Any way to know a DPF regeneration is in process?

I have searched and read may threads regarding DPF regeneration but have not found answers to the following questions (but they are probably there). From what I have read, DPF regen frequency varies but when one does occurs how long do they typically last (several seconds/minutes)? If a regen is in progress, is there anyway to know before turning off the car and smelling the burning soot and finding the fans running? I assume if you have the VAG unit connected to the OBDII/CAN port you would know but it would be real nice to know before shutting off the car (assuming the regen process doesn't take long). and drive a short distance to let it complete. If a regen in process is interrupted, it might use more fuel to issue it again or does a partial regen make the next regen complete quicker/use less fuel? I would think it would be best if a regen were allowed to ALWAYS complete before turning off the engine (thus the main point of this post)?

Thoughts?

Regards, Ron

Regeneration



The process takes several minutes and you can tell if you shift into neutral and watch your tach.
It will read almost 1000K rpms while the regneration is occurrng.

Caught mine once while on the highway and it lasted for several minutes at highway speeds.



Derrel

every time that i've noticed mine, the cooling fans have been running also, you can also smell it if you're driving around town with the windows down, at a light or stop

There is no downside to occasionally interrupting a regen. Sitting and idling car for 10 minutes or more will do more damage than an interrupted regen. Because there is no load on the motor ECU will have to dump quite a bit of unburned fuel through the system to keep EGT high enough to complete cycle.

Turbo seals, rings and other components don't like sitting at idle, especially under those conditions.

Regen is triggered by hours and ash load sensor, so the interval is somewhat unpredictable.

P.


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As mentioned above, you can tell when a regen is in progress by listening for fans running (with AC off), or by the increased idle speed. It has also been reported that you can also tell if you happen to be watching your instantaneous fuel consumption (mileage) in the MFD. Real-time (instantaneous) fuel use will go up (mileage goes down) briefly as extra fuel is injected on the exhaust stroke to "light off" the DOC to begin the DPF regeneration sequence. Idle and noise are probably easier and less distracting alternatives.

Have Fun!

Don

I can always smell it when running, hear it when stopped.

I think this falls into the "Drive more, worry less" category. An interupted Active regen will resume--if needed--the next tike you drive. I say if needed because the active may have taken care of enough that the usual passive regen may be adequate to finish tue job.

Also remember that when you pull into your garage and the fans are running, the regeneration my already be mostly (or completely) over. The fans will continue as long as the DPF temperature is high. Since the DPF gets up to about 1200 degrees (F) during a regen, it takes a while to cool down again.

Have Fun!

Don

I have a Edge Products Insight CTS gauge, I have one of the gauges monitoring the catalyst temperature and the alarm set to warn me when the catalyst temperature gets over 600 degrees celcius (1100 degrees F) to let me know when the engine is doing an active regen. Mine does a regen every 200 to 600km.

mu3098 said:

I have a Edge Products Insight CTS gauge, I have one of the gauges monitoring the catalyst temperature and the alarm set to warn me when the catalyst temperature gets over 600 degrees Celsius (1100 degrees F) to let me know when the engine is doing an active regen. Mine does a regen every 200 to 600km.

Click to expand...

Very interesting, a Regen alarm. Many people have noted that they would like to have a regen light come on in the instrument panel to alert them.

BTW: I considered one of those Edge devices a long time ago, but I didn't know what they would so in a newer TDI. Does it work as a boost gauge? what else can you monitor (like EGT sensors)? Thanks.

Have Fun!

Don

JSWTDI09 said:

Very interesting, a Regen alarm. Many people have noted that they would like to have a regen light come on in the instrument panel to alert them.

BTW: I considered one of those Edge devices a long time ago, but I didn't know what they would so in a newer TDI. Does it work as a boost gauge? what else can you monitor (like EGT sensors)? Thanks.

Have Fun!

Don

Click to expand...

It will display standard ODBII PIDs that are available but does not work as a boost gauge through the ODBII port. You can add additional temperature and preasure sensors and monitor up to 8 different gauges at the same time. I will have to go out to the car to see which items you can monitor through the OBD port.

OK these are the PIDs that are currently available on my 2011 although there is a software update available for the gauge that I have not installed yet.
Battery Voltage
Catalyst Temp
Engine Coolant Temp
Engine Load
Engine RPM
Fuel Injection Timing
Mass Air Flow
O2 S1 WR Lambda
O2 S2 WR Lambda
Runtime
Vehicle Speed
Accel Pedal Pos D
Accel Pedal Pos E
Ambient Air Temp
Barometric Pressure

mu3098 said:

I have a Edge Products Insight CTS gauge, I have one of the gauges monitoring the catalyst temperature and the alarm set to warn me when the catalyst temperature gets over 600 degrees celcius (1100 degrees F) to let me know when the engine is doing an active regen. Mine does a regen every 200 to 600km.

Click to expand...

JSWTDI09 said:

Very interesting, a Regen alarm. Many people have noted that they would like to have a regen light come on in the instrument panel to alert them.

BTW: I considered one of those Edge devices a long time ago, but I didn't know what they would so in a newer TDI. Does it work as a boost gauge? what else can you monitor (like EGT sensors)? Thanks.

Have Fun!

Don

Click to expand...

Why is it necessary to know when an active regen is happening? Nothing special is required by the driver when one is in process. It is not necessary to keep the engine running until it is complete.

MayorDJQ said:

Why is it necessary to know when an active regen is happening? Nothing special is required by the driver when one is in process. It is not necessary to keep the engine running until it is complete.

Click to expand...

I like to monitor the normal operation of the vehicle, when something starts to go wrong I can fix it before it becomes a major problem.
It also helps in troubleshooting problems knowing whether it is happening during regen or not. I have had intercooler icing problems this winter and have found on my car the water tends to build up in the intercooler during the active regen process but not inbetween regens. I could say a lot more but that will take me off topic for this thread.

Scroll down to page 61 for lots of info on the regen cycle.

http://www.dsd.go.th/itrain/km/kboc...Diesel_Engine_2.0L_TDI_CommonRail_BIN5_UL.pdf

Thank you Conrad for the info.

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Derrel H Green said:

It will read almost 1000K rpms while the regneration is occurrng.


Derrel

Click to expand...

1000K? wow they really bumped up the red line on these new CRD's didn't they!

Can you imagine the idiots who would be driving around, waiting for the "light" to go off, if such a thing existed. "can't come to work on time, boss....I'm driving around waiting for my light to go off........"

Reminds me of the chicken in the cage who pecks the button until the corn drops out of the chute.

VW made provisions for interrupted regens, as someone already pointed out. Are you smarter than their engineers.......?

Mine always idles around 1000rps (maybe 925 when at full temperature)
What does other's idle at?

I would like to have indicator solely if regen is interrupted - I would know there isn't some wrong causing the fans to run after shutdown. I think mine has burned off paint, oil, I don't smell anything any more. For those that do get the smelly burn scent, they know it is just due to regen, not something on fire.

JettaTDiPA said:

Mine always idles around 1000rps (maybe 925 when at full temperature)
What does other's idle at?

I would like to have indicator solely if regen is interrupted - I would know there isn't some wrong causing the fans to run after shutdown. I think mine has burned off paint, oil, I don't smell anything any more. For those that do get the smelly burn scent, they know it is just due to regen, not something on fire.

Click to expand...

There is NOTHING wrong with the fans running after shut down. If they don't shut off after 5-10 minutes, then there's a problem. If you shut down during an active regen, it's not a big deal. If the yellow DPF light comes on next time you drive, then there's an issue.

CR TDIs idle at ~800 RPM when warmed up and not rolling in neutral or clutch-in. I don't know why, but when rolling the idle is slightly higher. If your car idles at 1,000RPM all the time, there may be a problem.

MayorDJQ said:

There is NOTHING wrong with the fans running after shut down. If they don't shut off after 5-10 minutes, then there's a problem. If you shut down during an active regen, it's not a big deal. If the yellow DPF light comes on next time you drive, then there's an issue.

CR TDIs idle at ~800 RPM when warmed up and not rolling in neutral or clutch-in. I don't know why, but when rolling the idle is slightly higher. If your car idles at 1,000RPM all the time, there may be a problem.

Click to expand...

Thanks, it has idled at .93 - 1.0k since new- so I never thought much about it until reading this. It has been in for service several times, dealership never mentioned anything, I'll ask next trip- mine is a DSG, they may have them idle higher. Not a worry, just curious.

JettaTDiPA said:

Thanks, it has idled at .93 - 1.0k since new- so I never thought much about it until reading this. It has been in for service several times, dealership never mentioned anything, I'll ask next trip- mine is a DSG, they may have them idle higher. Not a worry, just curious.

Click to expand...

When cold my engine idles at 975. When warm it idles at 825 to 835. During a regen it idles 940 to 975. I have scan guage so if I see I'm in a regen mode I might reroute some errands, but never drive around the lot at work waiting for it to end Okay, maybe when I first got the car

DPF Regen

First TDI so regen is new to me.
If the regen process was interrupted and never properly completed will this throw fault codes for other emissions related items ie...(PO544) for exhaust
gas temp sensor?

TheWired1 said:

First TDI so regen is new to me.
If the regen process was interrupted and never properly completed will this throw fault codes for other emissions related items ie...(PO544) for exhaust
gas temp sensor?

Click to expand...

If a regen is interrupted once or twice, it is not a big deal. it will complete the next time you go for a drive. However, if a regen is never allowed to complete (like a 1 mile commute and no other driving) problems with the emissions system are certainly possible (probably inevitable). It might not be a temp sensor though, it would more likely to be a DPF problem.

Have Fun!

Don

Surprised no one has mentioned this yet... When driving in the city, I find it's easiest to notice when a regen is going on just by the fact that the engine pulls harder than usual . Nice little side-effect, however short-lived.

JettaTDiPA said:

Mine always idles around 1000rps (maybe 925 when at full temperature)
What does other's idle at?

I would like to have indicator solely if regen is interrupted - I would know there isn't some wrong causing the fans to run after shutdown. I think mine has burned off paint, oil, I don't smell anything any more. For those that do get the smelly burn scent, they know it is just due to regen, not something on fire.

Click to expand...

The fans will also run after shutdown just to cool the engine. Seems to do it all the time during the summers down here.

OK, thank you. I may have another issue going on at the same time.
The code is for exhaust gas temp sensor (PO544), But the Glow plug light is flashing as well.

TheWired1 said:

OK, thank you. I may have another issue going on at the same time.
The code is for exhaust gas temp sensor (PO544), But the Glow plug light is flashing as well.

Click to expand...

The Glow plug light flashing is not a good sign. This means that something is seriously wrong. You need to get it scanned with VCDS or by a dealer. If your car is still under warranty, have it towed to the dealer. If it is not under warranty, find someone with a VW specific scan tool and see what it says is wrong. It may have nothing to do with regeneration at all.

Have Fun!

Don

@Don, ok ty. We have vagcom tool. Do you know were I would go into VCDS to locate problem?

one thread I was reading mentioned the problem with glow plug light flashing was a dash cluster update ?!?! Whats that about?
Have you heard that or come across that thread?

mu3098 said:

It will display standard ODBII PIDs that are available but does not work as a boost gauge through the ODBII port. You can add additional temperature and preasure sensors and monitor up to 8 different gauges at the same time. I will have to go out to the car to see which items you can monitor through the OBD port.

OK these are the PIDs that are currently available on my 2011 although there is a software update available for the gauge that I have not installed yet.
Battery Voltage
Catalyst Temp
Engine Coolant Temp
Engine Load
Engine RPM
Fuel Injection Timing
Mass Air Flow
O2 S1 WR Lambda
O2 S2 WR Lambda
Runtime
Vehicle Speed
Accel Pedal Pos D
Accel Pedal Pos E
Ambient Air Temp
Barometric Pressure

Click to expand...

Does anyone know if catalyst temperature can be accessed with a scangaugeII?