component I can find very little information about.
It's mostly people complaining because they don't so the milage or who got the DPF removed to avoid future problems.
I can't find out how long they should last and how much they cost to repair.

Some only quote for cleaning it around €500, though they don't say if that includes removing and installing the part.

Others whisper dire tales of enormous repair bills of several thousand.
With EGRs, turbos, sensors, DPF and even the exhaust system being replaced.
I half expected to hear about partridges in pear trees.

As someone who has precious little practical knowledge of how to take care of it I'm feeling slightly worried about it.

Special Circumstances

If for your SPECIFIC engine, you can find good experiences of getting the physical DPF internals removed and the ECU code modified to ignore the absence I would look into getting it done.
Mazda don't have a great record with DPF systems. The original system they used in the 2.0 engines was flawed, and they changed it (AFAIK - closed to open type, other way round??) but somehow people say the same end results are being seen - engine trashed.

If you get a DPF deleted correctly on your average diesel car you will have better power, less CO2 emissions and fuel usage and you will pass any NCT tests currently in force and and the MOT DPF checks as currently implemented in the UK (but not copied here yet AFAIK).
I can't see why anyone would leave one in place with these Mazda engines, unless the ECU is difficult to work with or there's something that makes it impractical to do the mechanical modification.

There is the "social conscience" connotations of it but nobody buys a diesel out of concern for anything but their pocket so...

witless_steve

At the moment it's under warranty so will keep the paws off it till it comes out of that. I have no idea where to get the removal done. I don't even know if people do that kind of thing on Mazda's. Not as many of them about but I'm seeing a lot of Skyactiv ones on the roads so there's bound to be a clever soul somewhere with the kit to do it.

If I knew it should last X miles or Y then I could put a few shillings aside for the repair but I can't find that information.

The user manual pretends the entire emissions system doesn't exist. Not a peep about the DPF.

Are there places in the Limerick area that remove DPFs?
Be curious to find out the cost of getting the job done.
Aside from the worry over the PDF the car is great.

Vicxas

I have the previous generation engine to the Skyactiv in my 2011 6.

The DPF usually takes about 15-20 minutes to work as long as you're over 40KM/H and doing above 2000 revs.

Then, my DPF failed as the sensor in the exhaust failed which caused the DPF to get clogged. I was quoted 350 Euro to have to cleaned and then whatever the sensor was going to cost.

I chose instead to get the inner workings removed for 250 quid. The casing is still there so it passes the NCT.

Special Circumstances

Drive on as is so.
I read into it there briefly as I wanted to know if and when and how they changed their DPF style... exhaust /turbo setup looks interesting on the sky actives.

witless_steve

Mazda do seem to be very coy about what they're doing in that regard.
Hopefully this chariot will keep rolling for a long while yet.
Thanks for the responses.