DPF diesel particulate filter care & question thread

As a new driver of DPF type diesel vehicles I'm seeing the DPF can be a common & expensive issue, especially if driven regularly for short distances, shut off during the regeneration process or for various other non perfect conditions. Why VW did not have some sort of gauge or even warning light to indicate regen in process or even over(?)heat,
just seems careless.

I would like to gather any input from experience's that will help to maintain the DPF lifespan on these cars.

1) both oil & EGT, pre-fix temps? post fix temps? delete & non delete tunes?

2) advise on when/how to shut down... example, wait until EGT @ "x" or oil temp @ "x" OR ?

3) what type/brand gauge(s), turbo timers, etc... are helpful.

This will sound crass or snarky, but the simple truth is:

***** drive more worry less. *****

Don't worry about when to shut down, or turbo timers, or anything like that. There are no special actions "required" in daily use. The car will let you know if it needs attention.

As long as it gets to warm up to operating temp once a week or so, that's pretty much the only quirk I would consider. If it's started and driven a mile then shut off then driven home a mile 8 hours later, and that's all the use it sees, then it will complain after a while, because you aren't letting it regen. Then when the DPF light appears, just take it out on the highway for 20 minutes, done. Or drive in town for 20 minutes.

Aside from clogging up due to faulty sensors (no regenerations), the most common issue I have heard of with DPFs is DPF cracking. This leads to clogged EGR systems and other issues. Most of these cracked DPFs seem to occur during winter months, therefore I suspect thermal shock is a possibility. When I had a DPF and monitored EGTs my rule was to never shut down the engine during a regeneration. IMHO, this is particularly important if the weather is either cold or wet. DPF temps can exceed 1200 degrees F. during a regen and a rapid cooling from that temperature can cause lots of things to crack. For a simple demonstration of thermal shock, find a bare incandescent porch light bulb that has been on for a few hours and squirt it with a squirt gun full of ice water.


Unless it was an emergency, I never shut off the engine until pre DPF EGT was under about 400 degrees. If there is no regen going on, this usually only means idling for 30 seconds (or less) before shutting off the engine. I have no idea whether or not this actually improved the potential life of my DPF, but, at least, it made me feel better about it. I do not believe that anyone really knows all of the answers you request, but opinions are always a dime a dozen.


Have Fun!


Don

KERMA said:

This will sound crass or snarky, but the simple truth is:

***** drive more worry less. *****

Don't worry about when to shut down, or turbo timers, or anything like that. There are no special actions "required" in daily use. The car will let you know if it needs attention.

As long as it gets to warm up to operating temp once a week or so, that's pretty much the only quirk I would consider. If it's started and driven a mile then shut off then driven home a mile 8 hours later, and that's all the use it sees, then it will complain after a while, because you aren't letting it regen. Then when the DPF light appears, just take it out on the highway for 20 minutes, done. Or drive in town for 20 minutes.

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No offense taken, your input is appreciated. I do tend to overthink things at times but then Ive owned more than one trouble free car with 250k miles before selling (in great cond)

It was bought as a secondary vehicle and fits the worst scenerio. Your saying if it loads it will set a light, a 20 min drive will clean up with no real negative effects?

While I got you, will your delete or non delete tune work with Ca smog test? If so how difficult to reinstall stock tune? I would consider the delete egr & DPF if Ca smog was still just a snap test.

Don, thanks good advice. I live in the central valley with similar temperatures as you. Im thinking a inexpensive turbo timer wont hurt. Didn't you have input on some past DPF threads?

At the expense of saying the obvious - make sure you only use the correct grade of engine oil at every oil change. That means the low sulfated ash oils specified in your manual. That also means you need to stay away from places like Quick Lube because those clowns will pour in whatever oil they have in the 55-gallon drum, and you can bet your shoes that stuff has nothing to do with the 507.00 or whatever oil specification VW requires for your engine. Just my 2 cents.

JELLOWSUBMARINE said:

2) advise on when/how to shut down... example, wait until EGT @ "x" or oil temp @ "x" OR ?

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I've been watching the regens on my 2013 via a windshield mounted Ultragauge, and I have an alarm set for 875F to tell me when they're happening. I was surprised to see how often they're happening. I only purchased this car recently, and I'm only watching the regens out of curiosity more than anything, but the couple times that a regen was happening when I was close to shutting the car off I just drove it an extra 5 mins to let it finish. Does it make any difference?...lol, I have no idea, but I'm just playing around with it out of curiosity.

I was surprised to see how often it regens (post-fix car). It does a full regen every couple hundred miles, and then little quick "passive" regens every 20 or 30 miles.

Once the regen is over, the temps drop back down really quickly, so it's barely 30 seconds or so and everything is back to normal.

None of this really helps you or answers any of your questions, but if you wanted to know when regens are happening, a cheap Ultragauge will do the trick.

I'm typically doing around 3000 miles per month, and usually at least 2000 of those miles are all highway at 65 mph plus. Point is...I'm seeing a lot of regens.

I've been wanting to get an ECU tune, but haven't studied the topic much. I don't need any more power...for me it would be to take advantage of the ECO portion of a tune, and hopefully return my emissions code back into a PRE-fix state, or better. That will come...it's on my to-do list.

soot1 said:

At the expense of saying the obvious - make sure you only use the correct grade of engine oil at every oil change with the 507.00 .

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Records show Castol edge every 10k

Rembrant said:

I've been watching the regens on my 2013 via a windshield mounted Ultragauge, and I have an alarm set for 875F to tell me when they're happening. I was surprised to see how often they're happening every couple hundred miles, and then little quick "passive" regens every 20 or 30 miles.

Once the regen is over, the temps drop back down really quickly, so it's barely 30 seconds or so and everything is back to normal.

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ebay $127 this will do everything the car supports! https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ultra-Gaug...hash=item25ff1c95d5:m:m66P3nVO5KWNok0MarV-ZEQ

thanks for the tips

JELLOWSUBMARINE said:

ebay $127 this will do everything the car supports! https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ultra-Gaug...hash=item25ff1c95d5:m:m66P3nVO5KWNok0MarV-ZEQ

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Yes, but don't pay $127 for it. You can buy it direct from Ultragauge in the US for around $79 bucks.

http://www.ultra-gauge.com/ZC/

Rembrant said:

Yes, but don't pay $127 for it. You can buy it direct from Ultragauge in the US for around $79 bucks.

http://www.ultra-gauge.com/ZC/

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nice

So it seems the EMplus not the MX? If so the v1.4 seems more features as my JSW is post 2008?

In any case neither EMplus or MX showed EGT or oil temp.'s? Maybe its just not listed? You obviously have EGT. If you don't mind, which of the four are you using and what made you choose?

thanks

JELLOWSUBMARINE said:

In any case neither EMplus or MX showed EGT or oil temp.'s? Maybe its just not listed? You obviously have EGT. If you don't mind, which of the four are you using and what made you choose?

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I have the standard EM Plus V1.2, purchased about 5 years ago now I think. I had it on a couple previous TDI's. It does not read EGT or Oil temps. I have it set to monitor Cat Temp Bank 1 Sensor 1, and it clearly shows the regens happening.

I think if I was buying a new one now I'd go for the MX version as I believe you can add the extra gauges that are not standard on these cars, like EGT, Oil Temp, Boost, etc.

It seems that there's much better support for the Scangauge II or Scangauge with X-Gauge, but it also costs a little more. You can definitely get EGT working on it. There are some threads on here about it.

I originally bought the Ultragauge to watch boost and a few other odds and ends on Mk4 and Mk5 cars, but boost is not available on my 2013 model. However, the exhaust temps have been handy to monitor.

JELLOWSUBMARINE said:

Records show Castol edge every 10k

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It does not appear that Castrol Edge meets the VW 507.00 spec. It only meets the 505.00 spec.

https://www.idparts.com/castrol-edg....html?osCsid=21babbb459809e1f72512ff17e4c4e9b
The same oil the dealer uses

MichaelB said:

https://www.idparts.com/castrol-edg....html?osCsid=21babbb459809e1f72512ff17e4c4e9b
The same oil the dealer uses

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Sure looks like that meets the specs. I looked on the Castrol web site and none of the EDGE products listed met the 507 spec. I don't remember seeing the LL03 oil listed.

michaelB is correct. Castrol Edge is available at 507.00 spec, however, not all Castrol Edge meets that spec. One needs to be sure that the right oil is supplied, the quick change oil places will inevitably get it wrong. I ended up getting my oil from idparts because the price was good and I trusted that I would get the right product. I did.

ewdysar said:

michaelB is correct. Castrol Edge is available at 507.00 spec, however, not all Castrol Edge meets that spec. One needs to be sure that the right oil is supplied, the quick oil change places will inevitably get it wrong. I ended up getting my oil from idparts because the price was good and I trusted that I would get the right product. I did.

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???

What differances? Castrol edge is castrol edge? Weight?

That’s the problem. It’s in the fine print. What you want for a CR TDi is Castrol Edge Professional LL03 5w30, which meets vw507.00 and 504.00. What you don’t want for a CR TDi is Castrol Edge Professional OE 5w30, which meets vw502.00, 505.00, and 505.01. Same brand, product line and weight, different specs.
Glancing at the bottles, there is not much difference, so you have to look carefully. On the bottles that I received, there is a white box on the front label that says LL03, at the right end of the green bar with the weight designation. The OE labels do not have that white box.
The other oil brands are not much easier to select, but typically don’t have sister products that are so easily confused. But you still have to look carefully at the specs, not just the brand, type, and weight.
I’m guessing that this doesn’t make you feel much better, I was kind of pissed as I learned it. My answer is to find a reliable source and stick with them.

ewdysar said:

That’s the problem. It’s in the fine print. What you want for a CR TDi is Castrol Edge Professional LL03 5w30, which meets vw507.00 and 504.00. What you don’t want for a CR TDi is Castrol Edge Professional OE 5w30, which meets vw502.00, 505.00, and 505.01. Same brand, product line and weight, different specs.

Glancing at the bottles, there is not much difference, so you have to look carefully. On the bottles that I received, there is a white box on the front label that says LL03, at the right end of the green bar with the weight designation. The OE labels do not have that white box.

The other oil brands are not much easier to select, but typically don’t have sister products that are so easily confused. But you still have to look carefully at the specs, not just the brand, type, and weight.

I’m guessing that this doesn’t make you feel much better, I was kind of pissed as I learned it. My answer is to find a reliable source and stick with them.

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Great information. I was a little confused when I researched Castrol Edge and one source said not for diesels... Kind of well VW approves its use so... laaaa, laaaa, laaaa. The VW dealer has done every oil change so I would hope they would do it right. On the other hand the VW dealerships here are "uninformed" at best. I will ask about the LL03.

I have found I think 8 different Castrol "Edge" oils. Some are not VW rated at all, some are 505.00 rated and only the LL03 is 507.00 rated. ewdysar posted better details.

Just get any of these:
https://www.idparts.com/507-approved-oils-c-201.html
Also: https://www.idparts.com/images/507_collection1.jpg

I got the LiquiMoly Long Life 3. It's their latest and greatest with VW 507 approval. They have a good reputation and the stuff is Made in Germany. It's also the cheapst at $35 for 5 liters.

https://products.liqui-moly.com/longlife-iii-5w-30-1.html
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/5w-30-longlife-iii-engine-oil-5-liters-liqui-moly-lm20222
https://www.europaparts.com/liqui-moly-longlife-iii-5w30-engine-oil-5-liter.html

JELLOWSUBMARINE said:

???

IXLR8 said:

I have found I think 8 different Castrol "Edge" oils. Some are not VW rated at all, some are 505.00 rated and only the LL03 is 507.00 rated. ewdysar posted better details.

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What differances? Castrol edge is Castrol edge? Weight?

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Mobil 1 is Mobil 1, Just a name for their synthetic formulas. There are many formulas named Castrol Edge which is their trade name for their synthetic oil formulas. Use to be SLX, I believe not sure though. You need to be smart enough to pick out the one that is approved for your engine. Just like with Mobil 1. The Trade/Brand name means nothing. The VW spec does.......read the label.
Just because it sez Castrol Edge or Mobil 1 does not automatically make it the proper oil or spec for your car.